Coincidence or God-Wink Moment? Divine Numbers: The ‘Miraculous’ John 3:16 Pattern in Tim Tebow’s Historic NFL Game

Editor’s Note: Many of us, who are believers have often seen God, the ‘Creator of the Universe’ perform miraculous things. One of my favorite scriptures is found in 1 Corinthians 1:27 “But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.”
I witnessed ‘miracles’ with passage of both my 1st Amendment legislation which cut taxes from monthly newspaper and my 2nd Amendment legislation—which cut taxes off of gun safes and gun safety devices. I recall a very sharp legislative attorney ask me in a very inquisitive manner “How did you get that bill passed?” I said “I prayed about it.” He then says ‘No, seriously. How did you do it?” I again said “I prayed about it.” Both pieces of legislation, which the mainstream media will never report saved the taxpayers of Tennessee hundreds of thousands of dollars, plus the second amendment tax cut helps to keep stolen guns off our streets and make our communities safer—feel free to fact check me.

The ‘Miraculous’ Tim Tebow Story of John 3:16

Tim Tebow’s relationship with the Bible verse John 3:16 defies conventional explanation. The verse reads, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

On January 8, 2009, Florida quarterback Tebow wrote “John 3:16” in his eye black for the BCS National Championship game against Oklahoma. The Gators won, and an extraordinary 90 million people googled the Bible verse afterward. The NCAA would ban eye black messages the following year.

Exactly three years later, on January 8, 2012, Tebow took the field as quarterback for the Denver Broncos in his first NFL playoff game against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Without any planned reference to the verse, the following statistics emerged:

– Tebow threw for 316 passing yards
– His yards per completion averaged 31.6 (an NFL postseason record)
– CBS’s final ratings for the game were 31.6
– Pittsburgh’s time of possession was 31:06

After leading Denver to victory with an 80-yard overtime touchdown pass, Tebow learned of these numbers from a PR representative. His response: “A lot of people will say it’s coincidence. I say big God.”

The statistical anomaly gained even more weight considering Tebow’s own origin story. His mother Pamela, a Baptist missionary in the Philippines, was advised to terminate her pregnancy after falling into a coma from amoebic dysentery. She chose to continue the pregnancy, giving birth to Tim in August 1987.

Whether viewed through the lens of faith or probability, the numerical alignment around John 3:16 in Tebow’s career remains one of sports’ most intriguing statistical phenomena.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Do You Believe?