“Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?” (Matthew 6:26)
Jesus was teaching His disciples. The thing that astounds me is His use of the phrase “your heavenly Father.” And yet later on Jesus makes a differing distinction. “Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you. Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of My Father I have made known unto you.” (John 15:14-15) And this is logical for various reasons. Jesus had not redeemed us yet. And there was no one who could be a child of God until the redemption. Jesus makes a difference by emphasizing in John by saying “My Father” and calling the disciples friends, not brethren.
Then in the sections in Matthew and in Luke about not being anxious, Jesus refers to God as “your Father.” Later on in Matthew 6:32, when teaching them to take no thought for what they would eat, or drink or wear, He again uses “your Father.” “(For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.” (Matthew 6:32) Then again after Jesus commands His disciples to seek the kingdom of God and all things would be added to them, He uses the term “your Father. “Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” (Luke 12:32) He uses “your Father” in reference to God before the redemption.
Jesus used the same word in all these instances, meaning a father and a parent in those Scriptures before the redemption and also after the redemption. Is it important? In theology I believe it does. And it is important because we become children of God when we believe on Jesus and make Him our Lord. Before that, God has not welcomed us into His family. We look at an incident after the resurrection when Jesus appears to Mary Magdelene. “Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God.” (John 20:17) Jesus is very specific to say “My Father and your Father.” And He specifically calls the disciples “my brethren.” These specifications indicate the scope of the work of Jesus. He made us His brethren and children of God, a member of God’s family.
On the other hand, we could make the argument that by way of creation, God is the Father of all mankind. And since Jesus was pointing to God’s provision to all of His creation, God could be referred to as Father. This is the only explanation for His use of “your Father” when referring to God before the redemption, highlighting the fact that God is like a father in caring for His creation. “The LORD is good to all: and His tender mercies are over all His works.” (Psalms 145:9)
In looking at translations in other languages, in the verses before the redemption, the texts do not use "your Father, but "the Father." It just might be an error in the translation from the original Greek to English, which is a more likely the case.
And if God cares for His creation, how much more does He care for His family? And if God loved us so much, He initiated the plan to redeem us by sending Jesus to die for us, how much more now that we are His children? Paul wrote of God’s care for us in our affliction and suffering. “Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort; Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God.” (2Corinthians 1:3-4)
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