Jesus' Model of Thankfulness
Thanksgiving is just around the corner, so, this week I wanted to take a look at a symbol of Thanksgiving and how it correlates to our walk Christian walk and the model of thankfulness that Jesus gave us.
The symbol I want to look at is the cornucopia or “horn of plenty”. We’ve all seen this symbol, the horn or basket filled and overflowing with fruit and bread and vegetables, all sorts of wonderfully delicious things to eat and/or drink. The cornucopia’s origins are in ancient Greece, but it has come to be associated with Thanksgiving since it is a symbol of harvest and abundance. In fact, in one legend, the cornucopia was a source of endless food and drink, refilling itself with whatever its owner requested.
With that as a backdrop, let’s change gears and look at the idea of thankfulness, and, specifically, the model that Jesus gave us.
What was Jesus thankful for?
In fact, while there are multiple verses that instruct us to be grateful, and to have a heart of thanksgiving, there are only a few places in the Bible that mention Jesus giving thanks. However, these few instances can teach us some profound things about what it means to give thanks.
Jesus was thankful for what He had, even when it didn’t seem like enough.
Matthew 15:36 “he took the seven loaves and the fish, and having given thanks he broke them and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds.”
Mark 8:6 “And he directed the crowd to sit down on the ground. And he took the seven loaves, and having given thanks, he broke them and gave them to his disciples to set before the people; and they set them before the crowd.”
John 6:11 “Jesus then took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated. So also the fish, as much as they wanted.”
If you are familiar with the story that these verses come from you know that this was one of the miracles that Jesus performed, feeding the 4,000 (or 5,000) men, along with their families, with only a few loaves of bread and some fish.
What we see here, though, is that Jesus expresses thanks for what He has, in contrast to the Disciples' fear and anxiety about what they lacked. Even though what He had was nowhere near what was logically considered sufficient or desirable, He was grateful for what had been provided, and in the same way, when we look at our lives, we may not have everything that we feel or think we need or want. We may think that what we have is not enough to do anything with or to help or that what we have is basically the same as having nothing, but Jesus teaches us to be thankful for what we have been given and to move forward in faith, which brings us to the next point.
Jesus was thankful that God heard His prayers, and He was thankful in faith, expressing gratitude for things not yet done or received, but believed, in faith, to be coming.
John 11:41-44 “So they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I said this on account of the people standing around, that they may believe that you sent me.” When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out.” The man who had died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”
Here we see an amazing act of thankfulness. One of Jesus’ close friends had just died, and Jesus is asking God to raise him from the dead. In this request He thanks God for hearing Him, for listening to, and the implication is, answering, His prayer. However, nothing had happened yet. This thankfulness came before the event.
It is common to express thanks after having received something, but it is rare to express thanks before having received it. This shows the depth of Jesus’ faith that we are to model. Just as Jesus expressed thanks for the provision of the fish and bread in the previous example, He was also expressing thanks for the multiplication that would happen. In the same way, here He expressed thanks for the healing of Lazurus, before it happened. He was able to do this because He knew that God heard and answered His prayers.
He says that God always hears Him, and by implication, always answers Him, but how can that be? Are we to believe that God grants our every wish and desire?
John 14:13-14 “Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.”
We see here that God does, indeed do whatever we ask, if it is asked in His name, and according to His will. The closer we are to God, the closer we walk with Him, the more our requests will mirror His will, and we can have faith and be thankful that He hears and answers.
This is an important aspect to understand, because, as we’ll see in the final example, sometimes, the things that we are asked to do, or allowed to experience are not really what we would want or ask for if operating according to our will, but they are what God wills.
Jesus was thankful for God’s promises and covenant, and He was thankful, even, for the suffering He was about to endure.
Matthew 26:27 “And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you,”
Mark 14:23 “And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, and they all drank of it.”
Luke 22:17 “And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he said, “Take this, and divide it among yourselves.”
Luke 22:19 ”And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”
When Jesus was offering thanks at this meal, it wasn’t a simple expression of gratitude for some good food. He was thankful that God keeps His promises, that He saves His people, that He was providing a means of salvation from sin. He was thankful for the fact that He was about to suffer and die. This is a hard thing to grasp.
Jesus didn’t want to suffer and die. It was not in His human will for that to happen, but He asked that God’s will be done, not His own.
Sometimes, God allows us to go through times of difficulty or frustration or annoyance or exhaustion or pain or confusion, and it has nothing to do with us. The hardship that we are facing is not about hurting us, but helping someone else. We may not see it in the moment, we may never see it, but when we are instructed to be thankful in all circumstances, it very well may be for this reason, and we see Jesus model this beautifully as He expresses thanksgiving for the suffering He is about to endure because it will result in the salvation of mankind.
So, as we enter this Thanksgiving season, I challenge you to model Jesus' thankfulness?
Finally, coming back to the cornucopia, just as it is a symbol of abundance and plenty, of having everything you need, Christ is our source of abundance and plenty. He gives life in abundance, and provides us with everything we need. We can, and should express thankfulness to God for His provision in our lives.
The symbol I want to look at is the cornucopia or “horn of plenty”. We’ve all seen this symbol, the horn or basket filled and overflowing with fruit and bread and vegetables, all sorts of wonderfully delicious things to eat and/or drink. The cornucopia’s origins are in ancient Greece, but it has come to be associated with Thanksgiving since it is a symbol of harvest and abundance. In fact, in one legend, the cornucopia was a source of endless food and drink, refilling itself with whatever its owner requested.
With that as a backdrop, let’s change gears and look at the idea of thankfulness, and, specifically, the model that Jesus gave us.
What was Jesus thankful for?
In fact, while there are multiple verses that instruct us to be grateful, and to have a heart of thanksgiving, there are only a few places in the Bible that mention Jesus giving thanks. However, these few instances can teach us some profound things about what it means to give thanks.
Jesus was thankful for what He had, even when it didn’t seem like enough.
Matthew 15:36 “he took the seven loaves and the fish, and having given thanks he broke them and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds.”
Mark 8:6 “And he directed the crowd to sit down on the ground. And he took the seven loaves, and having given thanks, he broke them and gave them to his disciples to set before the people; and they set them before the crowd.”
John 6:11 “Jesus then took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated. So also the fish, as much as they wanted.”
If you are familiar with the story that these verses come from you know that this was one of the miracles that Jesus performed, feeding the 4,000 (or 5,000) men, along with their families, with only a few loaves of bread and some fish.
What we see here, though, is that Jesus expresses thanks for what He has, in contrast to the Disciples' fear and anxiety about what they lacked. Even though what He had was nowhere near what was logically considered sufficient or desirable, He was grateful for what had been provided, and in the same way, when we look at our lives, we may not have everything that we feel or think we need or want. We may think that what we have is not enough to do anything with or to help or that what we have is basically the same as having nothing, but Jesus teaches us to be thankful for what we have been given and to move forward in faith, which brings us to the next point.
Jesus was thankful that God heard His prayers, and He was thankful in faith, expressing gratitude for things not yet done or received, but believed, in faith, to be coming.
John 11:41-44 “So they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I said this on account of the people standing around, that they may believe that you sent me.” When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out.” The man who had died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”
Here we see an amazing act of thankfulness. One of Jesus’ close friends had just died, and Jesus is asking God to raise him from the dead. In this request He thanks God for hearing Him, for listening to, and the implication is, answering, His prayer. However, nothing had happened yet. This thankfulness came before the event.
It is common to express thanks after having received something, but it is rare to express thanks before having received it. This shows the depth of Jesus’ faith that we are to model. Just as Jesus expressed thanks for the provision of the fish and bread in the previous example, He was also expressing thanks for the multiplication that would happen. In the same way, here He expressed thanks for the healing of Lazurus, before it happened. He was able to do this because He knew that God heard and answered His prayers.
He says that God always hears Him, and by implication, always answers Him, but how can that be? Are we to believe that God grants our every wish and desire?
John 14:13-14 “Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.”
We see here that God does, indeed do whatever we ask, if it is asked in His name, and according to His will. The closer we are to God, the closer we walk with Him, the more our requests will mirror His will, and we can have faith and be thankful that He hears and answers.
This is an important aspect to understand, because, as we’ll see in the final example, sometimes, the things that we are asked to do, or allowed to experience are not really what we would want or ask for if operating according to our will, but they are what God wills.
Jesus was thankful for God’s promises and covenant, and He was thankful, even, for the suffering He was about to endure.
Matthew 26:27 “And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you,”
Mark 14:23 “And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, and they all drank of it.”
Luke 22:17 “And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he said, “Take this, and divide it among yourselves.”
Luke 22:19 ”And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”
When Jesus was offering thanks at this meal, it wasn’t a simple expression of gratitude for some good food. He was thankful that God keeps His promises, that He saves His people, that He was providing a means of salvation from sin. He was thankful for the fact that He was about to suffer and die. This is a hard thing to grasp.
Jesus didn’t want to suffer and die. It was not in His human will for that to happen, but He asked that God’s will be done, not His own.
Sometimes, God allows us to go through times of difficulty or frustration or annoyance or exhaustion or pain or confusion, and it has nothing to do with us. The hardship that we are facing is not about hurting us, but helping someone else. We may not see it in the moment, we may never see it, but when we are instructed to be thankful in all circumstances, it very well may be for this reason, and we see Jesus model this beautifully as He expresses thanksgiving for the suffering He is about to endure because it will result in the salvation of mankind.
So, as we enter this Thanksgiving season, I challenge you to model Jesus' thankfulness?
- Give thanks for the things you have in your life, no matter how big or small?
- Be thankful for what God has done, what He is doing, and what He will do.
- Be thankful because God loves us and provides for us.
- Be thankful that God hears our prayers.
- Be thankful that God uses events in our lives, both positive and negative, to bless others.
Finally, coming back to the cornucopia, just as it is a symbol of abundance and plenty, of having everything you need, Christ is our source of abundance and plenty. He gives life in abundance, and provides us with everything we need. We can, and should express thankfulness to God for His provision in our lives.
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