GPS Guide – July 24, 2019
OUR FATHER
Wednesday
Read: Luke 11:11-12, 13:33-35
11 “Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? 12 Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion ” (NIV Luke 11:11-12)
33 “In any case, I must press on today and tomorrow and the next day—for surely no prophet can die outside Jerusalem! 34 “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing.35 Look, your house is left to you desolate. I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’ ” (NIV Luke 13:33-35)
Study: Jesus often called God “Father.” He didn’t do that to say that God is male rather than female. “With nearly a thousand uses of the explicit vocabulary of fatherhood in English translations, the image of the father is a major biblical archetype. For Jesus, “father” was a way to express God’s caring and reliability, a quality for which he also used the feminine image of a mother hen. Jesus followed the Hebrew Scriptures in crediting God with the very best, most reliable traits of fathers AND mothers. Hosea 11:1-4 movingly pictured God as a loving father helping an infant learn to walk. Isaiah 49:14-15 said God cared for God’s children even more intently than a nursing mother. Genesis 1:26-27’s archetypal creation story said male and female alike bear God’s image. How did Jesus’ “father” image point toward good qualities all humans can depend on from God?
Prayer: Lord Jesus, your prayer said I can trust God’s goodness. Thank you for showing me what a loving heavenly father I have. Amen.