In all the lists of the disciples, Phillip is always the 5th one listed and it is theorized that he was the leader of the second group of four disciples. This Phillip is not to be confused with the deacon Phillip that is mentioned in the 6th chapter of Acts. Phillip was from Bathsaida the same as Andrew and Peter. And as we discovered last week, Phillip was close friends with one of the other disciples, Nathanael.
Phillip is unique within the group of disciples as he is the only disciple with a Greek name. Now Phillip must have been Jewish as scripture also tells us that all of Jesus’ disciples were Jewish. Tradition would have it that even a converted Jew would have been given a Hebrew name, but no mention of Phillip’s Hebrew name is ever made. Phillip is most likely a part of the group later referred to as the Hellenistic Jews.
What really makes Phillip unique amongst the twelve is also what makes him ordinary enough for us to identify with him. Phillip is a “by-the-book” guy. He is a facts and figures guy. He is pragmatic in his thinking. He was narrow-minded. He was not a forward thinker. He might have been described as a pessimist, a kill-joy, a cynic, a defeatist.
One writer jokingly referred to him as the “bean-counter” of the twelve. Phillip would have been the type of person that would speak up at a meeting saying, “I don’t think we can do that because . . . . “ He was the type of person that always has reasons why something won’t work. He was the type of person that struggled with accepting that things will happen by faith.
This pragmatic one. Phillip, wants to be a forward thinker, but as we will discover has a hard time not constantly counting all the chickens. Spiritually, Phillip’s heart is in the right place, but his faith is weak.
Phillip recognizes Jesus as the Messiah, God’s son. It is his weak faith that cannot allow him to get past the pragmatic side of life.
It is this pragmatic side that makes Phillip ordinary. It is the part of our own lives that reduces us to being ordinary as well – each of us becomes ordinary when life is reduced to what we believe are the possibilities – what we can see and/or count. That brings us to today’s story of counting chickens:When Jesus looked out and saw that a large crowd had arrived, he said to Philip, "Where can we buy bread to feed these people?" He said this to stretch Philip's faith. He already knew what he was going to do. (John 6:5-6)
It is not by accident that Phillip is the one asked the big question, “How are we going to do this?” We know that Judas was the keeper of money, but it would stand to reason that Phillip may have been the one charged with arranging meals and taking care of the logistics for the group. This would have been a great use of his talents and abilities as revealed in his personality.
Now the non-pragmatic answer would have been easy to give in hindsight. (Most of us escape are pragmatic nature in hindsight!). Most pragmatists are really good at this. Phillip was really good at this.
Remember last week we learned that Jesus found Phillip and offered him the invitation, “Follow Me.” But to hear Phillip tell it, Phillip found Jesus! (John 1:43-44). Hindsight is always perfect and never wrong.
Remember, Phillip was at the wedding in Cana. He had already witnessed that Jesus was capable of amazing things. In this moment, could he stop counting people long enough to take a step a faith? And in his reply, we see how ordinary you can become even in the presence of Jesus:
Philip answered, "Two hundred silver pieces wouldn't be enough to buy bread for each person to get a piece." (John 6:7 NIV)
There it is - a very pragmatic answer to the problem at hand.
"There is no way we can do this!" His response is driven by the analytical, the pragmatic, the material, the earth, reality. His answer is driven by what he can see and count – people and money.
But, Jesus wasn’t looking for a plan? The scripture says it was a test. Jesus already knew what he was going to do.
Phillip was probably so busy counting heads as he saw the time of day passing. Phillip was busy calculating the impossibility of it all.
Even though he recognized the one who was with him as the Son of God, he could not get past the reality of life that was in front of him. The reality was very real. There were over 5000 people to be fed. (Historic records would estimate that the crowd was actually 10-20,000 that day with women and children included)
In hindsight, I bet Phillip told people he said, “Lord if you want to feed them, then let’s feed ‘em. There’s no earthly way to get it done, but you, Lord, can do the impossible. Show me what to do so that I can be a part of this.”
But no, Phillip’s lack of faith leaves him on the sideline as a witness to the miraculous feeding of the 5000 instead of as a willing participant.
Jesus was teaching this ordinary man that in order to become extraordinary you need a little faith. Stop counting the chickens, Phillip. Trust that the provision needed will be there. You do your part and leave the rest up to me.
Remember all that God has done. Remember all that you have been witness to – close your eyes, stop counting, and believe. I have extraordinary things in store for you.
Phillip would struggle with his faith all the way to the end. Phillip is still struggling with the pragmatic side of his faith even after three years with Jesus. (John 14:8) He has the audacity to say, “Show us the father and that will be enough.” What had he been watching? Had he not seen enough in the past three years or was he to busy counting all the time to have noticed?
Phillip may have been pragmatic to a fault, but he was also among the first of the disciples to be martyred. He was stoned in Asia Minor, but he is also credited with bringing multitudes to faith – faith without seeing – through his preaching and teaching.
Perhaps those from the outside would ask, “Why would Jesus take such an unusual group of common men with ordinary ability to accomplish such an extraordinary work?” Simply put Jesus needed and wanted those individuals that would make themselves available – and if they wanted to count chickens along the way that would be okay.
Because eventually even the most pragmatic of His followers will discover that a little faith goes a long way when you are trying to become extraordinary.
What is keeping you from becoming extraordinary today?
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