Would Jesus call God Mother?
Wasn’t he known for calling God Abba, that homely Aramaic form for “father”? Didn’t this peculiar foreign word find its way to early church prayers? And wasn’t it, in translation, encoded into the Lord’s Prayer and thus burned into Christian sub-consciousness?
All of it is true. Jesus did call God Abba-Father. But he also used number of parables and metaphors and images, which portray God as woman, housewife, mother. In the parable of the rising yeast the role of a wife baking and providing for her household is clearly a role for God. Just imagine God in an apron kneading dough on her kitchen table!
Similarly, in the parable of the lost coin, isn’t the woman’s role the one reserved for God? Now imagine God with a broom sweeping and cleaning around her home in search for a trundled-away coin? And even that famous non sequitur about a camel and a needle, might be a biting criticism of the Jewish Hellenistic plutocracy. It nevertheless also betrays familiarity with female chores and also hints of God threading a needle to repair the torn tapestry of the world.
Thus, although we do not have any record of Jesus actually calling God "Ima" - Mother, there is, nevertheless, a strong circumstantial evidence for Jesus thinking and visualizing God also in a form of motherly figure. Come this Sunday to celebrate and rejoice in the motherly caring love of God.
Wasn’t he known for calling God Abba, that homely Aramaic form for “father”? Didn’t this peculiar foreign word find its way to early church prayers? And wasn’t it, in translation, encoded into the Lord’s Prayer and thus burned into Christian sub-consciousness?
All of it is true. Jesus did call God Abba-Father. But he also used number of parables and metaphors and images, which portray God as woman, housewife, mother. In the parable of the rising yeast the role of a wife baking and providing for her household is clearly a role for God. Just imagine God in an apron kneading dough on her kitchen table!
Similarly, in the parable of the lost coin, isn’t the woman’s role the one reserved for God? Now imagine God with a broom sweeping and cleaning around her home in search for a trundled-away coin? And even that famous non sequitur about a camel and a needle, might be a biting criticism of the Jewish Hellenistic plutocracy. It nevertheless also betrays familiarity with female chores and also hints of God threading a needle to repair the torn tapestry of the world.
Thus, although we do not have any record of Jesus actually calling God "Ima" - Mother, there is, nevertheless, a strong circumstantial evidence for Jesus thinking and visualizing God also in a form of motherly figure. Come this Sunday to celebrate and rejoice in the motherly caring love of God.
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