Awaken The Dawn

AWAKEN THE DAWN!

Abba is our Lord’s favorite designation for God; and has been the subject of much scholarly research. We have the German scholars to thank for the conclu- sion that while Abba was the child’s word for his earthly father, there is no evidence that the pious Jew ever used precisely this form (meaning ‘dear father’, ‘daddy’) of God. Instead, he used a variant form like Abinu, (‘our Father’), but Abba was avoided because it was thought to be too daring and familiar an expression to be used of the King of the universe. 6

However, the meaning of the word burst upon me not in the library but in a public park in Jerusalem. Joy and I were admiring the scenery when suddenly a little Jewish boy came running across the grass. The dark-haired child in short pants looked very much like any American boy playing in the park, but the words which poured from his mouth started bells ringing in my mind. “Abba, Abba,” he yelled. Running over to his father, the child lovingly wrapped his arms around his daddy’s leg. As I stood there watching this typical family scene, I real- ized that Jesus was employing “a nursery word to convey the thought of God’s fatherly love, care and provision for men and women as His children.” 7 That picture has been worth ten thousand theological words to me! Jesus obviously introduced a whole new concept of inti- macy with the Almighty God. Apparently Paul and the early Church picked up this same terminology and spiri- tual relationship that Jesus had modeled for them. In the garden of Gethsemane, Jesus cried out: “Abba, Father…” 8 Paul describes how the Holy Spirit of Jesus now continues that cry in our prayer times:

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