What language did Jesus speak?
Have you ever wondered what language Jesus spoke? It wasn’t English! It was a language called Aramaic. In fact, even in the original New Testament written in Greek, Jesus’ actual words in Aramaic are occasionally preserved for us. For example, in Mark 5:41, Jesus brings Jairus’ daughter back to life with the words “Talitha koum”. Then, in Mark 15:34, from the cross Jesus cries out in a loud voice: “lama sabachthani?” Fortunately for us, Mark takes care to tell us what these words mean (you can look them up for yourself!). Perhaps most significant of all, when Jesus prays to his own Father, he uses the Aramaic word “Abba” (Mark 14:36). Maybe you didn’t know that you already knew some Aramaic!
So far, so interesting – but so what? Jesus could have restricted himself to Hebrew, especially when praying, but he didn’t. After all, Hebrew was the sacred language of God’s Old Testament people. In choosing to address God in Aramaic, Jesus was showing there is no longer any sacred language for the people of God (not even Welsh, as some would claim!). So, whereas Jewish people have Hebrew and Muslim people have Arabic, Christians have… any and every language of the world. What is more, since there is no sacred Christian language, nor is there any sacred Christian culture. So, we can find brothers and sisters in the Christian family who eat, dress and speak in totally different ways and yet know and love the same Lord Jesus Christ.
Chris Hobbs, Vicar