I had a busy and quite shocking day on Monday. Some of my men had seen the man Jesus, (the one I saw at the tax collecting station) heading towards Tiberius, the capital and the busiest city in the entire province as it is a major shipping port. While it is not unusual for a citizen of Capernaum to walk the two mile journey north to Tiberius, it is quite extraordinary to observe a man walking that dusty path with over 500 people following him. It was so unusual to see such a thing, that my men immediately sent for me, not knowing what to do. They were afraid a riot was going to break loose or something of a violent nature. However, as I observed the followers’ faces, I noted that they were far from angry, but rather intent on listening to Jesus talk. I asked one of the men who were following what he had been talking about, and he told me that he was teaching them parables and the ways of God. This piqued my interest, as I knew how important religion was to the Jewish people. So, in a move that utterly shocked my men, I gave up my command to my brightest and most responsible soldier for the weekend, and joined the crowd. As I began walking, Jesus, in a loud voice, started talking about the authority of the Son and how the Father sent Him. He talked of his testimony that was greater than John’s and his word compared to the word of Moses. I was quite confused, but still interested. We finally stopped at Tiberius and Jesus settled on the mountain while the rest of the crowd sat on the hillside and waited for more of his wise words. As we had passed through Tiberius a strange thing happened. It was around the time of Passover feast, and thousands of people were out and about. As we passed through the city, hundreds of people joined our little procession, thousands even! By the time we reached the mountain, there must have been at least 5,000 people sitting and listening to Jesus talk. Apparently, my servant was not the only one he had healed. All the people around me were going on and on about the miracles they had seen him do and his teachings. As all of this was going on, I realized my stomach was grumbling. It was getting late and I had not eaten. As I was debating what to do, I watched Jesus take a break from teaching and begin to converse with his closest followers, the men that followed him day and night. I think they have been calling them his disciples. As the conversation progressed, one of his disciples brought forward a boy no more than eleven years old. The boy offered up a small wicker basket to Jesus; he looked inside and took the basket. I watched as he bowed his head (I assume he was giving thanks for whatever was inside, as was the Jewish custom) and then gave the basket to his disciples. From that moment on, I stood there, shocked and dumbfounded at the thing I was witnessing. The disciples were passing out bread and fish to every single person sitting on the hillside! The basket could have only possibly contained, I don’t know, six loaves of bread and a few fish! They spent close to an hour doling out as much as each person wanted. I knew in an instant that I was witnessing a miracle; there was no other logical explanation. After Jesus finished teaching, I headed south to Capernaum, full, content and amazed at all I had heard and seen. This man was powerful and humble, and worth every second of my time.
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