2nd August 2026
Matt 14:13-21
The feeding of the five thousand is an event that’s found in all the gospels, indicating its importance for the early Christian community. The practice of breaking bread can also be linked to this event. It’s easy to become stuck on the question of what really happened? How could a small lunch feed a vast crowd?
Commentaries can help us explore this story which offers rich images for us as followers of Jesus. Jesus attempts to withdraw on hearing of the death of John the Baptist, but a crowd pursues him. How often are we asked to put aside our own needs to support others, be that family, friends or strangers? Jesus welcomes the people with compassion and practical help. The disciples are overwhelmed, reflecting a sense of ‘can’t see, don’t know, can’t help.’ Then the generosity of one becomes the provision for a feast and there is more than enough for everyone. The twelve baskets left over suggests that Jesus’ blessing is an abundance for all.
When we are hampered by tiredness, overwhelmed, limited in resources or lacking faith, Jesus’ commands remain: stay here, sit down, look at what you have, give thanks, and share. In Jesus name, what might we witness by putting these into practice? Jesus reveals the life of God in many different situations. He pays attention to people of all ages. He comments on children playing weddings (flutes and dancing) and funerals (wailing and mourning). Children at play can be fickle, but the same trait can be seen in adults who are pleased by neither extreme.
The writer of the gospel of Matthew contrasts the lifestyle of John the Baptist with that of Jesus, yet shows that God is revealed in the lives of both. In whom do we see God’s life revealed more clearly?
Sunday 9th August 2026. Matthew 14:22-33
Jesus has just ‘gone the second mile,’ setting aside his own need and responding to the hungry crowd. He looks for solitude as he deals with the news of the death of his cousin John the Baptist. Today, we would call it self-care. We all know times when we have needed to seek a time of “self-care”, even when pressing issues persist. We can take comfort knowing Jesus understands.
Before Jesus dismisses the crowd, He compels the disciples to cross the lake. Do they want to stay and help with the crowd, do they sense a storm approaching, either way, they follow Jesus’ directions. How do we respond when we sense of God’s leading, even if it seems we are heading into a storm?
The scene of the disciples’ struggling on the rough lake without Jesus, resonates with our times of stress; sometimes the sense of God’s peace and guidance leaves us. The night of struggle can be long. That’s when we put faith in Jesus’ words: ‘Take heart, do not be afraid.’
Strangely, the disciples don’t recognise Jesus, but think He is a ghost. Has God at times acted in a way that’s challenged your thinking, drawn heavily on your faith? Never forget the words He gave the disciples, “Take heart, do not be afraid.”
Sunday 16th August 2026. Matthew 15:(10-20), 21-28
Many find Jesus’ encounter with this desperate mother challenging. It comes just after Jesus’ teaching on what makes a person ‘clean’ or ‘unclean’, and leaves us asking searching questions.
Is Jesus, responding with a hard heart, or unfolding her heart? How might we react when faced with someone in great need? Are we more like the disciples, feeling inconvenienced, seeing her just as another demand on time and energy? What does it say about this non-Jewish mother that she kneels at Jesus’ feet, using a Hebrew title, to plead for her daughter? What does this image of ‘dogs’ reveal about belonging and exclusion, and who is given a place at the table? Is Jesus’ acknowledgement of her faith a response to her persistence, or was it already his intention?
How might this healing encounter change the lives of this mother and her daughter, and what might it mean for those who hear their story?
When we feel desperate, might we see those crumbs as hope through faith? Might that cause us to place ourselves where we can be heard, even if inconvenient?
Sunday 23rd August 2026. Matthew 16:13-20.
When Jesus asks His disciples the question, ‘Who do you say I am?’ they are in Caesarea Philippi, a place of political and spiritual significance, where competing loyalties shaped people’s lives. Jesus first asks about the Son of Man, a title Matthew links with the prophet Daniel, and the disciples respond naming a number of prominent figures. This question invites a profession of faith. In this public place, Simon takes the lead in affirming Jesus’ identity as the chosen one, and Jesus affirms his response. Yet the disciples are still to grasp its full meaning.
Church traditions have read much into Jesus’ words about the power given to his followers, some helpful and some not; we can’t change history. Still, we are faced with his question: ‘Who do you say I am?’
We can choose other worldviews or confess Jesus as the one who reveals God’s love and calls us into life. We are invited to stand on the rock of faith and let our lives be keys for the world, unlocking the love and compassion that comes from God.
Sunday 30th August 2026. Matthew 16:21-28.
Following Simon’s declaration of Jesus as God’s chosen one and his new name of Peter, being the rock and foundation for the church, Jesus calls Peter ‘Satan’, the one who stands in opposition to God’s way. Peter moves from becoming the rock for Jesus’ followers to a stumbling block for Jesus. It’s sobering to note that a step of faith and revelation one day does not absolve us from being a barrier to someone’s faith the next.
Then we find Jesus asking us to deny ourselves and take up a cross if we want to follow Him. In a world where our instincts are for self-preservation, and the surrounding ethos of consumerism promotes ‘you owe it to yourself,’ Jesus’ words are counter-cultural. Yet, the self-giving love that Jesus asks of us is what enables growth, acceptance, healing and second chances.
Elsewhere, Jesus tells us to love our neighbour ‘as ourselves.’ This suggests an importance to care for our own well-being so we can be available to our neighbour. Respecting others comes from a place of self-respect. “. . . Do to others as you would have them do to you . . .” Matthew 7:12.
In the week ahead, what opportunities do we have to enrich life for others by putting their interests ahead of our own?