Abba Father

Introduction

Question: Does Israel ever conceive of God as being their father?

The answer is yes. God was known to be the Father of Israel.

Isaiah 63:16-17 “16 Yet you are our Father, even though Abraham does not know us and Israel doesn’t recognize us. You, Lord, are our Father; your name is Our Redeemer from Ancient Times. 17 Why, Lord, do you make us stray from your ways? You harden our hearts so we do not fear you. Return, because of your servants, the tribes of your heritage.”

Isaiah 64:8-9 “8 Yet Lord, you are our Father; we are the clay, and you are our potter; we all are the work of your hands. 9 Lord, do not be terribly angry or remember our iniquity forever. Please look—all of us are your people!”

Deuteronomy 14:1-2 “1 “You are sons of the Lord your God; do not cut yourselves or make a bald spot on your head on behalf of the dead, 2 for you are a holy people belonging to the Lord your God. The Lord has chosen you to be his own possession out of all the peoples on the face of the earth.”

Jeremiah 31:20 “20 Isn’t Ephraim a precious son to me, a delightful child? Whenever I speak against him, I certainly still think about him. Therefore, my inner being yearns for him; I will truly have compassion on him. This is the Lord’s declaration.”

Clearly, there’s enough Scripture to demonstrate Israel considered God their Father and God considered them His children. However, we must consider just how they though about God as Father. John 5:16-18 gives us an idea of what their perception of God being one’s Father must have been. Essentially, they saw their father/son relationship as being administered through the law. That is, the law created the relationship. Therefore, as Jesus is breaking the law and calling God His Father, they are completely offended as Jesus’s acts are concluded blasphemous.

So, what does Abba Father communicate? What is its meaning?

There are three instances in Scripture where the word “Abba” appears (Mark 14:36, Romans 8:15, Galatians 4:6). First, we want to understand what this word means, and then we want to investigate theological meaning as to form some practical guidelines for how to use it in everyday life.

“Abba” is the Aramaic word for “Papa,” a term of great intimacy and affectionate respect. It was normally the first word a child would utter, but adults could use it for their fathers as well, and students sometimes used it of their teachers. Perhaps because it implied such intimacy, Jewish people never used it of God (though they did call him a heavenly father) except in an occasional parable by a charismatic teacher. On the cup of judgment see comment on Mark 10:39; Jesus cries to be spared this cup (cf. Ps 116:3–4, 15).11 Keener, C. S. (1993). The IVP Bible background commentary: New Testament (Mk 14:35–36). InterVarsity Press.

On “Abba” see comment on Mark 14:36; although only a few Roman Jews spoke Aramaic, Jesus’ special address for his Father as “Papa” had become a name for God in early Christian prayers (Gal 4:6), perhaps by Jesus’ design (Mt 6:9). Roman adoption—which could take place at any age—canceled all previous debts and relationships, defining the new son wholly in terms of his new relationship to his father, whose heir he thus became.11 Keener, C. S. (1993). The IVP Bible background commentary: New Testament (Ro 8:15). InterVarsity Press.

The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, Revised Abba

[GK. abbá, a transliterated loanword from Aram ’abbā’, which represents two homonyms in Jewish Palestinian Aramaic that are identical orthographically and phonetically, but distinct morphologically; one homonym may be translated as ‘the father’ or ‘my father,’ the other as ‘dada,’ ‘daddy.’].

Now, this all may seem strange and almost irreverent. This is definitely not the intention of those earlier uses. They were not trying to treat the name of God with casualness or disrespect, and neither should we. Rather, the word is intended to communicate one’s intimacy with God, as a child would do with their father.

To give you an example, my kids call my father, “paw-paw.” They call my father-in-law “p-pops.” I called my father, “da,” and my children call me the same or even “daddy.” They don’t call me father, because though I am their father, that just seems too impersonal. The point of using the phrase “Abba [Daddy/ Papa] Father” is to convey intimacy.

As we look at Mark 14:36, it makes perfect sense that He would recognize God as His intimate Father. What doesn’t make sense is how we get to call God our Abba. Such a thought is unparalleled in ancient writings, and Paul, who introduced such a right to Christians, must have been viewed as one out of his mind!

Theological Meaning

Outside Jesus’s use of the phrase “Abba Father,” we find Paul’s use in Romans 8:15 and Galatians 4:6. The interesting thing about these passages is inclusion of Gentile believers in the right to call God their Abba. Paul bases this right on two realities:

We are no longer slaves [but why?] because,

We have been adopted.

As a result, we have inherited certain privileges as a result of our relationship with God, our Abba Father. These privileges I call “4 We-Haves...”

Conclusion: 4 “We-Haves...”

Since God is our Papa Father, what does this mean? How are we to live our lives?

We have a direct connection to the Spirit (Romans 8:16).

We have direct new clothes (Galatians 3:26-29).

We have an inheritance (Romans 8:17).

God has given us the legal right to be inheritors of a given estate, which is not granted by the law, but by means of His Son Jesus Christ.

We have freedom in Christ (Galatians 4:1-7).