What Does It Mean to Call God “Father”?

The disciples had already witnessed stunning miracles, including many healings and two resurrections. They had also seen Jesus calm a storm, cast demons out of men and feed an enormous crowd with but a few fish and loaves of bread. They could see that He was different from other religious leaders.

It’s not surprising, then, that one of the disciples asked Jesus, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples” (Luke 11:1). They would have desired the same confident relationship with God that they witnessed in their Master’s life.

What would have surprised people of that time, however, is that He taught them to pray to “our Father in heaven” (verse 2). Modern Christians may miss how striking this form of address would have seemed. Even today, could we overlook its full impact?

What does it mean to call God “Father”?

The Expositor’s Bible Commentary points out that among first-century Jews living in Judea and Galilee “no one ever addressed God directly as ‘My Father,’ because it would have been thought disrespectful” (Vol. 10, p. 474).

By repeatedly addressing God as “Father” in His prayers, Jesus not only departed from the established customs of the first century, but He stunned onlookers. In his book The Central Message of the New Testament, Joachim Jeremias explains:

“To his disciples it must have been something quite extraordinary that Jesus addressed God as ‘my Father.’ Moreover not only do the four Gospels attest that Jesus used this address, but they report unanimously that he did so in all his prayers.”

Jeremias goes on to cite the single exception, a prayer Jesus uttered during His crucifixion: “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” (Mark 15:34).

In that prayer He was quoting and fulfilling Scripture (Psalm 22:1). Jesus undoubtedly felt a profound separation from God as the result of bearing our sins.

“Abba, Father” in a prayer of Jesus

When we understand the language Jesus used to address the Father in His prayers, the contrast between His approach and that of first-century Judaism is even greater. One Gospel writer highlighted that contrast with the inclusion of a single word in his account.

In the passage about Jesus praying in the Garden of Gethsemane the night before His crucifixion, Mark wrote that Jesus prayed, “Abba, Father” (Mark 14:36). The Gospel itself was written in Greek, but Mark included the Aramaic word Abba, immediately translating it as “Father.”

Why? This word “implies intimacy” (Expositor’s, Vol. 10, p. 474). Mark wanted us to understand the nature of Christ’s prayers and relationship with the Father.

Abba carried a sense of closeness, but also deep respect. It was commonly used within a family by both children and adult sons and daughters to address a father they deeply trusted and obeyed.

By using this term, Jesus was expressing a loving relationship characterized by both closeness and submission. He wasn’t using casual or irreverent language; He was showing the deep connection and trust that existed between the Father and Jesus. 

This single word underscores the intimacy between Jesus and the Father. This was nowhere reflected in the customs of the day, nor is it stressed in the Old Testament.

God as Father in the Old Testament

In fact, God is called “Father” in only 14 Old Testament passages. He is seen primarily as the Father of the nation of Israel rather than as the Father of individuals.

The relationship was with Israel as a collective body. No other nation shared this bond. It was exclusive to Israel. But it was not generally personal and intimate. Throughout the Old Testament, only a very few individuals—people like Abraham, Moses and David—had a personal relationship with God.

Although the idea of God being a personal Father is not emphasized in the Old Testament, there are hints that such a relationship was possible. David seemed to suggest such a relationship when he wrote, “As a father pities his children, so the LORD pities those who fear Him” (Psalm 103:13).

“My Father” and “your Father”

Not only did Jesus pray to “My Father” and teach His disciples to do the same, but He repeatedly referred to God as “your Father” in conversations with them.

In the three chapters comprising the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5 through 7), there are 12 references to “your Father.” He was impressing on His disciples the intimate relationship available to them.

Jesus illustrated this relationship in two parables, the parable of the two sons (Matthew 21:28-32) and the parable of the lost son (Luke 15:11-32). The latter, in particular, depicts God as a loving Father longing for a restored relationship with a lost son.

What’s interesting about this second parable is that Jesus painted a picture of a father that would have been quite different from the cultural norm (Expositor’s, Vol. 8, p. 984). To picture the father showing such emotion, running toward his wayward son and embracing him, would have been surprising to those who heard the parable.

After His resurrection, in an encounter with Mary Magdalene, Jesus continued to emphasize the relationship His disciples could have with the Father, telling her to “go to My brethren and say to them, ‘I am ascending to My Father and your Father, and to My God and your God’” (John 20:17).

Revealing a hidden truth about God’s family

In teaching His disciples to pray to “our Father” (Matthew 6:9; Luke 11:2), and in speaking to them of “your Father,” Jesus was revealing a profound truth that few understood then—and few truly understand even today.

He was revealing a truth that should have been evident from creation. God said, “Let Us [the Father and the Word] make man in Our image” (Genesis 1:26).

We were created in God’s image because we have the potential to become members of God’s family. The disciples may have struggled to comprehend His meaning because it was so different from their cultural preconceptions.

You, too, may struggle with this concept because it is so different from what is commonly taught. And yet it’s right there in the pages of your Bible.

The family of God in the writings of John

The apostle John, who outlived the other disciples and wrote late in the first century, focused on this issue in his Gospel.

He began with a description of the two beings of the Godhead: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1).

A few verses later he made it clear that Jesus was the Word, writing that “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father” (verse 14).

This passage not only confirms the deity of the Word, who became Jesus, but describes a family relationship between the Father and Son (verse 18).

So what did Jesus mean when He taught His disciples that they, too, could pray to the Father as Father? What did He mean when He referred to God as “My Father” and “your Father”?

Christ was revealing the astounding opportunity for humans, made in the image of God, to become His sons and daughters. All of us can become part of the family of God.

How is that possible?

Becoming sons and daughters of God

The apostle Paul tells us how this transformation occurs. He wrote that we can become children of God now if we “are led by the Spirit of God” (Romans 8:14).

It’s interesting that this statement is followed by one that echoes the cry of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. Paul explained to the congregation in Rome that “you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, ‘Abba, Father’” (verse 15).

When we receive God’s Holy Spirit, God the Father makes us His children. Christ becomes our elder Brother (verse 29). We are begotten as members of God’s family.

What calling God “Father” means for you

There is a tremendous possibility beyond even the wonderful relationship that begins at conversion. What awaits Christians is really beyond our ability to comprehend fully.

The apostle John provided a glimpse in his first epistle: “Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is” (1 John 3:2).

One thing that becomes clear, however, is that God cannot, and will not, bestow that privilege on anyone who refuses to obey Him. Paul and John each gave us lists of the types of people who will not share in this blessing (1 Corinthians 6:9-10; Revelation 21:8). The children of God seek to obey Him and become more and more like Him.

Never forget that every time you pray to God as your Father, you are making a powerful statement about who God is, what He is doing and what His purpose is for you—and for all humanity. You are declaring that God is not only your Father who cares deeply for you, but One who is calling you to have a Father-child relationship with Him in His eternal family.

For more about God as our Father, see our online article “Knowing God as a Loving Father.”