Thanksgiving in the New Testament

by Felix Just, S.J., Ph.D.


Introduction

Thanks Be to GodGiving thanks to God is an important theme in the Old Testament, especially in the Book of Psalms, which contains dozens of individual and/or communal Psalms of Thanksgiving.
Gratitude is also an important virtue in the New Testament, especially for Jesus and for Paul. They (and other people) thank God not only for food and material blessings, but also for spiritual gifts and other blessings from God. Paul repeatedly stresses the importance for all believers to be grateful to God and to express thanks to one another.

Key to Color Highlighing Used Below:

GOSPELS:

When Jesus Thanks/Praises God's Ways:

When Jesus Feeds 5000 People:

When Jesus Feeds Another 4000 People:

After Jesus Heals Ten Persons of Leprosy:

Parable of the Pharisee and Tax Collector:

Jesus’ Prayer to God at the Raising of Lazarus:

At the Last Supper:

ACTS of the Apostles:

PAULINE Letters:

The Initial “Thanksgiving Section” of most of Paul’s Letters:

Other Prayers, Exortations, and Comments by St. Paul about Gratitude and Thanksgiving:

CATHOLIC Epistles:

Giving thanks is not mentioned in the letters of James, John, Peter, or Jude, and only once in Hebrews:

Book of REVELATION:

Thanksgiving is an element of the worship around God’s heavenly throne in three different scenes:

I Thank God for You - 1 Thess 1:2

 

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