David Jeremiah (March 5, 2025) Daily Devotional: Abba Father
For whoever does the will of My Father in heaven is My brother and sister and mother. - Matthew 12:50
Recommended Reading: Romans 8:14-17 - 14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. 15 For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.” 16 The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.
The phrase “Father in heaven” occurs eleven times in the Bible—all but three of them in Matthew’s Gospel, all quoting the words of Jesus. Why was Matthew so focused on including this phrase from Jesus’ teaching? Because Matthew’s Gospel is the most Jewish of the four Gospels and the notion of God as a Father to Israel occurred often in the Old Testament. (See Deuteronomy 14:1; 32:6; Psalm 103:13; Jeremiah 3:4; 31:9; Hosea 11:1.)
Jesus’ use of “Father” to describe God revealed a deeper sense of intimacy than in the Old Testament. Jesus, when speaking Aramaic, would have used abba for “Father,” the same word that Hebrew children of His day used to refer to their earthly fathers. Abba suggested a familial and familiar relationship between parent and child. Jesus even referred to God as His own Father and His followers as His familial relations (Matthew 12:50). So it is no surprise that Jesus taught His disciples to begin their prayers with “our Father in heaven” (Matthew 6:9).
If you are following Jesus, He is your Brother, and God is your Heavenly Father. Let us approach Him as a child does a loving father.
A Christian is one who has God as Father. J. I. Packer
