Leadership through Discipleship #21

Philip, The Power of Sufficiency

“Philip said to Him, "Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us” (John 14:8).

Jesus sought and found Philip in the same town as the first four disciples. After the two sets of brothers, Peter and Andrew, and James and John, Philip is always listed next in the order of the disciples. John is the only gospel writer to give us detailed information about this disciple. Upon the call of Jesus, Philip shares the news with Nathanael who appears to be skeptical but comes to follow Jesus as well.

After this initial introduction to Philip we are given three more narratives where he is mentioned with Jesus. At the feeding of the 5,000 Jesus asked Philip how they would feed the great multitude coming out to hear Jesus. In a quick assessment Philip determined it would be much greater than what they could provide even if the supply was available. He said, “Two hundred denarii worth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may have a little” (John 6:7). A denarius was the equivalent of a day’s wage in the first century.

Philip appears to be a pragmatic rationalist. He sees things the way they are and determines the impossibility of the task. He judges things “sufficient” or “insufficient” and this time he says even if we had the day’s wages for 200 men it would not be enough to feed this multitude. Andrew is almost apologetic as he offers that a lad in the crowd had a lunch of five loaves and two fishes, and says, “but what are they among so many” (John 6:9). Jesus was testing their faith. He then took the lunch, blessed it, broke it and fed the multitude with many baskets of leftovers!

Philip is with the disciples another time when Jesus began speaking of His imminent death. He said, “You know the way.” It was Thomas who spoke up and said, “No, Lord, we don’t know the way.” Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6). Then Philip responded, “Show us the father and it is sufficient for us” (John 14:8). Again Philip is judging what is or is not sufficient! What he missed was the fact that Jesus was the Father among mankind. Jesus said, "Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, 'Show us the Father'?” (John 14:9).

While Philip was concerned with what was sufficient, Jesus was ready to reveal heaven’s secrets. In the mind of Philip, everything has a value and you either have enough or not. But, Jesus came to show him the abundance of His provision and the vastness of his person. This isn’t just a rabbi, a prophet, or a leader. This is God in flesh, the Creator come down to visit His creation. The Father has walked their roads and felt their pain. What Jesus came to perform was more than sufficient, it was abundant. He said, “I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly” (John 10:10). The power of sufficiency is found in His abundance!