Pi is a transcendental number: in simplest terms, it can't be constructed using a compass or a straightedge, or expressed using any combination of rational numbers or square roots (thanks, Wikipedia for the description). It transcends algebraic expression.
I've always liked the word "transcend." It means to surpass or to exist beyond natural or common experience. Jesus expresses the transcendence of God's love often, comparing it to what we know: the love earthly parents have for their own children.
“Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” (Luke 11:11-13)
You know how much you love your child, Jesus tells us. God loves you that much, and more!
Pi is also described as an "irrational" number, meaning we can't write it out as a common fraction. In other words, it is indescribable in the simple arithmetical terms of a ratio of two integers. It is irrational because it defies the definition of a "rational" number.
Scripture tells us God also defies what man considers "rational."
For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written:
Where is the wise person? Where is the teacher of the law? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. (1 Corinthians 1:18-21)“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise;
the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.”
Romans 5:8 tells us God demonstrated His love for us in that "While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." The Message puts it this way: "while we were of no use whatever to him." Objectivist Ayn Rand would suggest this is the very definition of irrational. And yet, so great is God's love for us, it is beyond our understanding, and beyond our earthly wisdom. God's love is beyond our very comprehension.
Because Pi is irrational -- that is, it can't be expressed as a simple fraction -- it is also unending. To date, mathematicians have calculated Pi to more than 10 trillion decimal places -- and it's still going.
1 John 4:8 tells us God is Love. Scripture also tells us God is eternal, and grants eternal life to those who believe.
Think of it! If God is love, and God is eternal, that means this God, who irrationally sent his son to die while we were still in our sin -- a sacrifice to cover our own mistakes -- whose love transcends even the greatest and most powerful love we can know in this world, loves you eternally!
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