TEXT: Luke 10:21

SUBJECT: Attributes of Christ #9: Thankfulness

For the last several months at the Lord’s Table, we’ve tried to meditate on the human attributes of Jesus Christ. His human attributes are the ones we can understand best. It’s hard to get your mind around words like infinite, eternal, and unchangeable. We know them only by contrast: they are characteristics we don’t have and have not seen in others—no, not even a glimpse of them in other people or things.

But love? We know what that is. And wisdom, patience, and courage too. Scholars call them the communicable attributes of God, that is, He shares them with His creatures. In thinking about your wife’s love or your husband’s courage or the wisdom of an old friend, you get an inkling of God—but that’s all you get—an inkling.

When you see the traits in Christ, however, you see them in all their perfection. And in seeing the human character of this Man, you see…God.

John 5:19 is not meditated on nearly as often or deeply as it ought to be. The Lord says He

The character of God is seen, understood, and felt in the human attributes of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Son is a chip off the old block, the dead ringer of His Father.

The trait we’ll think about this morning is one that is not well covered in books—at least not in the books I’ve read. It is the thankfulness of our Lord Jesus Christ.

I’m not sure I can define the word, thankful, but I don’t need to. You know what it is; you’ve admired it in others and been stung by its absence.

I think of an old woman dying of cancer, in great pain and without hope of recovery. She’s content to die and cheerful; she looks back over her life—so full of cares and disappointments—and she’s thankful for it, for the goodness of the Lord all her days. You’ve gone to see her hoping to prop her up, but it’s you who got the lift for your visit, not she.

I think of a young man in good health and loved by his family. He’s got a chip on his shoulder; he feels the world has cheated him and that God has given him the short end of the stick. His looks are sour and his words are poison.

The old woman is thankful; the young man is not. She sees life as a gift of God—a gift she didn’t earn, but simply got because the Lord is so kind. The young man thinks the Lord owes him a life—a life he wants, on his terms, full of his demands. Because the Lord has not given him the life he wants, he can’t be thankful for the life he has.

The Lord was a remarkably thankful man. In the verse that began my talk, He praises (or thanks) His Father for His sovereignty in salvation. God has revealed Himself to some and hidden Himself from others—and instead of asking why or demanding an explanation, the Lord gives thanks!

In his little book of theology, Philip Melanchton, who was the first scholar of his age and a man of very great genius, could only say this about the ways of God:

Whenever He broke bread—either in the miraculous feeding of thousands or in an ordinary meal among friends--He gave thanks or blessed the food, that is, He blessed His Father for it.

The signs of ingratitude are never seen in Him: no grumbling, no resenting, no feeling sorry for Himself. No, He was a remarkably cheerful and patient man, both of which are fruits of thankfulness.

The Lord’s thankfulness stands out when you think of how little He had and how unfairly He was treated. He was a poor Man and without wife or children to comfort Him. He was a humble Man and people walked all over Him for it. He was a holy Man and people called Him the Prince of Demons. He lived a sinful life at home, but His mother bawled Him out, His father didn’t understand Him, and His brothers tried to lock Him up in crazy bin!

One night He prayed three solid hours and prayed so hard that He sweated great drops of blood, but at the end of His prayers, His Father said, No. A few hours later, the same Father deserted Him when He needed Him most.

The Lord was knocked around as no one else ever was. If anyone had a right to a chip on His shoulder, it was He. But He didn’t have one! He lived and died thankfully.

We ought to admire the Lord for His thankful living. Especially at the Lord’s Table, where we re-enact the breaking of His body and the spilling of His blood. It was a thankful Man’s body that was broken, a thankful Man’s blood that was poured out.

Patience and contentment are very great virtues—even the pagans knew that and praised them in song. But the Lord went far beyond patience and contentment! He lived thankfully!

We ought to imitate Him in His thankful living. Life is a gift—every part of it—is a gift given by God. Many of the gifts are good in themselves—food, family, friends, a warm sun. Others are not in themselves, but God promises to make them good for us—like medicine that tastes terrible, but makes you better for taking it.

Give thanks today. Pray for a thankful heart. And repent of everything that contradicts thankfulness. And do it all with Christ in mind and for His sake. Amen.