Ben pranced down the hill, waving a stick, playfully chasing the lambs. The sheep belonged to Jonathan, and Ben was bringing them back from the meadows. For his day’s work, Jonathan rewarded Ben with two coins and a parcel of food.
Gratefully accepting his pay, Ben walked down the road to his home. As he neared the banks of Tiberias, Ben noticed a huge crowd intently listening to a preacher. Ben grew curious and decided to find out what the preacher was talking about.
He squeezed past to the front row so he could see and hear the preacher clearly.
“What is his name?” Ben nudged a boy nearby.
“Jesus, the great prophet!” replied the boy.
Ben shrugged. He had never heard of Jesus.
Jesus was teaching the crowd. “The greatest commandment is the commandment of ‘love’. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength, and love your neighbor as yourself. Love, even if you are not loved in return. For it is then you become strong in love. In love alone will your life find meaning.”
Jesus paused and looked around at the huge crowd. He could sense that they were tired and hungry. Jesus felt sorry for them. He beckoned Philip and Bartholomew towards him and said, “These people are exhausted. Where shall we get them something to eat?”
Bartholomew suggested, “Lord, maybe you should send them to the nearby village so they can buy something.”
Jesus said, “You give them something. They all look too tired to travel.”
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Philip looked at the huge crowd of thousands and shook his head, “Impossible! Even 200 silver coins wouldn’t suffice to feed them. Look how many they are!”
Jesus gazed at the crowd, “Is there any of you who could offer a little food for the people here? Anything at all?” Jesus scanned the faces of those seated near him, and his eyes rested on Ben. Ben gulped, held tightly to the food parcel concealed beneath his garment, and looked away from Jesus.
One man stood up. “I have no food, but I have baskets. I make baskets for a living. These are all I have.” The man carried his baskets to where Jesus and his disciples stood.
“They are empty,” the man said to Jesus.
Jesus smiled at him affectionately, “God will fill them.
You were kind to offer what you had.”
Jesus again turned to his disciples, “Each of you pick a basket and move among the crowd. See if anyone has anything to offer.” The disciples obeyed.
As Andrew approached Ben and held out his basket to him, Ben’s heart began to beat fast. Ben looked up at Andrew and shook his head, implying he had nothing to give. Andrew moved away. Ben bent his head low, feeling uneasy he had lied. He knew he had been very selfish, but he had his reasons. “After all, I worked hard for what I earned. Why should I share it with these people whom I hardly know?
They don’t even care about me! Why should I bother about them? And besides, the little food I have definitely can’t feed the thousands of people here. There is hardly enough for me!”
“The little you have…I ask you for the little you have,”
Jesus requested again. Ben looked up at Jesus. He felt sorry to see Jesus pleading with the crowd. No one had given anything yet.
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“Either these people really have nothing, or else they are all selfish like me. So, why don’t I too be selfish like them?”
Ben tried to justify himself.
One by one, the disciples came back with empty baskets, placed them before Jesus, and sat on the ground, shaking their heads in dismay.
Ben felt a long robe ruffle past him. It was Andrew. He, too, was taking his empty basket back to Jesus.
On an impulse, Ben caught Andrew’s robe, “Wait!…I have something….I will give!” Ben said. He pulled out the food parcel from beneath his garment and handed it to Andrew. It impressed Andrew. “Come boy, you come give it to Jesus.” Andrew held Ben’s hand and raised him.
Ben became nervous. He followed Andrew to where Jesus stood.
“Jesus, this boy here is willing to share what he has,”
Andrew informed.
Jesus looked kindly at Ben. Ben opened the parcel. It contained five loaves of bread and two fish. He placed it in the basket.
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Some people in the crowd giggled. It was an amusing sight- a pile of empty baskets, with one containing five loaves and two fishes, to feed nearly five thousand people!
Jesus directed his disciples to sit around the baskets. He made Ben sit right next to him.
“Let’s pray,” Jesus said. The disciples obeyed. Ben obediently closed his eyes and folded his hands in prayer.
Jesus prayed, “Heavenly Father, we offer You the little we have with us. You see our needs. You see how many we are!
Lord, these children of Yours have gathered here bearing heat and hunger to hear Your Word. Bless their efforts, Lord. Fill their hearts with Your word and fill their body with the strength of Your bread. In the desert, You rained manna from Heaven- that was a miracle of Your power. In this wilderness Father, we pray You to work the miracle of love…it was love that prompted a poor basket seller to offer his empty baskets for a purpose that seemed futile. It was love that prompted a poor little boy to part with the food that he had earned from his hard work….reward this love, Lord…work a miracle of love.”
A few moments elapsed in silence. The whole crowd was steeped in silent prayer. Then Jesus opened his eyes and directed the disciples, “Go distribute it among the people.”
The disciples curiously peered into the baskets and were amazed! Ben’s mouth fell open at what he saw. His five loaves had multiplied in tons and two fishes increased in thousands! The baskets were full!
The people were so delighted that they cheered and praised God with all their might.
Peter signaled to the disciples, saying, “Let's serve!”
Andrew beckoned to Ben, “Hey kid! Could you help me serve? The basket is heavy.”
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“Sure!” Ben was only glad to help. As Ben distributed the bread, people in the crowd gave him a friendly pat, “God bless you, child!”
After all the people had their fill, the disciples sat with Jesus to eat. Ben joined them. Jesus served Ben fish and bread. Ben looked up thankfully. Jesus ruffled his hair playfully.
“We’ve got 12 whole baskets of leftovers!” exclaimed Philip.
“What do we do with them?” Peter asked Jesus.
Jesus said, “Give the basket seller and the boy all they can take.”
“Here boy, your reward for a big heart,” Andrew remarked as he placed a large basket of bread and fish for Ben. “Could you carry more?” queried Andrew.
Ben shook his head. “This will do. Thank you!”
Following the hearty meal, Ben said his goodbyes and started walking away, happily pulling the basket along with him He noticed Jesus hastily say something to Peter. Peter nodded. Then Jesus quickly climbed up the hill, alone. The crowd tried to trail Jesus, but Peter and the disciples blocked them.
“We want to make Jesus of Nazareth our king! He has great powers and he can do miracles for us,” claimed a man from the crowd.
“With him as the King of the Jews, we will never be in need!” supported a woman.
Peter directed the crowd to calm down and spoke sternly,
“You want Jesus to fulfill your needs? To fill your stomach and satisfy your greed? That is not what he has come for! His mission is to fill hearts with the love of God and belief in the eternal Kingdom of Heaven. He has already sown the seeds 56
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of Heaven in your hearts by his preaching. Live according to what you have heard from him and make him King of your hearts, not of your land!”
Ben gazed at the figure of Jesus climbing up the hill. Jesus must have understood that the crowd would try to crown him by force and so was trying to evade them, thought Ben. Ben followed Jesus. Dragging the basket behind him, Ben sped up toward him.
“Jesus”, he called out. Jesus turned around. Ben smiled, panting. Jesus smiled back and held out his hand to Ben. Ben took his hand and climbed up with the basket.
“Jesus, I want to say sorry,” Ben apologized.
“What for?” Jesus asked.
“Because when you first asked to offer what we have, I didn’t want to give you my food parcel. I was selfish. But now…” turning to the basket, Ben said, “I believe that a work of charity will always be rewarded, basket full!”
Jesus shook his head. “No Ben, that is not how I want you to take it." Placing his hand on Ben’s shoulder, Jesus explained. "Sometimes God rewards a kind heart with a basket full on earth, but sometimes he keeps the reward as a crown of glory in Heaven. That is a greater reward!” Jesus winked at Ben and sped up the hill. Ben pondered over what Jesus had just said. He seemed to understand.
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As Ben dragged the basket along, he spotted a group of children playing in the meadow. For a while he watched them running and laughing around and then, inspired by an idea, he announced to them, “I’ve got bread and fish I could share!”
The children paused playing and went towards Ben. They greedily grabbed at the bread and fish, mouthfuls, and handfuls. Then, with a quick ‘Thanks!’ they ran back to the meadows to play.
Ben gazed into the basket. It was empty. Just a few crumbs of bread remained. He turned the basket and shook it. Bread crumbs fell to the ground. A trail of ants marched to the crumbs, examined them closely, and pleased with their find, began carrying the crumbs away. Ben looked on, amused for a while.
“Ben!” called out a familiar voice from afar. Ben turned around. It was his mother. He ran towards her, all excited, to tell her about the great miracle he was a part of today and the big lesson he just learned…a gleaming crown awaits him in Heaven for the sacrifices made that go unrewarded on earth.
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