“Two hundred denarii worth of bread would not be enough for each of them to get a little.” John 6:7
Philip responds to Jesus’ question about providing food for the massive crowd, by calculating the need of the crowd.
A denarius was about a day’s wage, and Philip reckoned that 200 days’ wages would not buy enough bread to go around. If we take a salary of $50,000 a year, 200 days’ wages would be about $40,000. So, Philip is saying, even if we had $40,000 we would not be able to meet this need. Philip calculates the need, and he knows that it is well beyond him.
While Philip calculates the need, Andrew assesses the resources, and there isn’t much. “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 for so many?’” (6:8-9).
Philip says the need is overwhelming. Andrew says the resources are inadequate. This is a story for all those times when, as followers of Jesus, we feel overwhelmed by a need and come to the end of our own resources.
Where in your life are you facing something that you know is beyond you? You don’t have the strength. You don’t have the stamina. You don’t have the time. You don’t have the money. You don’t have the ability. You come to a place where you find yourself saying, “I don’t have what it takes to do this.”
There will be times in all of our lives when, like Philip and Andrew, we just don’t know what to do. When you come to that place, the first thing you need to remember is that Jesus knows what He will do.
Are you facing something that you know is beyond you?
