People's Prayers: Prayers of the People: He Simply Fed Them, 10th Sunday after Pentecost RCL Yr A

For Sunday, August 2, 2026; Readings: Isaiah 55:1-5, Psalm 145:8-9, 15-22;

Romans 9:1-5, Matthew 14:13-31

Thus says the Lord: "Ho, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and you that have no money, come, buy and eat!... Incline your ear, and come to me; listen, so that you may live. [Isaiah 55:1, 3]

The Lord is gracious and full of compassion, slow to anger and of great kindness. The Lord is loving to everyone and his compassion is over all his works. The Lord upholds all those who fall; he lifts up those who are bowed down. The eyes of all wait upon you, O Lord, and you give them their food in due season. [Psalm 145:8-16]

For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my own people, my kindred according to the flesh. They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises; to them belong the patriarchs, and from them, according to the flesh, comes the Messiah, who is over all, God blessed forever. Amen. [Romans 9:3-5]

Taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven, and blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. And all ate and were filled; and they took up what was left over of the broken pieces, twelve baskets full. [Matthew 14:19b-20]

This week we begin with 5 hope-filled verses from the Prophet Isaiah. It is from the exile/exilic period of Israel’s history ~ that is after approximately 7,000 Judeans were effectively kidnapped by the Babylonians in the year 597 BCE* and many more after the destruction of Solomon’s Temple and the city of Jerusalem itself 10 years later. Finally, they were allowed to return to their ancestral home in about 539 BCE, nearly 60 years after the initial captivity. Not surprising, not all returned, especially some of those who were born during the time of captivity. As with many of Biblical books, Isaiah is particularly complex. The very short version is that this passage is in the final part of what is known as Deutero- or Second Isaiah also known as The Book of Consolation. Since the 18^th century until now, scholars have identified 3 separate sections, Proto-Isaiah by the Prophet himself, while Second Isaiah was written by unknown authors at least a century later. Trito-Isaiah, or ThirdIsaiah, was written after the return from exile and parts of which were discovered among the Dead Sea Scrolls. There is far more to discover about the entire Book of Isaiah, but for these very few verses, the essence is Proto-Isaiah’s prediction of the promises made to David, that his reign would extend forever through his descendants, ended with the Babylonian captivity. This is now a restored Judean nation which will have no human king. And, that all humanity who now recognize and follow the one true God, will be part of the new and everlasting covenant.

Paul is quite obviously upset in this passage from his Letter to the Romans. We should remember that Paul and his kinsfolk “according to the flesh,” are Jews. That is his ethnic-identity and even as a follower of Christ he remained essentially Jewish, as did Jesus himself. Further, he reminds us, and his Jewish brethren in his time, that the Jewish expectation of the Messiah arising from the seed of David and the root of Jesse is achieved in Jesus, who is, according to the flesh, a descendant of David and Jesse, and through God is over all and God blessed forever.

As always, there is so much more hiding amidst the words of a few biblical verses. This is such a familiar story of the feeding of far more than 5000 men, given that women and children were also present that we may miss that this is a deep lesson in compassion. These were dangerous times for those speaking out against the ruling class, not unusual for any era in human history including our own. Jesus had been constantly travelling for healing, preaching, and teaching, and was being closely watched by those in authority who knew of his relationship with his cousin John. With all the parables he used that we heard last week in Matthew 13, he was subsequently strongly criticized and rejected by his hometown synagogue. He had also recently heard of his John’s arrest and then about John’s execution. And so in grief and likely exhaustion, he headed off to be by himself for some quiet time. However those thousands who knew of and were followers of him were a step ahead and waiting for his arrival. They knew of his healings, his hopeful and sobering messages, they wanted to be seen and known by him in their sickness, in their poverty, in their fear, and especially in their hunger for his word as well as for food. Despite his own needs, in giving them hope for divine consolation and restoration, as in the Isaiah passage for this week, he simply fed them.

*BCE, Before the Common Era, and CE, Common Era, are the common usage to denote ancient times and current times that cover all civilizations regardless of religious traditions, rather than BC, Before Christ, or AD, after Christ which refer to only one religious tradition across the world.

LET US, GOD’S PEOPLE, PRAY

Leader: ~ Gracious God, Full of Compassion, you are the Constant who guides us through the calm and chaos of our earthly life. Incline the ears of our hearts to listen carefully to you, and quicken our desire to be slower to anger and of great kindness to all whom you have created.

Jesus, Lord of All

RESPONSE: Our Strength and our Salvation

~ Gracious God, Full of Compassion, renew us in spirit daily as we carry the message of Christ on our lips, in our hearts, and in our actions, especially to the leaders of this Community, this Country, and this World for the peace, health, and well-being of all people everywhere. We pray especially for: add your own petitions

Jesus, Lord of All