THE MEANING OF THE WORD "FATHER" IN THE PRAYER OF JESUS

One day a disciple of Jesus asked him, "Lord, teach us to pray" (Lc 11.1). In attention, Jesus taught a prayer that later became a symbol of Christianity and which, even today, is prayed: the "Our Father" prayer. The text does not reveal, but it is possible to infer that the disciple must have been shocked to hear it. The Jews did not call God of Father. It was therefore a teaching endowed not only with originality but also with a revolutionary character which would cost Jesus his own life (John 5:18).

Neither in Old Testament times nor in those days there was this practice. They knew that God loved them, but they saw Him as the Creator who revealed Himself to them but was very zealous with His Law. Because of their view of God, Jewish spirituality, at the time of Christ, was pervaded by a biased legalism and false devotion. The unhealthy fixation in the Law led Jewish leaders to catalog 613 commandments in which they structured all religious praxis. Something that was to be liberating was reduced to an apparatus of oppression. All Jesus' action consisted in challenging and deconstructing this religiosity.

In short, we can say that the "Our Father" is a synthesis of the main emphases of the teaching of Jesus. His first word, "Father," points to the centrality of God in prayer. God, not us, is the center of this intimate moment of conversation. The "Our Father" is a synthesis of the main emphases of the teaching of Jesus. In this prayer, He cites the question of evil, the human condition of sin, the kingdom of heaven and God himself, in the concept "Father." We do not evaluate the impact of this word on the religious structure of Israel, for the two thousand years of Western Christian culture have made it common for us; but this word “Father” was a thump in one of it important columns: prayer.

When Jesus says that we should call God "Father," He changes our view of God and draws Him closer to us. Prayer ceases to be a formal act, a penance, and becomes a conversation with the Father in a family relationship. This teaching of Christ has an intimate relationship with another, equally revolutionary, the need for man to be born again (John 3). Many can’t call God by the name "Father" or if call Him this way they do not feel comfortable because they did not have the experience of being born for life in the Spirit.

We lose from ourselves and from God, when we separate from him, in Eden. At that moment, we died spiritually, for we disconnected ourselves from our Creator. Now we live death, that is, separation from God. We do not know who we are, where we came from, where we are going to, or the reason we are in the world. So, the "father" of the parable of the prodigal son said when he returned: "for this son of mine was dead and is alive again; was lost and is found "(Luke 15.24). The word "Father" is the way not only to God but to ourselves. When, in prayer, we call God "Father" and we do not feel constrained, it is because we meet not only with God, but with ourselves. We are his children. That is why Jesus said, "you should not be surprised at my saying, you must be born again" (John 3.7).

Antônio Maia – M.Div.

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