“Math Test?”

Meditation On John 6:1-21

July 29, 2012

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     “After this Jesus went to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, also called the Sea of Tiberias.  A large crowd kept following him, because they saw the signs that he was doing for the sick. Jesus went up the mountain and sat down there with his disciples. Now the Passover, the festival of the Jews, was near. When he looked up and saw a large crowd coming towards him, Jesus said to Philip, ‘Where are we to buy bread for these people to eat?’

      Jesus said this to test him, for he himself knew what he was going to do.

     Philip answered him, ‘Six months’ wages would not buy enough bread for each of them to get a little.’

      One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to him, ‘There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish. But what are they among so many people?’

      Jesus said, ‘Make the people sit down.’

     Now there was a great deal of grass in the place; so they sat down, about five thousand in all. Then Jesus took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated; so also the fish, as much as they wanted.

     When they were satisfied, he told his disciples, ‘Gather up the fragments left over, so that nothing may be lost.’

      So they gathered them up, and from the fragments of the five barley loaves, left by those who had eaten, they filled twelve baskets. When the people saw the sign that he had done, they began to say, ‘This is indeed the prophet who is to come into the world.’

    When Jesus realized that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, he withdrew again to the mountain by himself.

   And when evening came, his disciples went down to the lake, got into a boat, and started across the lake to Capernaum. It was now dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them. The lake became rough because a strong wind was blowing.

      When they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the lake and coming near the boat, and they were terrified.

      But he said to them, ‘It is I; do not be afraid.’

     Then they wanted to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat reached the land towards which they were going. (John 6:1-21)

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     I wish I were good at math.  I am one of those people who not only isn’t good at it, I have math anxiety. I didn’t always feel this way.  I used to like it.

     I developed math anxiety when I took Geometry at Seneca Valley High, a school of more than 3,000 students. The school’s track coach was my teacher.

    He always came to class in a warm-up suit, usually navy blue with a white stripe down the pants and sleeves. He wore a whistle around his neck. He never used it in math class, but there was always the possibility….

   The class was after lunch—when I was at my sleepiest—and it was out in a portable classroom, which meant you had to leave the main building of the school and go outside in all sorts of weather to get to his class.  It seemed to rain a lot that year.

   Once you were there, you weren’t going anywhere until the teacher dismissed you.  There were no bells in the portables.  You were at your teacher’s mercy.  If the students were noisy, sometimes our teacher dismissed us one or two minutes late. That left 2 or 3 minutes to make it to our next class. We had to run—but maybe that was what he wanted.  After all, he was the track coach.

     Now Geometry isn’t for everyone.  It takes a logical mind that can memorize theorems or rules about relationships between sides and angles and shapes. Then you have to apply all that knowledge to word problems and diagrams of shapes with missing measurements or graphs with missing data.  Geometry would have been difficult for me even if I hadn’t had a scary teacher who used to call on me for answers, though he knew I was hopelessly lost. No matter how hard I tried, I was unable to think the way he thought. I couldn’t understand what the math questions were asking, let alone the process for finding the answers.

***

     When I read Jesus’ question to Philip in today’s lesson in John, I thought about my struggle in Geometry. I felt compassion for Philip.  He couldn’t think the way his teacher thought, either! No matter how hard he tried and how much he wanted to please Him.

    He hopelessly failed Jesus’ test.  Jesus wanted to know if Philip believed He could feed the multitude, if He wanted to.  He wanted His disciples to understand who He was, that He was the Son of God who had come to take away the sins of the world.  Jesus was ready to show them another sign.

      Jesus would feed the entire world with His body and blood, broken and poured out for humanity’s sake. Jesus reveals His identity later in John 6, “My Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”

     Jesus’ test for Philip and his other disciples was a test of faith.

     But as the great multitude approaches, Philip isn’t thinking about spiritual matters. He doesn’t hear a faith question.  He hears a math question. And he was good at math.

    Listen to the conversation again.

   Jesus to Phillip, seeing a great multitude coming toward them:

    “Where are we to buy bread for these people to eat?’”    

   Philip (eyes wide and mouth dropping open as he watches the great multitude coming toward them):  “Two hundred denarii or 6 months’ wages would not buy enough bread for each of them to get a little!”

     He is thinking “how much and how many?” when Jesus has asked “where.”  “Where are we to buy bread?”

     The disciple’s reasoning is logical.  If they don’t have enough money to buy the amount of food they need, then what difference does it make if they can find a place to buy it?      

      Philip might as well have said to Jesus, “Teacher, it can’t be done. We can’t feed these people today. Not here. Not now. No way.”

 ***

    Of course, Jesus never planned on buying any food anywhere.  He knew God would be the supplier—through His Son. 

   I wish I could have been there to see Philip’s face and feel the joy of those who ate until they were full, maybe some of them for the first time ever.

   Despite the sign, the miracle of the feeding, the crowd didn’t understand who Jesus was and why He had come. They tried to take him by force and make Him their king.

    They were limited to thinking in worldly terms, like some of Jesus’ disciples.  It was simple math.  More than 5,000 people had nothing to eat. They were hungry.  Jesus gave them as much food as they wanted.  And they were filled. They wanted Him to stay and feed them some more.

     They had the sign.  But they didn’t have faith.

     Like the crowd in our gospel lesson, we come to Jesus wanting to be healed and filled. We want His blessings. But like His first disciples, what we really need is more faith, a faith that seeks understanding.  A faith that seeks a relationship with Christ, the source of our faith.

     Ask the Lord for more faith, and he will give you a test.

     Don’t try to solve the problem with your own reasoning. Don’t get stuck in the math!

    Ask Him to guide you and reveal His Will.  Then obey.

    And He will grant you a sign of His loving care and provision for you.

    A sign your faith enables you to see and understand.

   Will you pray with me?

Heavenly Father, Thank you for forgiving us of all our sins and loving us enough to discipline us and teach us Your righteous ways.  Draw us back to You when we begin to slip away.  Give us more faith and patience to endure the trials that strengthen our faith. Help us to see and understand your signs and accept Your salvation in Jesus Christ. Let us be confident about who we are—new creations in Him, ready and able to share the gospel with the world, as you call us to do.  Keep us from foolishly wanting to be independent and fix things our own way, through our own reasoning. Help us to trust You and be Your obedient servants. In Christ we pray. Amen.