March 29, 2023
When the Numbers Don’t Add Up
“Philip answered Him, Two hundred denarii worth of bread is not sufficient for them, for everyone to receive a little.” John 6:7 (NASB)
I loathe math. It has to be the worst subject I ever had to study in school or college. In college I promised myself I would never take anything related to it again. I was lucky as a theology major to never venture into it again. This long-term dislike for math started in high school. When I began taking Algebra, I had a lot of problem with trying to match numbers and letters. To me, the two did not belong together, no matter what. I think this is where it all started, fighting a system I would never be able win against. Even in high school, I had to attend the general math classes because I couldn’t stay at the pace of other students. When I finally graduated high school, I promised myself I would never take math again. Boy, was I wrong when I entered college. Numbers. Letters. I still believe the two don’t belong together…
“Philip answered Him…” Phillip answered Jesus after some careful deliberation of how much was needed for all the people coming. The math wasn’t going to work. “Two hundred denarii worth of bread is not sufficient for them.” It still wasn’t enough. The Roman denarius coin was worth about 16⅔ cents. [1] The value of a denarius was a fair day’s pay for the common laborer in the first century. Just a little over 16 cents! It would take an average laborer 200 days to earn 200 denarii alone. This valued about 30-35 dollars. There simply wasn’t enough. Phillip faced a scenario of feeding 5,000 men (possibly up to 20,000 with families coming), and it was only enough to “receive a little.” There is a similar story in which faith is the element. It is found in Moses’ question to God from Numbers 11:21-23, “But Moses said, ‘The people, among whom I am, are 600,000 on foot; yet You have said, I will give them meat, so that they may eat for a whole month. Should flocks and herds be slaughtered for them, to be sufficient for them? Or should all the fish of the sea be gathered together for them, to be sufficient for them?’ ‘The Lord said to Moses, Is the Lord’s power limited? Now you shall see whether My word will come true for you or not.’” Moses was estimating feeding 603,550 people over a month period. Phillip, a mere 20,000. “How can this be done Lord?” God answered Moses, “Is the Lord’s power limited?” Jesus was also testing Phillip’s faith, “Is the Lord’s power limited?”
When God shows up, He shows up big. God shows us He can take the average scenario which seems hopeless and turn it into something unexplainable. Why? So, no man can take credit. Man makes big things happen, but God can only perform miracles. Miracles are the super-natural work of God. These are events that exist outside the power and control of mankind. They happen outside of the natural world. When events occur which are due to medicine, procedures, or sudden unexplained recovery, these are referred to as super-normal events. These supernormal events are those things that are normal in healing or work extraordinarily. Both can be attributed to God’s goodness, but the supernatural is where God performs miracles. Jesus knew Phillip’s heart. He is about to show him something he never anticipated or expected. Thanks be to God for His supernatural work in planning a miracle for you and me today. It’s called salvation for those of us who know Jesus as our Savior. He intervened when it all looked like it was over for humankind. He performed a supernatural miracle, by bringing the Bread of Life to mankind.
[1] A.T. Robertson, Word Pictures in the New Testament (Nashville, TN: Broadman Press, 1933), Jn 6:7.