STRENGTH IN NUMBERS
(Monday, May 29)
“Now when Abram heard that his brother was taken captive, he armed his three hundred and eighteen trained servants who were born in his own house, and went in pursuit as far as Dan.” (Gen 14:14)
Yesterday in the Orthodox Church we celebrated the Sunday of the 318 Fathers of the First Ecumenical Council, which condemned the heresy of Arius and re-affirmed our faith in the divinity of Jesus Christ. The first Old Testament reading at Vespers was from Genesis 14, quoted above, where the number 318 occurs, as the number of trained servants that it took Abram to rescue “his brother.” What is the meaning of the number 318, both in the story of the First Ecumenical Council, and in the story of Abram rescuing his brother? In ancient Greek, numbers are written in letters, and the letter-numbers for 318 are “TIH.” These letters, as the Epistle of Barnabas explains, stand for the Cross (because the “T” or “tau” looks like a cross), and for the first two letters of the name of Jesus (IHsous). Justin Martyr explained that these letters are the acronym for “Theos IHsous” (God Jesus). While Cabalist and Gnostic sources provide yet other explanations, we are given to understand in the Christian explanation that in the cases of the First Ecumenical Council and of Abram’s rescue of “his brother” the Church sees our “rescue” or “salvation” coming not from the (number of) people involved, but from Christ.
So, numbers are not random in church-tradition, (think of the Ascension on the 40th day, Pentecost on the 50th day, or the 12 Apostles, a number that for some reason needed to be maintained by the election of Matthias), nor are the numbers by which we order our lives, when we are mindful of numbers rather than fearful of them. For example, when we watch the number of hours or minutes we spend sleeping, on social media, on praying or healthy reading or working out; or when we watch our exact weight gain or loss on the scales; the amount of money we spend on this or that; the exact times and dates that we visit the dentist, an elderly relative, etc., – we tend to have more order, more discipline in our lives, by being mindful of numbers. Ignoring the numbers, on the other hand, if we ignore them routinely, will lead us to all sorts of chaos and ultimately fear. This is why they say, one can’t be a disciple without discipline. This is also why some ancient philosophers, like the Pythagoreans, considered numbers divine in origin. Let me note the strength of numbers in my life and be grateful for them, mindful of them, this Monday.
