Our Lord’s Own Thanksgiving

I give thanks to God for the people in my life who help me to make a gift of myself, as God would have me. They do this in many ways, but primarily by their humility, their service, and their devotion. And it strikes me that while Our Lord’s entire life was lived in thanksgiving to the Father, three particular occasions, recorded for us in the Gospels, show His gratitude for His disciples, for those who helped Him.

Recall the time when Jesus praised God for hiding the mystery from the learned and the wise, but thanked Him for “revealing these things to the childlike.” He was grateful to God specifically for the littleness of his disciples. Could it be that His reverence for the model of simplicity found in them was due to the help they offered Him to do the Father’s will, Himself, with childlike trust and humility?

There was also the occasion of the multiplication of the loaves. We’re told that Our Lord “gave thanks” before giving the bread to His disciples to distribute. His gratitude, while directed to God, seems to be for the disciples whose ministry enables Him to reach the multitude. Again, it seems that Jesus is sincerely grateful for the assistance He receives from His disciples, who, while they can do nothing without Him, nevertheless enable Him to do more than He could without them.

Our Lord also gave thanks to God before calling Lazarus from the tomb. “I thank you, Father, for hearing Me.” He is obviously thanking God for His fidelity, but, again, there is a disciple for whom Jesus is grateful, namely, Lazarus. Our Lord would visit with Lazarus often. And when Lazarus died, Jesus wept. How grateful He must have been for such a friend, then, who would come forth from the tomb, after suffering illness and dying, only to die again, if doing so would mean helping Our Lord in His mission.

And of course, at the Last Supper, the celebration of the first Eucharist, which means “thanksgiving,” we hear Jesus thank God for His disciples plainly, saying, “They are your gift to Me.” He continues to be grateful to God, most of all, for those who help Him in His ministry by offering to Him their littleness, their service, and their willingness to die for Him again and again. +