When Thanksgiving approaches, we naturally think of golden fields, abundant fruits, and barns filled with grain. It is right and beautiful to count God’s grace bestowed upon us throughout the year and be thankful for the fruits in our hands. However, the scene of “True Thanksgiving” spoken of in the Bible was unexpectedly not a fertile field, but “in front of a tomb” where the stench of death prevailed.
John chapter 11, which we opened today, begins in a desperate situation: the death of Lazarus. Lazarus, whom Jesus loved, fell sick and died, and it had already been four days since he was laid in the tomb. That place, where all hope was cut off and the smell of the decaying body filled the air, was a place befitting wailing and resentment rather than thanksgiving, when viewed through human eyes.
Yet, right in the middle of that despair, our Jesus lifted His eyes to heaven and offered the greatest thanksgiving. ““Father, Did I thank You that You have heard Me.” (John 11:41)
Lazarus was still in the tomb. The stone door was still shut. However, the Lord did not look at the visible reality but believed in God’s promise and gave “thanks in advance.” And when that preemptive thanksgiving was proclaimed, the closed stone door opened, and a miracle occurred where the dead man walked out. Gratitude overcame death, and gratitude turned despair into hope.
Historically, the very first Thanksgiving was also not a festival of abundance but a thanksgiving for survival. In 1620, the Puritans who arrived in the New World lost half of their company to severe cold and disease. Before them lay countless graves where they buried their beloved families, instead of barns full of grain. Nevertheless, they offered a service of thanksgiving with tears in front of those graves. For them, thanksgiving was not something done when conditions were met, but a “confession of faith” trusting in God’s love that even death could not sever.
Beloved brothers and sisters in Christ, where do you stand in your life as we welcome Thanksgiving Sunday 2025? Is your heart perhaps dark like a tomb due to unresolved problems and pain? Does regret and resentment remain, asking, “If only You had helped me a little earlier…”?
Today, the Lord standing before Lazarus’s tomb speaks the same to us. “Did I not say to you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God.”
True thanksgiving is a proclamation of faith that transcends circumstances. When you move aside the stone of unbelief within you and unbind the napkin of worry and fear that entangles you, God will perform the ‘New Thing’ He has prepared for your life. The love of Jesus, who walked the path of the cross to save Lazarus, is the power that makes us live again today.
I hope that this Thanksgiving Sunday, thanksgiving offered through faith, not based on visible conditions, will be restored. Even in the face of a tomb-like reality, may your thanksgiving of proclaiming “I believe You have already heard me” become the key that opens closed doors and calls forth miracles. I bless your homes and workplaces to be filled with God’s amazing harvest that turns death into life and despair into praise.
“Thanksgiving creates miracle.. Everything is God’s grace.”
Dr. Jaeyun Lee
