Page 113 - A Dissertation for Doctor of Philosophy

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significant in comprehending his personal, filial relationship with God. Jeremias observes that
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the Gospel writers unanimously testify of Jesus’ usage of “Father as a form of address.” The

uniqueness of “Abba,” the term Jesus uses when he addresses God in prayer, “expresses the heart

of Jesus’ relationship to God. He spoke to God as a child to its father: confidently and securely,

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and yet at the same time reverently and obediently.”
This unique relationship between Jesus and the Father characterizes the authority of Jesus as the

preacher. Third, the authority of Jesus is functional. Jesus did not refuse or deny the confessed

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titles or position of “the Messiah, the Son of the living God” (Matt. 16:16). He did not rely on
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them, however, for his authority in preaching. It is little wonder that When the people would

exclaim such things as, “What is this? A new teaching--with authority!” (Mark. 1:27) it is

interesting to note that it was not his title or his position that caused them marvel, but the “what”

and “how” of his teaching. People recognized his authority by experiencing his preaching. The

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difference between Jesus and their teachers was easily distinguishable.

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Mark 14:36, Matt. 6:9, 11:25, 26:42, Luke 10:21, 11:2, 23:34, 23:46. These verses are
Jesus’ address God as Father mostly in the prayer of Jesus.

31 Jeremias, New Testament Theology, 62.

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Ibid., 67.
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Matt.16:13-23, Mark 8:27-33, Luke 9:18-22.
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Raymond Bailey, Jesus The Preacher (Nashville, TN: Broadman Press, 1990), 19.
35 Jacob Neusner, Development of a Legend: Studies on the Traditions Concerning
Yohanan ben Zakkai Studia Post-Biblica 16 (Leiden, Netherlands: E.J. Brill, 1970), 190. He
stresses, that “No rabbi was so important to rabbinical Judaism as Jesus was to Christianity.
None prophesied as an independent authority. None left a category of ‘I’ sayings, for none had
the prestige to do so.”