The gratitude of Jesus is a model to all of His disciples; He offered thanks at the darkest time of His life. In the very night He was betrayed by one of His own, He still gave thanks to the Father. His institution of the Lord’s Supper is called Eucharist, thanksgiving. The bread in His hands spoke of a body about to be broken by abuse and tortured by the excruciating pain of crucifixion, but He broke it and gave thanks. The cup would be His spilled blood on a cross, but He raised it and gave thanks. Can your thank God when your life is falling apart? Can you take your broken life, and lift it up to the Father, and give thanks? When you are in the midst of your greatest pain and hurt, find your way to worship and to gratitude.
“For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which He was betrayed took bread; and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, ‘This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me.’ In the same way He took the cup also after supper, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.’ For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.” (1 Corinthians 11:23-26 NASB)
