7. Relationship Words in the Word: Paraclete
- Relationship Words in the Word: Paraclete.
“There is a Friend that sticks closer than a brother.” (Proverbs 18:24).
The Holy Spirit is our true Companion and dear Friend, and desires to have a relationship with us by coming alongside us in our walk with God. The Holy Spirit is the very Spirit of our brother Jesus.
Josh Garrels Closer Than a Brother
THE HOLY SPIRIT: The Presence of God appearing in Shekinah glory through light, fire, and luminous cloud; God’s divine Presence on earth; the eternal life-giving Third Person of the Holy Trinity; the intimate bond of divine love and truth shared by God the Father and God the Son; the dynamic power of God offered to every human being on earth; the supernatural Presence in the Community of God who is personal without being material; the invisible creative force with divine intelligence who truly knows the mind of God from the inside; the “ruach” of the Lord, His breath, wind and divine energy in the world; the Spirit of God who thus has all knowledge and is present everywhere in the universe; the sacred energy streaming forth from the Father and the Son, pouring love into our hearts (Romans 5:5), producing virtuous qualities in us (Galatians 5:22-23), and gradually transforming each believer into the image of Christ (2 Corinthians 3:18); God’s Holy Spirit is the Lord’s change agent in each of us and the Church; The Spirit is the delivery system of grace into our hearts; the Spirit is God’s gift of the ‘Paraclete,’ God’s Helper who is called to come alongside us; the Spirit is the biblical ‘finger of God’ who acts in power on behalf of God, distributing His gifts to believers in the Church and accomplishing God’s will on the earth.
The Father Promised the Spirit. Yahweh God made an astounding promise through His prophet Joel, “I shall pour out my Spirit on all humanity. Your sons and daughters shall prophecy, your old people shall dream dreams, and your young people see visions. Even on the slaves, men and women, shall I pour out my Spirit in those days.” (Joel 2:28-30; also in Acts 2:17-18). Similar to that promise was this one in Ezekiel 36:26-28, “I shall give you a new heart, and put a new Spirit in you; I shall remove the heart of stone from your bodies and give you a heart of flesh instead. I shall put my Spirit in you, and make you to keep my teachings, and respect and practice my judgments.” Jesus confirmed this promise Himself before His ascension in Luke 24:49, “Behold, I send the Promise of my Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high.” And He also said the same thing in Acts 1:4, “And being assembled together with them, Jesus commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, ‘which you have heard from me; for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit…” St. Peter confirmed this promise in his first sermon to the gathered at Pentecost, “Therefore being exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He poured out this which you now see and hear.” (Acts 2:33).
The Son Promised the Spirit. Jesus said Yes! to the Father’s promise of the Holy Spirit by confirming it at His ascension, but also by teaching about the Spirit in the gospel of John. He tried to cheer up His sad disciples after telling them about His impending departure, by saying that it is actually to their benefit that He returns to the Father. The result of His absence is that the Spirit will be sent in Jesus’ place. Jesus ascends to the Father, and the Holy Spirit descends to continue God’s presence on earth. The Spirit of Jesus replaces the physically absent Jesus. He tells them in John 16:7, “Unless I go away, the Paraclete will not come to you.”
The Promised Paraclete. The paraclete was Jesus’ descriptive name He gave to the Holy Spirit (in John 14 and 16). The Greek term means “called to come alongside of.” This rich term paraclete points to many different functions and personal ministries of the Holy Spirit after He comes alongside of us in love and friendship. The Spirit is the ultimate Helper to us as He lives out His personal character He shares with the Father and the Son. As Paraclete, the Spirit fulfills these roles in us as we grow in Christ. Jesus must have had a good reason to call the Spirit the Paraclete, of course. Unpacking the meaning of the term, we see that the Spirit’s helping style is fleshed out in ministering to us in these ways: The Spirit is called to “come alongside us” in order to P-A-R-A-C-L-E-T-E us: Point us to Jesus, Advise and counsel us, Remind us in order to understand, Advocate for us, Comfort us, Listen to us, Exhort us, Teach us, and Encourage us. That is the style, the method of influence that is intended for the benefit of every person being empowered by the Spirit. One Bible translator summed all these qualities up by simply naming the paraclete “Friend,” each believer’s intimate, supportive presence who befriends us on life’s journey.
A Team Project. The Father promised the gift of the Holy Spirit, but the Spirit was sent by both the Father and the Son… by Jesus who is seated in glory at the Father’s right hand, and by the Father right there along with Jesus.
(1.) John 14:16 = “And I will pray to the Father, and He will give you another Helper (Paraclete), that He may abide with you forever.”
(2.) John 14:26 = “But the Helper (Paraclete), the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my Name...”
(3.) John 15:26 = “But when the Helper (Paraclete) comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father…”
(4.) John 16:7 = “Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper (Paraclete) will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you.”
“My dear children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate (Paraclete) with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.” (1 John 2:1).
Jesus the Original Paraclete. When Jesus was given the title of Advocate in 1 John 2:1, the Greek word for advocate is actually paraclete. As mentioned above, a paraclete is someone who comes alongside someone else in a personal and helpful way, a productive and meaningful way. In the context of that 1 John passage, most translations have used paraclete to mean advocate… like a defense attorney, an intercessor. Jesus, standing alongside someone who has sinned, appearing before the Father. Jesus is the Advocate because there is a hostile Accuser, the evil one, the devil, who stands ready to accuse every believer before God. Here we see Jesus as someone who will represent a sinner in the presence of the Father. A friend of sinners, indeed. A paraclete.
The Relay of the Spirit. Jesus is not the only Paraclete in the New Testament. In fact, there is a relay of paracletes as we finish the race of faith before us. The first Paraclete is Jesus Christ, who hands the baton to the second Paraclete, the Holy Spirit, who hands the baton to the third paraclete, each believer.
The First Leg of the Paraclete Relay: Jesus. What better way can we describe the ministry of Christ than as someone who comes alongside someone else? He was and is called to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with needy people and help them, whether through encouragement, counsel, comfort, advocacy, exhortation or intercession. Jesus was constantly coming alongside others in His preaching, teaching, healing and befriending ministry on earth. His helping style was always the paraclete style. Jesus started the relay, and then He handed the baton over to the Holy Spirit, or as Jesus told His disciples on the eve of His departure, “another Paraclete.” (John 14:16). It is easy to see that in saying this, He is calling Himself Paraclete as well.
The Second Leg of the Paraclete Relay: the Holy Spirit. Jesus tried to cheer up His sad disciples after telling them about His impending departure, by saying that it is actually to their benefit that He returns to the Father. The result of His absence is that the Spirit will be sent in Jesus’ place. Jesus ascends to the Father, and the Spirit descends to continue the Lord’s presence on earth. The Spirit of Jesus replaces the physically absent Jesus. The Holy Spirit continues Christ’s presence. When Jesus warned the disciples that He would be going away, He told them, “Unless I go away, the Paraclete will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you.” (John 16:7). He had just finished telling them about the Paraclete “whom I will send to you from the Father.” (John 15:26). He finished that statement by saying that the Holy Spirit “goes out from the Father.” So, it appears the Son sends the Spirit, but again that the Father sends the Spirit. There is no point in arguing about from whom the Holy Spirit is sent, the Father or the Son… Both the Father and the Son have a direct hand in sending the Paraclete, the Spirit of God, to people on earth.
The Third Leg of the Paraclete Relay: Believers. There is still another leg to the relay if we want to finish the race. The Holy Spirit is sent from God to dwell in us, so that we are enabled to be little paracletes. As St. Paul said in 1 Thessalonians 5:11, “Let us be paracletes to each other.” We are each called to come alongside one another to help fellow believers in need. We are each called to put the Spirit of Jesus into practice and demonstrate the very character and ministry of Christ. How astounding is it that the Almighty God, the divine Paraclete, would entrust us with this role? How amazing is it that we can become “partakers of the divine nature” (1 Peter 1:4) and participate in His ministry here on earth.
So who could ask for a better or more helpful Friend for each of us? A faithful companion who sticks closer than family, who is the Giver of Life, the Spirit of Grace and Prayer, the Spirit of Truth and Glory, the gifted Spirit who shares His gifts with us.