THANKFULNESS IN THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

We are leaving our examination of some of the apostle Paul’s teachings on thankfulness to interact with the apostle John. John wrote five books of the New Testament, the Gospel according to John, 1-3 John, and Revelation.

Although the concept is present in 1-3 John, we will limit our treatment of it to clear connections. This leaves us with the Gospel according to John and Revelation.

Lord willing, we will look at John’s Gospel this morning, and then consider Revelation next week.

Our focus this month is on Thanksgiving, of developing a heart of gratitude which recognizes all the good that we have, however much or little of it we may have, comes from the hands of a good and gracious God.

One such man is the apostle John. We will briefly discuss him before considering the two examples of thankfulness in the gospel that bares his name.

I. THE APOSTLE WAS THANKFUL- John 13:23, 19:26; 20:2; 21:7, 20

John refers to himself in his gospel account as “the disciple whom Jesus loved.”

Luke 9:51–56 “51 When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem. 52 And he sent messengers ahead of him, who went and entered a village of the Samaritans, to make preparations for him. 53 But the people did not receive him, because his face was set toward Jerusalem. 54 And when his disciples James and John saw it, they said, “Lord, do you want us to tell fire to come down from heaven and consume them?” 55 But he turned and rebuked them. 56 And they went on to another village.”

John was, like us, a sinner. He stood in need of God’s forgiveness and, like us, was undeserving of God’s forgiveness.

Yet, God in His great love condescended and saved John, a point for thankfulness if there ever was one, and one that we saw several times in just two of Paul’s many epistles.

John Owen, a Puritan preacher and theologian par excellence, wrote this about God’s love,

“In this love he is glorious; for it is such as no creatures, angels, or men, could have the least conceptions of, before its manifestation by its effects; and after its manifestation, it is in this world absolutely incomprehensible.” John Owen, Works, I:330

John readily acknowledged and relished God’s love for him. And this thankfulness for salvation is woven throughout his writings found in the New Testament.

We need to keep this in mind as we work throughout the Gospel according to John as well as his other writings.

II. CHRIST WAS THANKFUL- John 6:11, 23; 11:41

One of the mysterious of the Christian faith is the incarnation of the Lord Jesus.

Christ is God, truly God. But Christ in the incarnation, became truly man. John 1:1-3 and 1:14 clearly teach that Christ existed before creation and yet assumed a created body. Our forefathers in the faith provided us with a helpful summary of this mystery in 451:

The Chalcedonian Definition

Therefore, following the holy fathers, we all with one accord teach men to acknowledge one and the same Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, at once complete in Godhead and complete in manhood, truly God and truly man, consisting also of a reasonable soul and body; of one substance with the Father as regards his Godhead, and at the same time of one substance with us as regards his manhood; like us in all respects, apart from sin; as regards his Godhead, begotten of the Father before the ages, but yet as regards his manhood begotten, for us men and for our salvation, of Mary the Virgin, the God-bearer; one and the same Christ, Son, Lord, Only-begotten, recognized in two natures, without confusion, without change, without division, without separation; the distinction of natures being in no way annulled by the union, but rather the characteristics of each nature being preserved and coming together to form one person and subsistence, not as parted or separated into two persons, but one and the same Son and Only-begotten God the Word, Lord Jesus Christ; even as the prophets from earliest times spoke of him, and our Lord Jesus Christ himself taught us, and the creed of the fathers has handed down to us.

And by the way, I have received some concerns from people about our study of and reciting of the Apostles’ Creed, and I am sure some might even wonder why we would cite the Chalcedonian Definition. But, as a Baptist pastor and theologian, Richard Barcellos said recently,

“Sometimes it takes words outside of the Word to make sense of the Word.” Richard Barcellos

Christ is fully man, and lived life with us. A part of that life is living with thankfulness to God.

There are three direct references to Jesus offering thanks, two of which concern the same story.

A. Christ was thankful for God’s power and provision- John 6:1-14

The God-man Jesus has already started his ministry (beginning in John chapter 2 with the miracle of changing water into wine).

In between chapter 2 and 6, we see Jesus healing the nobleman’s son (chapter 4:46-54, healed of a fever). Jesus also healed a sick man (for 38 years) by the waters in Bethesda where an angel would supposedly move the water and provide healing to the first dipper (John 5:1-18).

For the rest of the chapter (5:18-47), Jesus is defending His divinity by offering many “witnesses” in accordance with the Mosaic Law.

Now we come to chapter 6 and Jesus gives a physical, tangible display of His power. Crowds gathered to see Christ heal people who were sick (6:1-2).

There were many people around, not only to see the miraculous power of Christ, but also for the Passover. Jerusalem would have been packed, and Jesus knew that the people would be hungry.

This miracle was a test (6:6). And as Christ worked through the particulars with his disciples, He gave thanks.

Just think about this for a moment. Christ, God in the flesh, gave thanks. To whom did He give thanks? To the Father.

Jesus could have easily made stones into bread. He did, after all, change water into wine. He is the creator.

Yet, Christ takes something ordinary, bread, and then the Father provides a remarkable miracle.

If the Son of God offers thanks for God’s provision, how much more should we?

B. Christ was thankful for the Father’s Work for His Disciples- John 11:41-42

This is one of the sweetest stories in the ministry of Jesus. We have a group of close friends, and one of them, Lazarus, gets sick. Things are not looking good, and Lazarus’s sisters, Mary and Martha, begin to fear the worst.

The sisters send word to Christ (11:1-3). Now, Christ knows that Lazarus will die in order to demonstrate His power to His disciples.

Eventually Christ does arrive, but too late, in both Martha’s and Mary’s estimation. Martha, after a discussion with Jesus, knows that Christ is capable of raising Lazarus from the dead.

Christ knows He is about to raise Lazarus from the dead. Death is incapable of stopping the Lord of life.

Christ wanted His followers to know He truly is God in the flesh. He is the Son of God sent from the Father. And He gives thanks for that.

Now, we are not the Son of God, but we are sons and daughters of God. We should be offering thanks to God for His work in and through us for His children.

1. We should be thankful for the privilege of serving others.

There is a bit of humility displayed here by the Lord Jesus. He does not buck at the service He is offering for these believers and to win the souls of others.

Although He is God in the flesh, He stoops down to minister to these people.

We should and must follow His example.

Philippians 2:3–4 “3 Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. 4 Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.”

Rather than looking down at service opportunities, like nursery, or Sunday school teaching, cleaning up after a fellowship, etc., as beneath you, or menial, offer thanks to God for the privilege of service and pray that God will use it for His glory and our good.

2. We should be thankful for God’s work in others.

Although not tied directly to our passage at hand, it does stand out throughout the majority of Scripture concerning thankfulness, as we have seen in the books of Romans and 1 and 2 Thessalonians.

God’s work in others should inspire thankfulness!

Gospel* Only way to be truly grateful