“Abba”

START As your Connect Group time begins, use this section to introduce the topic of discussion.

It’s interesting to see the gradual shift in the way fathers are portrayed in media these days. Some of you may be old enough to remember shows such as “Father Knows Best” (1954-60), “Leave It To Beaver” (1957-63) ( or “The Andy Griffith Show” (1960-68) where fathers were portrayed as strong, caring, wise and involved. Through the years the portrayal of the father has changed.

Can you name some current fathers who are portrayed through television, movies, or other media? What are characteristics of these fathers?

Our view of fatherhood shapes much of how we see and experience life. We have viewed God through so many amazing lenses over the past few weeks. Today we will culminate our study of the names of God with perhaps the most personal name of God: Abba Father. We will look at the three passages containing this term, as well as a parable Jesus shared showing the love of the father.

Abba-“Daddy” or “Pappa”

Pater (Pat-Air)-“Father”

READ

Mark 14:36

“And He said, “Abba, Father! All things are possible for You. Take this cup away from Me. Nevertheless, not what I will, but what You will.”

Romans 8:14-15

“14For all those led by God’s Spirit are God’s sons. 15For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear. Instead, you received the Spirit of adoption, by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father!””

Galatians 4:6-7

“6And because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba, Father!” 7So you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then God has made you an heir.”

Luke 15:11-24

“The concept that Jesus most often communicated to us is that God is primarily a Father. And that all the various attributes that His names communicate and reveal are consistent with His Fatherhood.”

-Paul Coleman

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“11He also said, “A man had two sons. 12The younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of the estate I have coming to me.’ So he distributed the assets to them. 13Not many days later, the younger son gathered together all he had and traveled to a distant country, where he squandered his estate in foolish living. 14After he had spent everything, a severe famine struck that country, and he had nothing. 15Then he went to work for one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed pigs. 16He longed to eat his fill from the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one would give him anything. 17When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired workers have more than enough food, and here I am dying of hunger! 18I’ll get up, go to my father, and say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight. 19I’m no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired workers.”’ 20So he got up and went to his father. But while the son was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion. He ran, threw his arms around his neck, and kissed him. 21The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight. I’m no longer worthy to be called your son.’

22“But the father told his servants, ‘Quick! Bring out the best robe and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. 23Then bring the fattened calf and slaughter it, and let’s celebrate with a feast, 24because this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found!’ So they began to celebrate.”

REVIEW

Context/Commentary/Background

MARK 14:35-36 THE BIBLE KNOWLEDGE COMMENTARY1

11:35-36. Moving forward a short distance from the three and gradually prostrating Himself on the ground (cf. Matt. 26:39); Luke 22:41) Jesus prayed (proseucheto, “was praying”) aloud with great emotion (Heb. 5:7). His prayer lasted at least an hour (cf. Mark 14:37) but Mark recorded only a brief summary of it, first in narrative form (v. 35b), then in a direct quotations (v. 36).

In essence Jesus requested that if possible the hour might pass from Him. The words “if possible” (first-class condition in Gr.) do not express doubt but a concreted supposition on which He based His request. He made His request on the assumption that the Father was able to grant it. The issue remained whether it was God’s will to do so (cf. Luke 22:42).

The metaphor “the hour” denoted God’s appointed time when Jesus would suffer and die (cf. Mark 14:41b; John 12:23, 27). The corresponding metaphor, this cup, referred to the same event. The “cup” means either human suffering and death or more likely, God’s wrath against sin, which when poured out includes not only physical but also spiritual suffering and death (cf. Mark 10:38-39; 14:33b-34). In bearing God’s judgment the sinless Jesus endured the agony of being “made sin” (cf. 15:34; 2 Cor. 5:21).

1 John D. Grassmick, “Mark,” in The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, ed. J. F. Walvoord and R. B. Zuck, vol. 2 (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1983), 179-180.

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The double title Abba (Aram. “My Father”) Father (Gr. pater) occurs only two other times (Rom. 8:15; Gal. 4:6). “Abba” was a common way young Jewish children addressed their fathers. It conveyed a sense of familial intimacy and familiarity. The Jews, however, did not use is as a personal address to God since such a familiar term was considered inappropriate in prayer. Thus Jesus’ use of Abba in addressing God was new and unique. He probably used it often in His prayers to express His intimate relationship with God as His Father. Abba here suggests that Jesus’ primary concern in drinking the cup of God’s judgment on sin necessarily disrupted this relationships (cf. Jesu’ words of address, Mark 15:34)

ROMANS 8:14-17 THE BIBLE KNOWLEDGE COMMENTARY2

8:14 Paul then continued his explanation. Those who are led (pres. tense “are being led”) by the Spirit of God are sons of God. Many Bible students see no difference between the word translated “sons” in 8:14 and the word translated “children” in verse 16. However, in verse 16 the Holy Spirit’s indwelling presence attests the believer’s birth relationship to God (tekna, “children)” is lit., “born ones”). But in verse 14 the Holy Spirit’s control and direction attests the believer’s privileges in God’ family as a “son” (huios means a child mature enough to take on adult family privileges and responsibilities). A son in God’s family is led by God’s Spirit.

8:15-17. In contrast with the control of sin, which enslaves to the point of fear, believers have received the Spirit of sonship. The translated “sonship” (huiothesias) means “placing as a son” and is frequently translated “adoption” (as in, e.g., v. 23). Believers are adopted sons (Gal. 4:5; Eph. 1:5), not slaves (Gal. 4:7); so they need not be enslaved to sin or in fear. In New Testament times adopted sons enjoyed the same privileges as natural-born sons. So, instead of cowering in slave-like fear, Christians can approach God in an intimate way calling Him Abba, Father. “Abba” is a Greek and English transliteration of the Aramaic word for father (used elsewhere in the NT only in Mark 14:36; Gal. 4:6). Besides being adopted into God’s family as sons, believers also are His children (tekna, “born ones”) by the new birth (John 1:12; 1 John 3:1-2). And the Holy Spirit, who gives believers life, testifies with (not to) their spirit(s) of the fact of the new birth.

In many families children inherit their parents’ estates; each child is an heir and the children together are co-heirs. Similarly, since Christians are God’s children, they are His heirs (cf. Gal 4:7), and they are co-heirs with Christ. They are recipients of all spiritual blessings (Eph. 1:3) now, and in the future they will share with the Lord Jesus in all the riches of God’s kingdom (John 17:24; 1 Cor. 3:21-23). Sharing with Jesus Christ, however, involves more than anticipating the glories of heaven. For Jesus Christ, it involves suffering and abuse and crucifixion; therefore being co-heirs with Christ requires that believers share in His sufferings (cf. John 15:20; Col 1:24; 2 Tim. 3:12; 1 Peter 4:12). In fact believers do share in His sufferings; if indeed translates eiper, which means “if, as is the fact” (cf. Rom. 8:9). Then after the suffering they will share in His glory (2 Tim. 2:112; 1 Peter 4:13; 5:10).

2 John A. Wilmer, “Romans,” in The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, ed. J. F. Walvoord and R. B. Zuck, vol. 2 (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1983), 471.

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GALATIANS 4:6-7 THE BIBLE KNOWLEDGE COMMENTARY3

4:6.God the Father not only “sent His Son”; He also sent the Spirit. Thus the full Trinity is involved in the work of salvation. The Holy Spirit is a gift of God to every believer because of sonship. No sons or daughters lack the Spirit. Further, He is present within each believer’s heart to give evidence of that one’s position in God’s family. The Spirt moves the believer to pray to God, addressing Him as Abba, Father (cf. Rom. 8:15). The word “Abba” is the Aramaic word for “Father.” It is the diminutive form used by small children in addressing their fathers. It is appropriate to see its similarity to the English word “Daddy.” Used by Christ (cf. Mark 14:36), this familiar form indicates intimacy and trust as opposed to the formalism of legalism.

4:7 To conclude, Paul declared that the Galatians were no longer slaves, but were sons and heirs. The plural forms in verse 6 were replaced by the singular forms in verse 7 thus making the application to the reader direct and personal. In God’s family, sonship carries with it heirship (cf. Rom. 8:17).

LUKE 15:11-24 THE BIBLE KNOWLEDGE COMMENTARY4

15:11. A man…had two sons; the contrast between his sons is the point of the parable.

15:12-20a. This section of the parable describes the actions of the younger son. He requested an unusual thing when he asked his father to give him his share of the estate. Normally an estate was not divided and given to the heirs until the father could no longer manage it well. This father acquiesced to his son’s demand and gave him his share of the inheritance. The younger son took that wealth, went far away, and squandered it in wild living, involving himself presumably, as his older brother said, with prostitutes (v. 30). The hearers immediately would have begun to understand the point of the story. Jesus had been criticized for associating with sinners. The sinners were considered people who were far away from God, squandering their lives in riotous living. In contrast with the younger son, the older son continued to remain with the father and did not engage in such practices.

A famine occurred and the second son ran out of money so that he had to work for a foreigner feeding pigs, something detestable to a Jew. Perhaps the far country was east of the Sea of Galilee where Gentiles tended pigs (cf. 8:26-37). In his hunger he longed for the pods – the food he fed the pigs. As a Jew, he could have stooped no lower. The pods were probably carob pods, from tall evergreen carob trees.

In this low condition, he came to his senses (15:17). He decided to go back to his father and work for him. Surely he would be better off to work for his father than for a foreigner. He fully expected to be hired by his father as a servant, not to be taken back as his son.

15:20b-24. The third section of the parable describes the father’s response. He had been waiting for his son’s return, for while he was still a long way off the father saw him. The 3 Donald K. Campbell, “Galatians,” in The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, ed. J. F. Walvoord and R. B. Zuck, vol. 2 (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1983), 601-602. 4 John A. Martin, “Luke,” in The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, ed. J. F. Walvoord and R. B. Zuck, vol. 2 (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1983), 244-245.

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father, full of compassion for his son, ran to him and hugged and kissed him. The father would not even listen to all of the young son’s rehearsed speech. Instead the father had his servants prepare a banquet to celebrate the son’s return. He gave the son a new position with a robe…a ring…and sandals. Jesus intentionally used the banquet motif again. He had previously spoken of a banquet to symbolize the coming kingdom (13:29; cf. 14:15-24). Jesus’ hearers would have easily realized the significance of this feast. Sinners (whom the young son symbolized) were entering into the kingdom because they were coming to God. They believed they needed to return to Him and be forgiven by Him.

Content Our Father’s Will…Ask a volunteer to read Mark 14:36

Leader: We are given an insight into one of the most intensely personal and emotional moments in the life of Jesus.

What is the setting behind this interaction between Jesus and His Father?

Jesus is in the Garden of Gethsemane. After experiencing the Passover meal with His disciples He goes to the Garden to pray. He is faced with the most critical point in human history…and the most painful process in human history. He will be made to be sin and bear the curse of sin for all humanity, forsaken by His Father. It is at that point that He pours out His heart to His Father. He is able to express His deepest feelings to One who loves Him totally.

Why is it important that we can express our deepest feelings to our Father in Heaven?

It is important in this relationship to so totally trust the knowledge and care of the Father that we can acknowledge that His will is best. If you truly love someone (agape – the choice to always love someone enough to do what is best for them) you will for them what is best – and God loves us beyond our understanding. Our question is often not whether or not God’s will is best for us, but rather will we trust His will and move forward in it. He can handle our questions in that process.

What are some experiences where our fathers may have known what was best for us even when we may have questioned that?

What are some experiences where God knew what was best despite our questions?

Our Father’s Leading…Ask a volunteer to read Romans 8:14-15

Leader: One of the greatest gifts a father can give to his child is guidance and leadership. As children we not only do not always know what is best in our own wisdom, but we can be confident that we are being led by One who loves us. At the moment that we place our trust in

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Jesus we receive God in us…the Holy Spirit. As believers we can walk, talk, make decisions and use our family’s “wealth” as soon with God’s Spirit in us.

Fathers have a perspective that children do not have. They have experienced much in life that children have not experienced. They can apply wisdom, perspective, experience, study, etc. to the events of life. How much more does the Holy Spirit have the wisdom to lead us? All-knowing, all-powerful, all-wise, all-loving…the Holy Spirit is given to God’s children (those who have placed their faith in Jesus for salvation) to lead them through this life.

“A baby cannot sign checks, but the child of God by faith can draw on his spiritual wealth, because he is an heir of God and a joint-heir with Christ (Rom. 8:17). The Spirit teaches us from the Word, and then we receive God’s wealth by faith. What thrilling thing it is to have “the Spirit of Adoption” at work in our lives!”5

What are some ways God shows His love for us in leading us?

Gives us the Holy Spirit to dwell in us and guide us; gives us His Word to teach us; gives us Christian brothers and sisters to speak into us.

What is an experience in your life where the Holy Spirit has led you as a child of God?

Our Father’s Riches…Ask a volunteer to read Galatians 4:6-7

Leader: In our world we think about being an heir as one who has the legal right to inherit, most often from our parents. These are things we have not accumulated or acquired personally. Rather, they belong to someone else who chooses to give them to us because they love us. We haven’t earned them – they are gifts.

What kinds of things to you think of when you think of an earthly inheritance? What is something meaningful to you that you have inherited?

In the Old Testament inheritance most often refers to immovable possessions (house, city, country) – something permanent and immovable. It is a legal disposition of something that is stable and lasting. Only children – natural or adopted – had a familial right to inherit. Most New Testament references deal with inheriting the Kingdom of God.

As believers in Jesus we have been adopted as children in God’s family. We are called “co-heirs with Christ.” What God the Father has given to Jesus Christ He has also given to us. It is

5 Warren W. Wiersbe, The Weirsbe Bible Commentary NT (Colorado Springs, CO: David C. Cook, 2007), 430

“You sum up the whole of New Testament religion if you describe it as the knowledge of God as one’s holy Father. If you want to judge how well a person understands Christianity, find out how much he makes of the thought of being God’s child, and having God as His Father.”

-J. I. Packer

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an irrevocable gift from a Father to His adopted child. Above any other type of inheritance we have the dignity and wealth that comes with the name “child of God.”

What are some inheritances that come to you as an heir, an adopted child of God? As a child of God what has He given to you that means the most to you?

Some noted in Scripture: Salvation, eternal life, the Kingdom of God, God’s promises, blessings – permanent gifts (imperishable, undefiled, and unfading), the Holy Spirit

Our Father’s Unchanging Love…Ask a volunteer to read Luke 15:11-24

Leader: Jesus gave us one of the most touching examples of what it means to be a father in the story we know as The Prodigal Son. In this story Jesus is proving a point to the Jewish religious leaders, showing them that God loves those who wander away and return to Him just as much as those who supposedly never wander away. But in that story He paints a portrait of the heart of our Heavenly Father. It shows that the father’s grace and love are greater than the son’s sin.

What traits does the prodigal son’s father exhibit?

Loves the son enough to let the son make his own choices, waits patiently for the son to come to his senses, faithfully looks for the son, welcomes the son back with forgiveness and grace, maintains the son’s position as a son (not a slave) – unconditional love.

Which of these traits have you experienced personally in your relationship with your Abba Father?

APPLICATION

Of the names of God we have studied to date, which helps you see God as your Father more deeply? Why? How does knowing that God is your Father impact your day-to-day life? How does it impact something you are dealing with specifically today?

RESPOND

PRAY

Close in prayer. Ask God to deepen you understanding and acceptance of His Fatherhood in your life.

“We ought in the very order of things [in creation] diligently to contemplate God’s fatherly love . . . [for as] a foreseeing and diligent father of the family he shows his wonderful goodness toward us. . . . To conclude once for all, whenever we call God the Creator of heaven and earth, let us at the same time bear in mind that . . . we are indeed his children, whom he has received into his faithful protection to nourish and educate. . . . So, invited by the great sweetness of his beneficence and goodness, let us study to love and serve him with all our heart.”

-John Calvin

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MERGE IDEA

Talk about God as our Father with your family. Ask open-ended questions like:

1. How does God become our father (all people are created by God but not all people are God’s children)?

2. What traits of God as our Father give us comfort and strength?

Names of God Elohim - Powerful, Supreme, Sovereign

Yahweh - Self Existent, Personal, Present

El Elyon - God the Most High

Yahweh Shalom - God is Peace

El Qanna - God is Jealous

Yahweh M’Kaddesh - God Who Sanctifies You

El Roi - God Who Sees

Yahweh Yireh - God Who Sees To It

El Shaddai - God Almighty

Yahweh Rapha - God Who Heals

Attiyq Youm - The Ancient of Days

Yahweh Nissi - The Lord is My Banner or Rallying Point

Adonai - Lord, Master, Owner

Yahweh Tsidkenu - The Lord is Our Righteousness

El Deah - The God Who Knows

Yahweh Tsabbaoth - God of Armies, Hosts

El Olam - God the Eternal

Yahweh Shammah - God is There

Abba Pater – Daddy Father