“Because you are children, God has sent
the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, ‘Abba! Father!’” (Galatians 4:6 NRSV)
Calling God “Abba” is rooted in Jesus’
agony in the Garden of Gethsemane: “And He said, ‘Abba, Father, all things are possible
for You. Take this cup away from Me. Nevertheless, not what I want, but what
You will.’” (Mark 14:36 NKJV)
Abba was an
ordinary family word of Jesus’ day. It conveyed intimacy, tenderness,
dependence, and complete lack of fear and anxiety. Modern English equivalents
would be Daddy or Papa.
No Jew would have dreamed of using this
very intimate term to address God. However, Jesus always used this word in His
prayers (Aramaic abba or its Greek
equivalent pater), with the exception
of His cry from the cross.
And Jesus instructed His disciples to
use this word in their prayers as well. We are empowered to speak to God just
as a small child speaks to his father.
-- David Jeremiah, quoted in “His Passion: Christ’s Journey to
the Resurrection”
#4795
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