Loaves and Fishes

By Paul Roberts

Thanks to my good friend Tim Arnhold for being obedient to the Creator on Sunday morning and providing the inspiration for my own version of the boy with five barley loaves and two fish.

The Gospel of John 6: 5-9 

When Jesus looked out and saw that a large crowd had arrived, he said to Philip, “Where can we buy bread to feed these people?” He said this to stretch Philip’s faith. He already knew what he was going to do. Philip answered, “Two hundred silver pieces wouldn’t be enough to buy bread for each person to get a piece.” One of the disciples—it was Andrew, brother to Simon Peter—said, “There’s a little boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish. But that’s a drop in the bucket for a crowd like this.”

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“Timo, did you finish the morning chores yet?” The old man spoke gruffly as the little boy  scurried by carrying an armload of firewood.  

“Almost Master Simeon,” the lad replied. “This is the last load of wood, the animals are fed, and the water trough is filled for the day. I was just going to sit down for my breakfast and then head home.”

“Breakfast! Are you stealing food from me?”

“No, Master Simeon. My mother sent me with half a loaf of barley bread from home. I was going to eat some now and the rest for lunch when I got home.”

The old man looked at the morning sun just coming over the hills, and thought about the long trek back home for the boy. Simeon knew It would take Timo a good portion of the morning to get back home. He also knew that the boy must have started out in the dark of the morning, all by himself, to arrive in time to get his required work done. He shook his head, thinking to himself that he was not responsible for the boy. Timo’s mother had brought him here weeks ago to find work, to help feed his family, and Simeon had agreed to exchange the boy’s labor for some of the extras from his own table. Simeon was simply  being a caring neighbor. But he was glad he didn’t have to see the hovel the boy must live in. He could tell by how the boy was dressed that he and his mother had very little.

“I have more work for you today, Timo. Do it well, and you may share in the profit.”

The boy’s eyes dropped. “Whatever you say, Master.” Timo had hoped to get away early. His mother needed his help at home.

“If you leave now, you can reach the meeting place on the mountain by mid-morning.” Simeon was pointing in the opposite direction of Timo’s home. “I am giving you a basketful of loaves to sell when you get there. The crowds are headed that way to hear this man, the Preacher, and if you hurry you can sell all you have before lunch time. Return with what you have, I will keep the money, and you may keep what does not sell. But you must be a good salesman, Timo! I expect you to earn what you keep!”

Ten minutes later, Timo was on the road with his basket. He had never been to the mountain. The road led through the village. He had never been through the village either. As he walked along with his basket, he marveled at how many people there were. “There must be hundreds,” he thought to himself.

The road took a wide turn about halfway through the town towards the mountain a mile distant. When Timo made the turn, he could hardly believe the crowd he saw up ahead. “Not hundreds! Thousands!” he thought to himself. He continued on, following the crowd out of the town and into the rolling hills. People pushed along, talking loudly about the Preacher, how exciting it would be to see and hear him. But some people were clearly coming along simply for the entertainment, laughing and joking about this man of Galilee and his disciples. Timo found himself being roughly jostled about, until finally he had to leave the crush of the road, and move along the edges of the crowd. It was then that he looked down at his basket. It was almost empty! He had started with well over a dozen loaves, and now…only seven remained. His eyes began to well up with tears, and he slowed to a stop. 

“Keep moving, boy,” a man behind him said. “You’re slowing things down.”

“But…my loaves…I had so many. I was to sell them!” Timo replied, doing all he could to keep his emotions under control.

“Hah! The crowd almost picked you clean, didn’t they? You young fool. You think you can walk through a crowd like that and not lose your valuables? You’re lucky you didn’t lose everything.”

“Can you help the boy?” They both turned towards the kind voice that had come up behind them.

“What’s it to you…ohh, you’re one of them aren’t you?  You’re with the Preacher.”

“Yes, I am. Can you help the boy?”

Well, I dunno.” The man took a bag off of his back. “Look, I got four fish for my own lunch here. I’ll trade two fish for two loaves. That’s the best I can do.”

They made the exchange, and the man hurried away to catch up with the crowd. Timo sat down in the dirt on the side of the road and looked into his basket.

The man with the kind voice looked down at Timo. “What’s your name, son?”

Timo was used to the meanness of Master Simeon’s voice. And the man with the fish spoke the same way. The kindness in this man’s voice broke the little boy’s control over his tears. “I’m Timo, Timotheo, and my mother needs me to work, and I try to do what Master Simeon says, but now I’ve nothing but five loaves and two fishes, and I…I don’t know what to do…Master Simeon will be angry…” The words spilled out almost as fast as the tears.  

 “Come with me, Timo. My name is  Andrew. Come with me, and we’ll see what my Master can do to help you out.”

Andrew picked up the basket, took Timo by the hand and they continued walking in the direction of the crowd.

As they approached the base of the hill, Timo looked around at the crowd. It was thousands of people, he knew it was, and they were seating themselves on the grassy hillside, facing up the hill. Andrew continued to hold Timo’s hand as he led the two of them on a winding path through the crowd up to a small group of men standing near the upper edge of the gathering. Andrew walked right up to a space in the circle of men, handed the basket back to Timo, and drew the boy in front of him, placing his hands on Timo’s shoulders. Timo looked around the circle, and saw that all eyes were directed toward one man. This must be the Preacher, Timo thought.

“We barely have enough money to feed ourselves for today, let alone all of this crowd,” one of the men said to the Preacher.

Outside of the circle,  Timo could still hear the crowd moving about, settling down, talking with each other. Inside of the circle, it seemed quiet, Timo thought.

Andrew gently pushed the boy and his basket towards the Preacher. “There’s a little boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish,” he said.

The Preacher smiled at the circle of men and knelt down. “Timo, these people are all hungry. Will you bargain with us?”

He knows my name, Timo thought in amazement. “I only have a little,” he said. “My master expects me to sell it and bring him the profit.”

“My friend Phillip will trade you our few coins for your few loaves and fish. Is that a fair bargain?”

Timo hesitated. “May I keep half a loaf? To eat on my journey home, and to share with my mother?”

The Preacher looked around the circle, smiled again at the men, and then smiled at Timo. “When we are done feeding the crowd, Andrew and my other friends will take you safely back to your master with the coins, and they will help you carry anything that is left over home to your mother. Will you make that bargain with me?

Timo smiled, and nodded his agreement.

The Preacher stood back up, and stepped outside the circle of men. Andrew took Timo’s basket and began to pass the contents to his friends, and they too began to share with the people around them.

Timo stood, looking at the Preacher, who raised his arms to heaven, and in a clear voice called out “For the bread of God is the One who comes down from heaven and gives life unto the world.”

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I enjoy retelling tales from the Bible, whether in a short story, poem, song. I wish I could do it in other art forms as well. Share with our community your own “retellings” or ideas for such creations.

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