The language that Jesus spoke, Hebrew, is one of the few languages that was first written in pictures. The pictures later became letters and the Hebrew alphabet has 22 letters, many close to our English alphabet.
In ancient Hebrew words were not written with the vowels. They were spoken, of course, but not included in the spelling of the words. The interesting thing is, when we look at the original word pictures that the letters stand for, there is often an underlying meaning.
Such is the case with the word for “father” which is spelled AB (also pronounced AV). These two Hebrew letters are ALEPH & BET. Now for their word pictures:
ALEPH is the picture of an ox’s head, and its meaning is strength or strong leader. I’m sure you have heard the saying, “He’s strong as an ox.” BET is a picture of a tent or house, and means house. So the meaning of father-AB is—“The father is the strength or the strong leader of the house.”
Another factor in Hebrew is: Whenever a letter is doubled, it intensifies the meaning. When Jesus cried out to His Father in Gethsemane, “ABBA”, He was at His weakest, most desperate point, wrestling with the hour of darkness and His own self-will: “And saith unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful unto death: tarry ye here, and watch. And he went forward a little, and fell on the ground, and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from him. And he said, Abba, Father, all things are possible unto thee; take away this cup from me: nevertheless not what I will, but what thou wilt” (Mark 14:34-36).
John alone recorded the more intimate detailed prayer Jesus prayed in Gethsemane (John 17). He began with the triumphant words, “Father, I have finished the work which Thou gavest me to do” (vs. 4). He continued to detail how He had obediently carried out the plan to teach the people God’s message of love and salvation, how He had mentored and kept the disciples He was given. He asked for their protection, addressing Him, “Holy Father.”
Then He prayed for those who would come to believe through their word (including you and me), and He asked that all would one day be with Him in Heaven and behold Him in His glory. He called Him, “O righteous Father.” But when He faced the cup of suffering, and His whole being was in agony, even to the point of death, from the horrendous mental, emotional, and spiritual warfare, He cried out from the depths of His being, “Abba Father!”
He addressed His Father in the most familiar, intimate way He could when He was at His deepest despair. We also experience times of deep turmoil, anxiety, fear, and oppression, and in these times we can sometimes struggle to pray. If we will but just cry to our Heavenly Father, “Abba,” we will find strength, grace, help, a solace there.
You may be surprised to learn that “our Father” only occurs 13 times in the O.T., but Jesus referred to God as “our Father” over 30 times and as “My Father” over 150 times! This was really a new concept to the Jews of His day. The term father denotes personal relationship, which brings God down to our level!
Jesus was considered a revolutionary because He called God His Father. Imagine what the woman at the well thought when He told her, “The hour is come when true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth; for the Father seeks such to worship Him” (John 4:23). He did not say “God” but “Father” who does not want obligatory worship, but relationship and intimacy.
Yet on the cross, when He hung there humiliated, maligned and suffering. He did not cry out, “My Father, My Father, why hast thou forsaken me?” No! He cried out, “My God, My God…” Not only was this to fulfill the prophecy of Psalm 22, but the Father never forsook Him! It was a holy, righteous God who could not look on sin, but the Father could not forsake His Son. Jesus had told His disciples earlier, “The hour is come when every one of you will be scattered and leave me alone, but I am not alone, because the Father is with me” (John 16:32).
(Excerpts from Sharon’s message, “I Call Him Abba”, available on CD.)
About The Author
