He Gave Thanks

"In His human mind, He was simply the son of Joseph, a carpenter, He was a young boy who grew up in the town, Nazareth.

“And he took the cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them: and they all drank of it.” (Mark 14:23)

THANKSGIVING IS easy in good times. When all is going well, your kids are happy, your job is going great, and everyone’s healthy, anyone can lean back and say thanks, and that’s a good thing. But in this moment, Jesus was facing a cruel death, and He knew it. He knew the symbolism of what we call communion. He knew the man at the table who would betray Him. Yet, with all that in His mind, He took up the cup and told them, “This is my blood of the new testament which is shed for many (V24).”

In order for His blood to be shed, men would have to do the unthinkable to Him. He’d have to allow those He’d come to save to give into their basest, most demonic instincts, and without protest, walk the road to Golgotha. I think of Him in this. The gospels tell us He had to grow up. He who is the Word of God, who was at the beginning as God and with God, gave up all He knew to be born as an infant, to become His own creation. He went from the glorious stories of the Old Covenant, to a kid, running the fields of Judea, and by age thirty had come to the full realization who His Father was and His purpose on this earth.

He held that cup having prophesied His death and Resurrection, as assured He would rise from the dead as that He was King of Kings. He gave thanks, though, not for who He was, but for these men who believed in Him. He said so to His Father, in a beautiful prayer recorded in John 17, and asked for their protection, their blessing, and for them to see Him in all His glory. What sounds pompous to some was, in fact, the most humblest part of all because in His human mind, He was simply the son of Joseph, a carpenter. He was a young boy who grew up in the town, Nazareth, who’d eaten meals at the family table with His brothers and sisters, who’d gone to synagogue, who’d traveled to Jerusalem for feast days. But in His heart, He was God, the Messiah, the Christ.

He raised from death and returned to the right hand of His Father in heaven, having accomplished all He’d been sent here to do. We downplay our humanity, but it was not for our sins He came. It was because we held value that He gave up all He had. He would carry our sins and sicknesses on Himself, then make of us something eternal, something abundant that He’d proven we could be when He held that cup in His hand and gave thanks. When you give thanks this holiday for all the good things He has done, whatever the pressures around seem to be in that moment, think of Him first and raise your gaze to heaven, knowing the Great One of All still sits on the throne. That makes beauty of everything to me.

“Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world.” (John 17:24)

Image by Karen .t from Pixabay


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Suzanne D. Williams, Author
www.suzannedwilliams.com
www.feelgoodromance.com