ABBA, PATER: daddy, father

“Abba, Father, everything is possible for You.

Please take this cup of suffering away from me.

Yet I want Your will

Not mine.”

Mark 14:36

NLT

The Meaning of His Name:

Father Knows Best. Those words lit up the television screens around the nation when I was a little girl.  Right there, in black and white, we sat transfixed as a bold and benevolent Robert Young proceeded to solve every problem and fix anything broken in everybody’s life. Lovely.

And a terrible lie.

For in every decade since, sons and daughters have watched as their dads disintegrated. Families fell apart as this figure who was supposed to have all the answers chased fleeting dreams and failed to love faithfully. Caving in to passivity and pornography and selfishness and stupidity, fathers have become the butt of jokes.  Horrible.

And another lie.

We have a real Father. He invites us to call Him Abba, that intimate first name that bubbles out of a baby’s mouth.  This is the name Jesus cried in the garden as He agonized over the path that lay before Him.

“Abba, Father, everything and anything is possible with You.

Won’t you rescue me from this reality?

Ah, but its not my way that matters- I’m all Yours.”[1]

This is the name that tucks us in as we go to sleep each night.  With soft words and assurances of His care, we sleep easy with a Father watching over our lives— fending off nightmares and pouring out peace.

This is the name we snuggle into when all the chaos of our relationships threatened to yank us from His heart.  When people hurt us and life feels threatening, we have a great lap to climb into where His steady heartbeat assures us that we are never, ever alone.

Just as Jesus did, we cry this name when we are afraid, when we dread what we must do, when no one else understands.

When we crave a Father who knows best.

This is the name God gives Himself just for us, for He is…Abba, Father.

And that’s the beautiful truth.

From my heart,

Diane

Mark 14:36

Luke 15

Matthew 6:9-13

Luke 11:1-4

A rich idea for study:

In Jesus’ story as told by John, He uses this name, Father, 156 times.  Look each of these instances up using a concordance.  You’ll find treasures there as you delve into the intimate relationship between the Father and His Son.


[1] My paraphrase of Jesus’ words in Mark 14:36

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