1490. The Address–"Father"

The Address–"Father"

"These words spake Jesus, and lifted up His eyes to Heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify Thy Son, that Thy Son also may glorify Thee" (Joh_17:1).

There may be some who would deny the Virgin Birth, but Jesus Christ knew God as Father, and so addressed Him. There may be some who would imagine that this was a vain fancy of the Lord's. Not so. Our Lord in the moment that He faced the Cross, did not pillow His head on fancy. No, Jesus Christ both called God "Father," and proclaimed Himself as Son. Hear Him, "Father * * glorify Thy Son."

In this most beautiful prayer, Christ six times addresses God as "Father." Let us gather up the passages.

"Father, the hour is come" (Joh_17:1).

"O Father, glorify Thou Me" (Joh_17:5).

"Holy Father, keep" (Joh_17:11).

"As Thou, Father, art in Me" (Joh_17:21).

"Father, I will that they also" (Joh_17:24).

"O righteous Father, the world hath not known Thee" (Joh_17:25).

The six passages above suffice to show us how Christ approached the Cross in unshaken trust in the Father. No clouds hung between them.

The seventh time, that Christ said "Father," is in the next chapter, where Christ said to Peter, "Put up thy sword into the sheath; the cup which My Father hath given Me, shall I not drink it?" (Joh_18:11).

There is an eighth time when Christ said "Father." The next day as Christ hung upon the Cross, He hung there in the sinner's stead, tasting the cup of death. Observe that our Lord did hot then cry "Father;" but He cried, "My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?" As He took the sinner's place He could no more say "Father," than the unregenerate of to-day can say, "Father." However, when the cry of "It is finished" had sounded forth; and when Christ bowed His head, satan was crushed and sin satisfied, He could cry, and did cry: "Father, into Thy hands I commend My spirit," and, "He gave up the ghost" (Luk_23:46).

Let us return to our chief consideration–the tender and open relationship of Christ toward the Father.

Christ in this prayer seemed lost in God. Everything He said bore close touch with the Father. He spoke of Himself and He spoke of us, His own, but in all of this the central thought was the Father. All was climaxed in Him.

It will do your soul good to sit down and count the number of times Christ speaks by pronouns, addressing the Father. We ran the chapter over with the following results:

The pronoun "Thou" occurs 27 times, as follows: in Joh_17:2, Joh_17:2-3, Joh_17:4-5, Joh_17:6, Joh_17:6-7, Joh_17:8, Joh_17:8-9, Joh_17:11-12, Joh_17:15, Joh_17:15, Joh_17:18, Joh_17:21, Joh_17:21-22, Joh_17:23, Joh_17:23, Joh_17:23-24, Joh_17:24, Joh_17:24-25, Joh_17:26.

The pronoun "Thee" occurs 11 times, as follows: in Joh_17:1, Joh_17:3-4, Joh_17:5, Joh_17:7-8, Joh_17:11, Joh_17:13, Joh_17:21, Joh_17:25, Joh_17:25.

The pronoun "Thy" occurs 9 times, as follows: in Joh_17:1, Joh_17:1, Joh_17:6, Joh_17:6, Joh_17:12, Joh_17:14, Joh_17:17, Joh_17:17, Joh_17:26.

The pronoun "Thine" occurs 6 times, as follows: in Joh_17:5-6, Joh_17:9-10, Joh_17:10, Joh_17:11.

In all these pronouns occur 53 times.

Suppose we analyze our prayers, and see if we keep the Father and His glory constantly in the foreground. Did not the Lord teach the disciples to pray: "Our Father, Who art in Heaven," etc.? and should we not also say, "Our Father"?

Autor: R.E. NEIGHBOUR