Seven-Day Practical Faith Blog: Crying Out to the Father

I was walking along the Via Dolarosa in the Old City of Jerusalem when a man strode past me, trailed by a little boy, crying out to his father. "Ab-BA! Ab-BA!"

This is not how you actually pronounce "Abba" as we see it in the Bible. Compare it to shouting, "Dad-DY! Dad-DY!"

The father stooped to speak softly to his son, then sent him back to his mother.

This modern-day scene compares to Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. In agony as he awaited his arrest and crucifixion, Jesus cried out to the Father in Mark 14:36 (NIV).

“Abba, Father,” he said, “everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.”

"Abba" is a word like "Daddy." In most intimate terms, Jesus sought to change the situation yet obeyed his Father's response. Like the Jerusalem father who sent his little son back to his rightful place, God the Father sent Jesus back to the task for which he was born.

God may not ask us to die for a cause, but he does ask us to give ourselves up for heavenly purposes. As Jesus said earlier in the gospel of Mark in Mark 8:35 (NIV):

"For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it."

Jesus sacrificed his life for our salvation. Let us sacrifice for Jesus in return.

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