Abba

 

Jesus called God "Abba." In the Aramaic language that Jesus spoke "Abba" meant something like "Daddy" or "Papa."
The Jews never said out loud the sacred name of God. This tradition honors the fact that Ultimate Reality cannot be captured adequately in concepts or words.
Jesus not only mentions the name of God out loud but calls the Divine by the intimate and affectionate name of "Abba." By using the endearing name that a child uses for its father Jesus implies that God is always close, leaning over us, pretecting us from without, guiding us from within, holding us in a loving embrace forever. "Abba" adds a tender, nurturing, and compassionate face to our understanding of Ultimate Reality.
A man told me once that he was walking in a crowded market in Israel when a little boy reached up and took his hand. When the boy looked up and found out that it was not his father's hand, he began looking wildly about. Spotting his father up ahead in the crowd, the boy went running after him crying, "Abba! Abba! Abba!" His father turned and swooped his son up into his arms in a warm embrace.
(I'm told that the Swedish singing group, whose music is the basis of the new movie "Mama Mia," chose this as their name for its Aramaic meaning.)