the King’s math
"[My King] has riches beyond the calculation of arithmetic, the measurement of reason, the dream of imagination, or the eloquence of words. They are unsearchable!” - Charles Spurgeon's reflection on Ephesians 3:8 "…the unsearchable riches of Christ."
"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight." Proverbs 3:5-6
Let’s Get Classy!
I wouldn't necessarily say that I have always had a particular love for math, but I will admit that as a kid I did absolutely love it when I learned about the zero multiplication table! In my young mind, multiplying by zero was like the ultimate magic trick; I knew that whatever else was going on in the equation multiplying by zero always changed everything. I remember asking family members to name any number…really big numbers…the biggest most outrageous number they could think of…and then I would say to them, "multiplied by zero equals zero!" Amazing! No matter how big or complex or seemingly impossible the number or math problem, adding a multiplied by zero into the equation changed it all…
WHAT IF… Jesus added into the equation changes absolutely everything? Really, I know it sounds simple, but how often do we have a tendency to employ and let our powers of knowledge, reason and deduction limit (at least in our minds) what Jesus is able to do and accomplish in any given situation and circumstance?
So let's envision this time today a little bit like getting to go to class (hopefully a really fun and helpful class) filled with wonder, surprise, creativity and maybe even a little something outside of the box. As part of 'class' today, we will be practicing The King's Math (there will actually be a quiz at the end!).
Pause for a moment now and ask God to settle your heart and mind that, in this intentional space today, you would receive from Him what He wants to show you about Jesus (even if it's surprising!) and enable you to sit with Him and savor it together.
About this Guide
Feel free to approach this guide and this time as you see fit. There is no pressure to have an amazing life altering experience and there is no prize for completing everything in this guide…you might not even make it through one of the sections. This is a time to intentionally make space to be with God. Linger for a while where you feel most engaged and understood. Skip sections if you wish, but avoid hurrying through. Your Heavenly Father has given you this spacious place and is delighted to be with you…
Settling In
WE are all in this together
As you begin this journey, be encouraged in knowing you are not alone. Many others, connected through our shared home office community, are also meeting with God today. Each of you uniquely reflects God's image through the particular and special ways that He has designed you. Each time we come together, we have the precious opportunity to see a fuller picture of who God is as expressed through our collective image bearing. Pause for a moment. Reflect on this beautiful tapestry of individuals, each one a unique thread in God's grand design. Then, pray for them and for yourself that you will have a real sense of the Lord's presence and favor.
Check Your Baggage with Jesus
You are most likely coming into today with myriad concerns, worries, frustrations, hopes, desires, and expectations. Begin by giving those over to Jesus: With just a word or two for each, make a list of these things on paper or in your head.
Pray a short prayer of surrender over each item as you entrust them to Jesus. Another option to engage your whole body: locate some small rocks to represent each of the items; as you go for a short walk, pray a short prayer of surrender over each item/rock and then drop that rock.
The Anchor: An Important Tool for the Journey
It is quite possible that over the course of the day things will get stirred up inside of you leaving you feeling unsettled, disconnected and/or fragmented. Just like a boat anchor keeps the boat securely tethered to solid ground despite the water getting stirred up, it could be helpful as you enter in to have a sort of anchor that will tether your thoughts to solid truths about who God is and who you are.
Write down a word/phrase or draw an image that reminds you of God's power and goodness to provide for you as His beloved child. Come back to this any time throughout the day when you need to be reminded that you are securely held onto.
Doing the Math!
Wherever and whenever King Jesus is on the move impossibility becomes possibility, scarcity becomes abundance, brokenness becomes wholeness, loss becomes gain, death becomes life, sinners become saints, enemies become sons and daughters… In Him, we discover that the oft assumed arithmetic of our earthly existence gets turned upside down when we catch a glimpse of a heavenly wisdom that defies human calculation and predicted outcomes.
In Jesus' Kingdom, our limited resources encounter limitless grace and provision where our weakness becomes the stage for His strength and our sin and failure become the backdrop for His victorious redemption to shine forth. His Kingdom presses well beyond the boundaries of our own wisdom, strength and resources revealing that what we would otherwise consider fixed limitations are actually invitations for His glory to be revealed!
The King's Math Equations
Each of the following "King's Math Equations" are accompanied by the gospel passages from with they are drawn. Try to engage with the passage as if hearing it again for the first time noticing the unexpected nature of the kingdom at work. Pray that the Holy Spirit would help you to wonder and be surprised again at how 'the math doesn't add up' when King Jesus is a part of the equation. What is it God might be inviting you to notice, hear or consider today?
6 empty stone pots + 120 gallons of water + Jesus = fine quality wine for an entire wedding party
John 2:1-12 (New International Version)
On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there, and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. When the wine was gone, Jesus’ mother said to him, “They have no more wine.” “Woman, why do you involve me?” Jesus replied. “My hour has not yet come.” His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.” Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing, each holding from twenty to thirty gallons. Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water”; so they filled them to the brim. Then he told them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet.” They did so, and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine. He did not realize where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew. Then he called the bridegroom aside and said, “Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now.” What Jesus did here in Cana of Galilee was the first of the signs through which he revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him. After this he went down to Capernaum with his mother and brothers and his disciples. There they stayed for a few days.
2
Matthew 14:13-21 (New International Version)
When Jesus heard what had happened, he withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place. Hearing of this, the crowds followed him on foot from the towns. When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them and healed their sick. As evening approached, the disciples came to him and said, “This is a remote place, and it’s already getting late. Send the crowds away, so they can go to the villages and buy themselves some food.” Jesus replied, “They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat.” “We have here only five loaves of bread and two fish,” they answered.
“Bring them here to me,” he said. And he directed the people to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people. They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. The number of those who ate was about five thousand men, besides women and children.
Mark 2:1-12 (New International Version)
A few days later, when Jesus again entered Capernaum, the people heard that he had come home. They gathered in such large numbers that there was no room left, not even outside the door, and he preached the word to them. Some men came, bringing to him a paralyzed man, carried by four of them. Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus by digging through it and then lowered the mat the man was lying on. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralyzed man, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” Now some teachers of the law were sitting there, thinking to themselves, “Why does this fellow talk like that? He’s blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?” Immediately Jesus knew in his spirit that this was what they were thinking in their hearts, and he said to them, “Why are you thinking these things? Which is easier: to say to this paralyzed man, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, take your mat and walk’? But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So he said to the man, “I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.” He got up, took his mat and walked out in full view of them all. This amazed everyone and they praised God, saying, “We have never seen anything like this!”
Luke 7:36-50 (New International Version)
When one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with him, he went to the Pharisee’s house and reclined at the table. A woman in that town who lived a sinful life learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee’s house, so she came there with an alabaster jar of perfume.
As she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them. When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him and what kind of woman she is—that she is a sinner.” Jesus answered him, “Simon, I have something to tell you.” “Tell me, teacher,” he said. “Two people owed money to a certain moneylender. One owed him five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. Neither of them had the money to pay him back, so he forgave the debts of both. Now which of them will love him more?” Simon replied, “I suppose the one who had the bigger debt forgiven.” “You have judged correctly,” Jesus said. Then he turned toward the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You did not give me any water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet. You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet. Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—as her great love has shown. But whoever has been forgiven little loves little.” Then Jesus said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.” The other guests began to say among themselves, “Who is this who even forgives sins?” Jesus said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”
1 tax collector + 1 sycamore tree + curiosity + Jesus = a transformed life and a lost son found
Luke 19:1-10 (New International Version)
Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy. He wanted to see who Jesus was, but because he was short he could not see over the crowd. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way. When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.” So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly. All the people saw this and began to mutter, “He has gone to be the guest of a sinner.” But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.” Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”
1
Samaritan woman + 1 well + midday shame + Jesus = living water and an entire village coming to faith
John 4:4-42 (New International Version)
Now he had to go through Samaria. So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about noon.
When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?” (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.) The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.) Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.” “Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his livestock?” Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.” He told her, “Go, call your husband and come back.” “I have no husband,” she replied. Jesus said to her, “You are right when you say you have no husband. The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.” “Sir,” the woman said, “I can see that you are a prophet. Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.” “Woman,” Jesus replied, “believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.”
The woman said, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ) “is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.” Then Jesus declared, “I, the one speaking to you—I am he.”
Just then his disciples returned and were surprised to find him talking with a woman. But no one asked, “What do you want?” or “Why are you talking with her?” Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?” They came out of the town and made their way toward him. Meanwhile his disciples urged him, “Rabbi, eat something.” But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you know nothing about.”
Then his disciples said to each other, “Could someone have brought him food?” “My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work. Don’t you have a saying, ‘It’s still four months until harvest’? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest. Even now the one who reaps draws a wage and harvests a crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together. Thus the saying ‘One sows and another reaps’ is true. I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labor.”
Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I ever did.” So when the Samaritans came to him, they urged him to stay with them, and he stayed two days. And because of his words many more became believers. They said to the woman, “We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world.”
1 blind man + spit + mud + Jesus = sight restored and God's glory revealed
John 9:1-12 (New International Version)
As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” “Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him. As long as it is day, we must do the works of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work. While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” After saying this, he spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the man’s eyes. “Go,” he told him, “wash in the Pool of Siloam” (this word means “Sent”). So the man went and washed, and came home seeing. His neighbors and those who had formerly seen him begging asked, “Isn’t this the same man who used to sit and beg?” Some claimed that he was. Others said, “No, he only looks like him.”
But he himself insisted, “I am the man.” “How then were your eyes opened?” they asked. He replied, “The man they call Jesus made some mud and put it on my eyes. He told me to go to Siloam and wash. So I went and washed, and then I could see.” “Where is this man?” they asked him. “I don’t know,” he said.
1 crown of thorns + 2 wooden crossbeams + 3 nails + 1 spear + 1 empty tomb + Jesus = love, grace, forgiveness, salvation, transformation and freedom available to all
John 19:1-20:10 (New International Version)
Then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged. The soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head. They clothed him in a purple robe and went up to him again and again, saying, “Hail, king of the Jews!” And they slapped him in the face. Once more Pilate came out and said to the Jews gathered there, “Look, I am bringing him out to you to let you know that I find no basis for a charge against him.” 5 When Jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe, Pilate said to them, “Here is the man!” As soon as the chief priests and their officials saw him, they shouted, “Crucify! Crucify!”
But Pilate answered, “You take him and crucify him. As for me, I find no basis for a charge against him.” The Jewish leaders insisted, “We have a law, and according to that law he must die, because he claimed to be the Son of God.” When Pilate heard this, he was even more afraid, and he went back inside the palace. “Where do you come from?” he asked Jesus, but Jesus gave him no answer. “Do you refuse to speak to me?” Pilate said. “Don’t you realize I have power either to free you or to crucify you?” Jesus answered, “You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above. Therefore the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin.” From then on, Pilate tried to set Jesus free, but the Jewish leaders kept shouting, “If you let this man go, you are no friend of Caesar. Anyone who claims to be a king opposes Caesar.” When Pilate heard this, he brought Jesus out and sat down on the judge’s seat at a place known as the Stone Pavement (which in Aramaic is Gabbatha). It was the day of Preparation of the Passover; it was about noon. “Here is your king,” Pilate said to the Jews. But they shouted, “Take him away! Take him away! Crucify him!” “Shall I crucify your king?” Pilate asked. “We have no king but Caesar,” the chief priests answered. Finally Pilate handed him over to them to be crucified.
So the soldiers took charge of Jesus. Carrying his own cross, he went out to the place of the Skull (which in Aramaic is called Golgotha). There they crucified him, and with him two others—one on each side and Jesus in the middle. Pilate had a notice prepared and fastened to the cross. It read: Jesus of Nazareth, the king of the jews. Many of the Jews read this sign, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and the sign was written in Aramaic, Latin and Greek. The chief priests of the Jews protested to Pilate, “Do not write ‘The King of the Jews,’ but that this man claimed to be king of the Jews.” Pilate answered, “What I have written, I have written.” When the soldiers crucified Jesus, they took his clothes, dividing them into four shares, one for each of them, with the undergarment remaining. This garment was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom. “Let’s not tear it,” they said to one another. “Let’s decide by lot who will get it.” This happened that the scripture might be fulfilled that said,“They divided my clothes among them and cast lots for my garment.” So this is what the soldiers did. Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother, his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to her, “Woman, here is your son,” and to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” From that time on, this disciple took her into his home.
Later, knowing that everything had now been finished, and so that Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, “I am thirsty.” A jar of wine vinegar was there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put the sponge on a stalk of the hyssop plant, and lifted it to Jesus’ lips. When he had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished.” With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. Now it was the day of Preparation, and the next day was to be a special Sabbath. Because the Jewish leaders did not want the bodies left on the crosses during the Sabbath, they asked Pilate to have the legs broken and the bodies taken down. The soldiers therefore came and broke the legs of the first man who had been crucified with Jesus, and then those of the other. But when they came to Jesus and found that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. Instead, one of the soldiers pierced Jesus’ side with a spear, bringing a sudden flow of blood and water. The man who saw it has given testimony, and his testimony is true. He knows that he tells the truth, and he testifies so that you also may believe. These things happened so that the scripture would be fulfilled: “Not one of his bones will be broken,” and, as another scripture says, “They will look on the one they have pierced.”
Later, Joseph of Arimathea asked Pilate for the body of Jesus. Now Joseph was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly because he feared the Jewish leaders. With Pilate’s permission, he came and took the body away. He was accompanied by Nicodemus, the man who earlier had visited Jesus at night. Nicodemus brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds. Taking Jesus’ body, the two of them wrapped it, with the spices, in strips of linen. This was in accordance with Jewish burial customs. At the place where Jesus was crucified, there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb, in which no one had ever been laid. Because it was the Jewish day of Preparation and since the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there.
Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!” So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. Then Simon Peter came along behind him and went straight into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, as well as the cloth that had been wrapped around Jesus’ head. The cloth was still lying in its place, separate from the linen. Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed. (They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.) Then the disciples went back to where they were staying.
Old Math
Now it's your turn. As you reflect on your own journey, what divine equations has God written in your life? Consider moments when your circumstances seemed impossible, your resources felt inadequate or your situation appeared hopeless when Jesus entered the picture. What transformation occurred? What multiplication took place? What healing and redemption unfolded? Take time with Jesus to remember together and reflect on your own personal equations. Write them down, celebrate them and give God thanks for working in ways beyond what you could imagine.
New Math
Having looked back to remember what was, take some time now to consider what is and, with Jesus, what could be. Are there ways that you, in your own wisdom, are defining what is possible? Are there ways that you need to repent of working out the math on your own?
Ask the Lord to help you honestly consider and talk with Him about the following areas:
In Your Work
Are you calculating success and impact based solely on your skills, competencies or performance? How do you account for the colleagues, teammates and coworkers God has placed around you?
(Your limited abilities + their unique gifts and image bearing + Jesus = how might Jesus multiply not just your individual efforts, but transform your workplace relationships into kingdom partnerships? what unexpected doors might open?)
In Your Relationships
Where have you given up on connection, healing or growth with those closest to you? Consider those relationships where you have calculated that nothing will change.
(Your exhausted efforts + their resistance + Jesus = what restoration might be possible?)
What about that relationship that feels stuck in old patterns? Are you open to Jesus transforming not just their heart, but yours as well?
(Your repeated attempts + their familiar responses + Jesus = what breakthrough in understanding and love could emerge?)
With Difficult People
Think about that challenging neighbor, that impossible family member or even those you consider enemies.
(Your frustration + their stubbornness + Jesus = what transformation might God have in mind?)
With Those That Are Lost
Consider the people in your life who seem furthest from God.
(Your inadequate words + their hardened hearts + Jesus = what miraculous testimony of salvation could unfold?)
In Broken Places
Where do you see brokenness in your community, your family and the world that feels beyond repair?
(Your limited resources + seemingly hopeless situations + Jesus = what resurrection story might God be writing?)
With Dreams and Calling
What dreams has God placed in your heart that you have dismissed as impossible because of your age, education, resources or past failures?
(Your insufficiency + God's call + Jesus = what beautiful expression of purpose and provision awaits?)
The Multiplying Effect of Jesus That Moves Us Into Mission
When Jesus enters the equation, He does not just provide what we need, He transforms us into channels of the very grace and love we have received. Notice how those who encountered Jesus and His rich provision could not contain what they had experienced: the woman at the well ran to tell her entire village, the healed man became a living testimony of Jesus' power and the disciples who witnessed the feeding of the 5,000 went on to feed multitudes the bread of life through the gospel. They had tasted God's abundant grace and it overflowed into a generous love for others.
This is the beautiful paradox of the King's Math: as we receive His grace, we become grace-givers; as we experience His love, we become love-bearers. The grace we have received becomes the grace we give and the love that has found us becomes the love we offer to others still calculating their lives without Him. In light of this, consider one final equation in the King's Math:
You + King Jesus = how is He inviting you to participate in the advancement of His Kingdom and the renewal of all things for His glory and the world's good?
Leaving But Not Left Alone
As our day of spiritual retreat draws to a close, take a moment to breathe. Allow your experience of this time to settle into the quiet spaces of your heart as you take note of those things that emerged for you today. Do you get the sense that these are important and may warrant more processing and prayer? Write those down now and ask the Spirit to bring them to mind at another time as part of your ongoing conversations with God. At this point, you may be ready (and needing) to revisit some of the things you handed off to Jesus at the beginning of the day. He is not only able to hold those for you, but He is also ready and willing to hold those things with you. In light of what you have experienced today, begin praying through those things considering the ways that you can invite Jesus into them with you. Perhaps God gave you a word, phrase or image today that you can pray over them.
As you depart, go in peace, go in wonder, go knowing in the whole of your being that you are profoundly and uniquely loved.
The King's Math is an adaptation and expansion of the + Jesus equation concept from Warner, Larry. Discernment, God's Will & Living Jesus Middletown, DE: Barefoot, 2016