Father Image in John  

(Published in News First, April 2008 - monthly church newsletter of the Warragul Uniting Church)

Dear friends, I found this material.  It maybe of interest to you…. Chris

FATHER IMAGE IN JOHN

By John Indermark

You are at a public function where an invocation is offered. It begins “Father God, we just thank you for this night. Bless the food and the friendship, Father, for all comes to us from you.”

What is your reaction to that prayer’s repeated address of God?

A. perfectly comfortable and, in fact, reflects how I pray and think about God

B. a bit uneasy about the lack of other ways of speaking about/to God

C. put off by the excluding nature of repeated references to God as father

D. walk out the door and never go there again

E. somewhere in between

Numerous passages in the Gospel of John place before us the imagery of God as father.

It is the way Jesus most often refers to God in the gospel. It tells us something about how Jesus is in relationship with God, rather than depicting a masculine core to God’s nature.

What did Jesus have in mind by using the metaphor of “father” for his relationship with God? It must be remembered that the society in Jesus’ day was patriarchal. The father symbolized the core of family life. To be without a father (or husband) placed children and widows at extraordinary risk. Fathers provided both identity and security for the members of their families. Given this context, Jesus called God father in order to communicate his identity as a special child of God. But beyond announcing a title, Jesus knew that God was his source of strength and sustenance; God provided for all of his needs. Furthermore, Jesus encourages the disciples to see themselves as members of God’s household through which we gain our identity as children of God and trust in God to provide for our needs as well.

In Aramaic, the language Jesus would have spoken and taught in, abba served as a slightly less formal address of father in the circle of family. Some argue it is less authoritarian and more endearing than “father.” Abba comes closer in meaning to what we might hear in the word “daddy” or “poppa” today. Mark 14:36 records Jesus’ use of abba in addressing God. Does that mean this was the only time Jesus addressed God as abba? Not at all. The gospels were written in Greek, and therefore, all of Jesus’ words had undergone translation from his native Aramaic tongue. It might even be, though there is no conclusive way of determining it, that the “father” language in John traces back to Jesus’ using the word abba in those narratives.

We do not hear the metaphor of “father” in John’s gospel only through the tradition and context from which Jesus spoke. We hear and process language, including the language of scripture, through our own experiences. We hear the language of “father” through our experiences of being fathered. For some, tragically, those experiences include abuse. For many others, the overriding use of “father” and other male-exclusive language about God leaves the impression (and at times creates the theologies) of a patriarchal faith and God.

These harmful experiences mean we cannot be thoughtless in our view and use of language about God. Instead, we must be deliberate in how we speak about and to God. Such concerns are important because of the One we follow. Jesus consistently sided with the vulnerable and went to great lengths to communicate love to those who needed it most. Faithfulness to Jesus insists that care needs to be taken with our words for we are called to be faith’s witnesses and not its stumbling blocks.

John Indermark is a minister in the United Church of Christ. John writes devotional books published by Upper Room Books.