Meditation 294
John 15: 26-27; 16: 4b-15
The gospel of John is unique in the way the story of Jesus is told. John’s gospel begins with “in the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God.” This introduction goes on to tell us that the Word (Jesus) was present at creation and without him “was not anything made.” The other gospels begin with the infancy narratives, or in the case of Mark “the beginning of the Good News of Jesus Christ the Son of God” and then, after an expected introduction Matthew, Mark and Luke tell the story of Jesus in a similar way. John has some unique stories and has Jesus making the “I am” statements, such as I am the light of the world, I am the bread of life, and so on. Here at the end of the ministry of Jesus, with the promise of the Advocate, John continues to be unique.
The writer of Luke and Acts has a definite time in mind for the gift of the Holy Spirit, and there is the account in Acts 2 of the dramatic out pouring of the Holy Spirit upon the believers in Jerusalem. Other New Testament writers are less specific about the time of the giving of the Holy Spirit. In John, Jesus promises the gift of the Holy Spirit at the lengthy discourse after the supper on the night when he was betrayed. In John, Jesus promises the sending of the Paraclete, which has been a difficult word for the translators to put into English. Some of chosen to translate it as “Comforter” (King James Version), “Helper” (New King James Version), “Counselor” (Revised Standard Version, New International Version, New Living Bible), “Advocate” (New Revised Standard Version), or simply transliterated as “Paraclete” (New Jerusalem Bible). Other modern Western languages show a similar range of choices. The Greek word is made up of the participial form of the verb “to call” and the preposition “beside” and thus means one who has been summoned or called to the side of another–literally, an “advocate,” or, by extension, a helper or legal representative in a trial or other arena of judgment.” (Sharon H Ringe. Working Preacher) Up until now Jesus had been the one the disciples knew to be their representative or helper, and when he departed, they would have known a great sense of loss, and into that place of loss comes the promise of the Paraclete who would testify on behalf of Jesus.
This promise of a Paraclete is not just for the original disciples, but it is also for we who follow Jesus today. We are not alone.
Jesus promised that the spirit would teach us all things (John 14:26), that is the spirit will instruct us; therefore, it is good for us to have an openness to the spirit, so that we are able to hear the lessons. This is a day by day occupation, for walking with the spirit requires steadiness of observance. In a way it is like getting ready to walk a marathon, you need to work on it consistently. You gradually become able to walk a longer distance, you work at it steadily, and when the day comes, you set out with the right shoes, a water bottle and a supportive crowd. The point of a marathon is to finish the course, and so it is with our walk with the Spirit. We daily try to become stronger and we do best with a supportive crowd of believers, Or as Maya Angelou said “Life is going to give you just what you put in it. Put your whole heart in everything you do, and pray, then you can wait.”