Note from the Pastor

There is s special kind of love between mothers and fathers and their children, which is no doubt why Jesus chose the metaphor “Abba” to express the love God has for each of us. “Abba” is such an important word that the earliest writings of the New Testament written in Greek still retained the actual Aramaic term that Jesus used in directly addressing God. “Abba” is the diminutive form for “Ab,” the Aramaic word for “Father,” and literally would be translated into English as “Daddy.”

Webster’s dictionary defines the word “Dad” as a “familiar” term for “Father”; it defines “Daddy” as a “familiar diminutive” word for “Dad.” Thus “Abba” is as intimate a term as language can express. “Daddy” is an even more intimate term than the formal “Mother.”

I think what Jesus was trying to get across to us had nothing to do with God being male or female. There are those who criticize Jesus’ use of the masculine word “Abba” on the grounds that “if God is male then male is God.” The male-female issue does not even appear at the age a child addresses his or her father by the term “Daddy.” The term “Daddy” usually disappears from usage by the time children reach an age when they are beginning to separate themselves from their complete dependence on their parents. It is also at this age (around six or seven) when the difference between males and females even begins to matter.

If it interesting to note that Jesus was very aware of the difference between a child and a small child when he says: “Verily I say unto you, whosoever shall not receive the Kingdom of God as a small child, shall not enter therein (Mark 10:15).” “Daddy” is the very intimate term small children use to address their fathers who start being called “Dad” as the child grows towards independence.

Of course, any term for God that brings us close to God is a good term for us. I call God “Father” because the term “Daddy” is pre-empted by my earthly father, whom I addressed as “Daddy” (but quietly so no one else would hear!) until the day he died when I was sixteen. However, I do not feel so out of place when I consider that Jesus called his Father “Daddy” until the day He died at the age of thirty-three.

I remember the time when I was seven that I really tried to call my father by the more formal word “Father” rather than the now embarrassing “Daddy.” I noticed that I felt a distance from my dad that I had not felt before. And so I went back to the familiar diminutive “Daddy” but did so very quietly and almost unintelligibly. As I did, I found the old intimate feeling I had toward my dad returned.

One of my professors said that the essence of any religion is to be found in the name of its god(s). Of all the great religious revealers, Jesus’ s term for addressing God is the most intimate. Let’s notice that Jesus never tells us God’s name. Jesus only tells us the relationship we have with God.

When the boys were growing up and occasionally would call me “John,” I always corrected them and said that anyone could call me “John” but only my children could call me “Dad.” In speaking that name they automatically included themselves in a special relationship to me.

Jesus was not concerned with the gender of God. He came to reveal the intimacy of God. He did so by choosing the most intimate metaphor available to Him in the culture in which He lived.

Questions or discussion over coffee? Give me a call!

Faithfully,
John