Jesus’ Thanksgiving—And Ours

GOLDEN TEXT: “The Lord hath done great things for us; whereof we are glad.” —Psalm 126:3

MATTHEW 11:2-6, 25-30

THURSDAY, November 27, will be national Thanksgiving Day in the United States, and in keeping with this the lesson assigned for today contains, among other things, the thought of thanksgiving. While only certain portions of Matthew 11 are specifically assigned for the lesson, the entire chapter deals largely with a single theme, called forth by the fact that from his prison cell John the Baptist sent messengers to inquire of Jesus whether or not he was actually the Messiah.

Jesus reminds his hearers of the attitude of the people toward John the Baptist, and also toward himself. He chides the cities of Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum for their rejection of his message. Then in prayer to God he says, “I thank thee O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them u n t o babes.” Here, then, was Jesus’ specific cause for thankfulness as he reflected on how few there were in his day who appreciated the import of his ministry. It was thankfulness for God’s judgment as to who were worthy to have the truth revealed to them.

The “babes” are those of meek and humble disposition, and who have implicit confidence in the Lord when he reveals himself to them. That our Heavenly Father should especially honor these with the truth is in keeping with the statement that he “resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.”—James 4:6; I Peter 5:5

And we can surely see divine wisdom in the operation of this principle. If we have been favored with the truth, and through it have been introduced to God, it should be one of the greatest causes for thankfulness to the Giver of every good and perfect gift. It means that we have been taken into the divine confidence, called to a high station which we could never attain by our own wisdom and merit. We can truly say that God has done “great things for us; whereof we are glad.”

John the Baptist had accepted Jesus as the foretold Messiah. He doubtless assumed that the messianic kingdom was about to be established and that Israel would soon be delivered from the Roman yoke of bondage. In this event, being the “friend of the Bridegroom,” he may well have thought that he would soon have an honored position in the new government. Instead of this, he now found himself imprisoned, with little hope of release. Under these circumstances, it was but natural that he should seek a reaffirmation of his belief in Jesus as the Messiah.

Jesus told John’s messengers to return and tell him what they had seen and heard: that the sick were being healed, the dead were being raised, and that the poor were having the Gospel preached to them. This was all the reply the Master gave to John’s question, “Art thou he that should come, or do we look for another?” But this was a good answer, one which John would very well understand; and doubtless it gave him a great reassurance of faith.

John knew that there were many promises in the Old Testament that the Messiah would do just these things, and since Jesus was doing them, it was excellent proof that he was indeed the Messiah. True, these miracles of healing and enlightenment were not then on the world-wide scale that will prevail when the messianic kingdom actually begins to function for the blessing of the world. However, the fact that Jesus was able to fulfill the promises, even to a limited extent, proved the reality of his claim.

And in this incident is revealed the reason for the miracles which were associated with the ministry of Jesus and the disciples. If Jesus used these to prove to John the Baptist that he was the true Messiah, would his miracles not serve the same purpose on behalf of many others—of all others at that time, as a matter of fact, who were “Israelites indeed”?

This also would explain why the general ministry of miracles was allowed by the Lord to lapse shortly after Pentecost. Then other considerations were brought to bear to prove that Jesus was the Messiah, not the least of which were the “many infallible proofs” of his resurrection from the dead, and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.—Acts 1:3

We today are thankful that the Holy Spirit is still testifying to us, through the Word, that Jesus is the Christ.

QUESTIONS

In this lesson, what is the special cause for Jesus’ thankfulness?

Should this also give us cause for thankfulness?

Why was Jesus’ reply to the inquiry of John the Baptist so suitable?

What is the strongest testimony to us that Jesus is the Christ?

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