Western Heights Church of Christ

So far in this "Bad Math" series, we have dealt with addition and subtraction... so it makes sense to go into multiplication.

I have always enjoyed math as a whole… but multiplication can be it’s own unique kind of fun, because its a way to get something big when starting with something small.

The classic example of this is someone willing to pay you a penny for the first day’s work and double the amount every day for 30 days. On Day 30 you would receive $5,368,709.12 and have a cumulative total of $10,737,418.23… All starting with just 1 penny.

That's multiplication for you... and it's actually all over the Bible... even in the very beginning.

Although there are plenty of times multiplication shows up in scripture, I want to focus on this one equation.

(5 + 2) x 1 = (5000 x 3) + (12 x 10)

Anyone that knows much of anything about multiplication knows this is some “bad math”… but if you know much about the Bible, you probably have figured out which story it is referring to… We call it the feeding of the 5,000.
It is recorded in all 4 gospels (Mt. 14:13-21, Mk. 6:30-44, Lk 9:10-17, Jn. 6:1-15)… But we will just read it from John’s account.

While this is a familiar story, lets look at some principles that Jesus used in this miracle of multiplication.

1. You have to start with something to multiply...

The disciples thought they had nothing (or next to nothing) in view of this vast crowd... But they forgot what they did have. They had something (through the offering of a small boy), and Jesus can do some amazing things with some seemingly small things.

2. Things tend to multiply after themselves...

There is little doubt that Jesus could have fed the crowds with something from nothing... or he could have simply changed something (like a rock) into bread... But he didn't.

In fact, often in scripture we see that God likes to multiply things after themselves. (Like in the story bread and fish make more bread and fish.)

3. It has to be blessed to multiply God's way...

If the 5 loaves and 2 fish never received the blessing from Jesus, it would never have fed the vast crowd.

4. It has to be given away to multiply as God desires...

So often we want God to multiply the blessings in our lives, but often the message of scripture is to give away what we have been given and we will be blessed even more.

Just consider the boy in this story... It is likely that all he consumed was the equivalent to what he brought (5 loaves and 2 fish). In other words, he didn't necessarily receive any extra food by giving up what he had... but everyone else did.

5. When God multiplies there is more than enough...

The disciples thought there was not enough: Not enough cash to buy food for all and not enough food on-hand. But what little they had, when multiplied by a factor of God… there was more than enough.

Typically, when you multiply something by 1, it stays the same. (5x1=5)… But when the 1 is God, it changes everything.

When the Lord enters the equation, the potential is limitless. Me multiplied by God equals infinite potential. What’s mine multiplied by God equals infinite potential.

So, what do you have to give?

Last week we started a series called "Bath Math" looking at places in scripture that seem like the numbers don't add up. Well, in Luke 18, we come across a story of a man trying to add things up in his life. He takes the problem to Jesus and is given a weird equation. Check it out...