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Easter 6C 2004 John 14:23-29
With this Sixth Sunday of Easter we have only one more Sunday in the Easter season. Sunday after that is Pentecost Sunday,
the day of celebration for the birthday of the Church and for the coming of the Holy Spirit to be with that Church until the
Second Coming of Jesus Christ. And. Of course, the Sunday after that is Trinity Sunday, that day when we explore the deep
and profound mystery of the Triune God.
In todays Gospel, our Lord promises his disciples that he will send the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, to the faithful people
he is leaving behind. In this passage the Koine Greek term used for the Advocate is parakl12 <tos, transliterated and
anglicized as Paraclete. The other term for Holy Spirit is pneuma, about which more later.
Paraclete in the New Testament Greek means one who is "called to the side of, alongside of" and hence "advocate",
counselor, comforter, and helper in various translations of the Bible. It is an interesting word; it isnt just ecclesiastical
gobbledygook. In the culture and thought world of the New Testament, the term seems to have had a wide range of meanings.
And John's readers would have known them all.
If you had a bit too much wine and started racing your chariot around Ephesus, and you got arrested for it you would
need an advocate. A defender who could represent you in court and be called as a character witness to tell the judge that
this irrational behavior was really just a fluke and you were really a pretty decent human being most of the time. Such a
person would be called "a paraclete." Someone who sticks up for us, who knows what we are truly like, yet will
always defend us, despite ourselves. An advocate and defender.
Suppose you were an architect in need of some mathematical calculations or a trader in need of geographical surveys.
Whatever the case, when a person in business contracted out labor or called in a consultant to provide expertise in a particular
area, the person hired to help out was called "a paraclete." Someone who knows what we don't know and helps us
with, and enables us to complete, tasks we could not do on our own. An enabler and teacher; a helper.
Suppose you were in a Roman legion, stationed someplace where the figs were sour, the sun hot, and the bugs bad. The
soldiers become discouraged and morale is low. The Roman army employed special personnel to deal with such a situation.
They were what we would call "motivational speakers," or Rabble-rousers, or cheerleaders, traveling about from cohort
to cohort giving pep talks to the troops. These dispellers of gloom, these dispensers of inspiration were called "Paracletes."
Someone who strengthens us within, and inspires us to new hope, one who operates from the assumption of success and goodness
and instills in us the power to fulfill that vision? A strengthener and inspirer.
Or suppose you as a young child had lost both of your parents in a storm at sea. You were too young to take charge of
the estate, even too young to take charge of your own affairs. You would need a trusted person to serve in the place of your
parents and guard you from any kind of harm. A guardian and protector. (1)
The importance of this term, Paraclete is because it is a promise from our Lord. Jesus promised his disciples that
they would not be abandoned when he was crucified, died, was buried, was resurrected and then ascended into heaven. God
the Father would send the Paraclete in Jesus Name. A propos of Trinity Sunday we have here in this verse (Jn 14:26) all three
persons of the Trinity: But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything,
and remind you of all that I have said to you. God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
As the Fourth Gospel makes clear, the Paraclete is the Holy Spirit, or Spirit of Truth. In fact, the Fourth Gospel's
teaching about the Holy Spirit is set forth in terms of the Paraclete, who continues the work of Jesus himself (14:16-17),
recalling things the earthly Jesus taught or revealing things he was unable to convey (14:26; 16:12-14). As far as the writer
of Saint Johns Gospel was concerned, this spiritual knowledge or insight, unavailable until after Jesus' death and resurrection,
makes for the first time Christian faith and understanding fully possible.
When Saint John speaks of the Holy Spirit in the same breath, he uses the term pneuma. The Holy Spirit, the mysterious
power or presence of God in nature or with individuals and communities, inspiring or empowering them with qualities they would
not otherwise possess. The term "spirit" translates the Hebrew (ruach) and Greek {pneuma} words denoting "wind,"
"breath," and. by extension, a life-giving element. With the adjective "holy," the reference is to the
divine spirit, the Spirit of God.
In the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit is an agent in creation. This is an almost impersonal representation of the Spirit
by which the awesome power of God over the entirety of the universe is depicted. This is the Spirit of God moving across
the face of the deep, calling the Creation into being and ordering it according to Gods Will
The Holy Spirit is also a source of inspiration and power. In the stories of the judges, kings, and prophets, the Holy
Spirit becomes a vehicle of God's revelation and activity. Israel's leaders from Moses to Joshua, to the judges, to David
and Solomon, to the enigmatic "Servant of God" of Isaiah receive their wisdom, courage, and power as gifts resulting
from the possession of God's Spirit.
The primary example, however, is surely the inspiration of the prophets, who, because they possess -- or are possessed
by -- this Spirit, speak and act with an authority and power not their own. In this connection, the Spirit can be conveyed
from one person to another, as with Moses and Joshua, Saul and David, Elijah and Elisha. In the mystery of our own Holy Baptisms,
the Holy Spirit is somehow conveyed by water and word.
The Holy Spirit as God's presence in the convenantal community is to a degree connected with the hope of the coming
of the Messiah, the establishment of Gods kingdom on earth, and expectations of the sanctification of Israel.
Somewhat modified, these Old Testament understandings of the Holy Spirit and its work continue into the New Testament.
It is the Spirit of God that endows Jesus with power as the Messiah at Jesus own Baptism and the Spirit which sends, drives,
leads Jesus into the desert immediately thereafter.
It is the Holy Spirit that empowers the church for its mission, and the close relationship of Jesus to God (the incarnation)
expands and significantly transforms the understanding of the Holy Spirit in Christianity as can be noted in such diverse
but related expressions as "Spirit of Christ," "Spirit of the Lord," "Spirit of Jesus," and
especially in those passages in which God sends "the Spirit of his Son" to the followers of Jesus. Although the
doctrine of the Trinity is a later development, a number of New Testament passages suggest that the Holy Spirit is sent jointly
from God the Father and God the Son, the Risen Christ.
As such, the Holy Spirit comes to represent both the presence and activity of God and the continuing presence of Jesus
Christ in the church. While not unique to Saint Johns Gospel, this idea comes to fullest expression in John 14, our Gospel
for today, where the Holy Spirit is described as an Advocate or "Counselor", the Paraclete -- who represents both
divine presence and guidance for the disciples.
Since mention of the Holy Spirit is found in nearly every book of the New Testament, other nuances can be discerned. In
Acts, there is a close connection among four elements: the proclamation of the gospel, baptism, the laying on of hands, and
the reception of the Holy Spirit.
In both Acts and Paul's Letters, reception of the Holy Spirit brings the "gifts" needed for Christian ministry
(as well as the lesser gift of ecstatic speech glossalalia, or speaking in tongues.) and extends the presence and power of
Christ to each new generation of Christians. In the Pauline corpus, however, there is an additional dimension seen in the
contrast of "flesh" with "spirit" as characteristic of life in the old age and the new age, respectively.
The Spirit makes Christians one "in Christ" and empowers them, not only for the mission of the church, but also
for the life appropriate to those who understand themselves to be people of the new age. (2)
And there we have it. The beginning of our exploration of the Triune God and the work of God in the world and in our
lives.
Amen
1. Adapted from Emphasis Commentary for the Sixth Sunday of Easter, Year C, at http://www.csspub.com/emphasis/.
2. Drawn from articles on Holy Spirit, and Paraclete in the Anchor Bible Dictionary and the Harpers Bible Dictionary.
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