Sermon Snippet – Jesus Gives Thanks
INTRODUCTION – We know that being thankful is a positive thing, whether it is a simple “Thank you” to others or to our Savior God. It is a reasonable response to any act of kindness. One of the best aspects of our current culture is that we still celebrate a national holiday that diverts our thoughts to the giving of thanks. Today, let us learn from Jesus, God the Son, about this Scriptural subject.
1. JESUS GIVES THANKS AS HE FULFILLS THE OLD TESTAMENT
As we studied last week, our Lord fulfills the requirements of the Old Testament and its Messianic prophecy, and He does so perfectly. Because Jesus was a devout Jewish person, He would have sung the Psalms, including Psalm 105:1-2 and Psalm 106:1-3. These two examples (of many) reveal the thankful heart of Jesus: it is His nature to be thankful. Thus, Jesus keeps the Old Testament as He sings. He is also thankful as He fulfills the Messianic prophecy of Psalm 116:17 (see also verse 13). This hymn was sung after the Passover meal. As Jesus sings about “sacrifice,” He is giving thanks as He fulfills the Old Testament.
2. JESUS GIVES THANKS AS HE OPENS OUR MINDS TO SPIRITUAL TRUTH
Luke 10:21-22 records Jesus’ buoyant response to the ministry of seventy disciples that He had sent to spread the Gospel. He is particularly grateful for God the Father’s revelation of truth to these faithful ones and for their reception of that truth. Education is good, but degree upon degree cannot match the divine work of God in opening our minds to spiritual truth. Anyone who knows Jesus as Savior understands the most profound truth in the universe. Let us thus be deeply grateful for each person who apprehends this saving truth, including the youngest believers.
3. JESUS GIVES THANKS AS HE MEETS OUR NEEDS
One example is found in Matthew 15:32-38. His prayer of thanksgiving before providing food for very hungry people is more than the saying of grace, for it is an expression of Jesus’ “compassion.” He is thankful that He can meet our needs, and He wants us to share in that divine enjoyment: “Every good and perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights” (James 1:17a), “Who giveth us richly all things to enjoy” (I Timothy 6:17d).
4. JESUS GIVES THANKS AS HE PREPARES TO DIE FOR OUR ETERNAL SALVATION
As Jesus institutes the Communion service in Luke 22:19-20, He twice gives thanks for what He deems the privilege of dying on the Cross for us (and, as we have already seen, He also sings His thanks from Psalm 116). Words fail, but Jesus does not. In less than twenty-four hours from this time, Jesus would die from cruel crucifixion; He knows the timing and the reality, and He gives thanks.
5. JESUS GIVES THANKS AS HE PROVIDES LIFE
Chronologically, John 11:41-44 occurs some time before the previous point. Theologically, it is a fitting way to close this message, for Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead, just as He will do for us one day and for all who trust in Him. It is instructive also that Jesus does not find prayer to be perfunctory or formulaic; rather, He is grateful for the opportunity to communicate with His Father.
CONCLUSION – May each of us be part of the thanksgiving of Jesus by trusting in Him as Savior. As His eternal family, may we be humbled by His attitude of gratitude, and may we learn to be a thankful people.