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We live in a culture that puts a high value on
what is genuine. The largest selling soft drink company in the world
refers to its product as "the real thing." And people are
continually urged to "get real" by a sports clothing
manufacturer. We are told to accept no substitutes, beware of cheap
imitations, and check the label to assure ourselves that we are
getting the "genuine article."
None of us want to be left with less than we
think we are given. Being shortchanged is something we fear. I wonder
if such fears could have entered the minds of the disciples when
Jesus said He was going away and sending a substitute. I wonder if
they were fearful of getting less than what they had with
Christ--some kind of a "cheap imitation."
Genuine Article Or Cheap Imitation? If there
were any such fears in the minds of the Master's men as they listened
to the upper-room discourse, those concerns were addressed by Christ
Himself. Even if the disciples could not yet understand, their fears
would be answered by the precise terminology our Lord used to
describe the divine Substitute He would send in His place. As Jesus
described the Person of the Holy Spirit, His words made it abundantly
clear that His disciples would not get less of God than they had with
Him. They would receive a full inner presence of the Lord Jesus who
would not only be with them, but would be in them.
Our Lord's choice of words as He spoke to the
disciples is critical. Let's look at the passage and the significant
terms that tell the story:
I will pray the Father, and He will give you
another Helper, that He may abide with you forever--the Spirit of
truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor
knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in
you (Jn. 14:16-17). The significant terms in these verses deserve
careful consideration if we are to understand the full impact of the
Lord's words.
"ANOTHER." As a rule, some words and
parts of speech give greater weight to the meaning of a text. For
that reason, we almost always focus on nouns and verbs. Verbs relate
the action of a statement, and nouns give and receive that action. So
it is interesting when another part of speech takes a dominant role
in how we understand a passage of Scripture. Such is the case here,
where we turn to the adjective another to give clarity to the text.
When Is "Another" Not Another? The
word another is found 233 times in the New Testament, but it is not
always the same Greek word. Along with several less significant
terms, there are two primary Greek words that are translated another.
One of these words is heteros, which means "another of a
different kind." From it, we get words like heterosexual
(relating to a different sex), heterogeneous (containing dissimilar
parts) and heterodox (describing a different doctrinal message that
is not orthodox).
Heteros is used, for example, in Acts 13:35 to
speak of "another Psalm" (different from the one just
referred to), and in Acts 17:7 it is used to distinguish
"another king" (Christ, as set apart and different from
Caesar). In each instance, it is clearly describing that which is
distinctive and different from what it is compared to.
When Is "Another" Another? In John
14:16, however, heteros is not the word Jesus used to describe the
promise of the Spirit. To describe the Holy Spirit, our Lord used the
word allos, which means just the opposite of heteros. Allos means
"another of the same kind." When Jesus used this term, He
was making a bold promise that the Comforter He would send would be a
perfect Substitute. In His co-equal, co-eternal nature, the Holy
Spirit would be another just like Jesus Himself.
Allos is the word used in the "one
another" statements of the New Testament that challenge and
encourage us to befriend other believers--those who are just like
ourselves in our imperfect flesh and in our relationship to Christ.
The trouble with us is that even though we are like one another in
sharing the same imperfect flesh, we don't like to admit it. We often
disagree with, disregard, and condemn those who are just like
ourselves. This is not true of the Spirit's relationship to the Son
and the Father. The members of the Trinity are always in perfect
harmony with one another.
The Holy Spirit is always in step with the
desires and affections that Christ has for us. The Spirit cares for
us with the same love, the same concern, the same grace, the same
compassion, the same truth, the same justice, the same holiness, and
the same power that the disciples saw in the Lord Jesus Christ's
ministry during the 3 years He shared with them.
"COMFORTER." Not all of our
understanding of the Spirit comes from the word another. We must also
give consideration to the word it modifies--Comforter. Another of
like kind besides Jesus is wonderful--but another what? Here our Lord
used parakaleo, a very descriptive word that would have been familiar
to the disciples. It was used in a variety of ways in the culture of
the day. Smith's Bible Dictionary tells us that this word was used to
describe a legal assistant, advocate, or one who pleads another's
cause. This describes the Person and work of the Holy Spirit, who
becomes our Paraclete and Advocate with the Father--like Jesus, our
Great High Priest and Mediator.
How Many Comforters Do I Need? When John's
Gospel is compared with his New Testament letters, it becomes
apparent that he dealt in some detail with the idea of dual
Paracletes. He discussed the role of the Holy Spirit as our Comforter
here in John 14, and the role of Christ as our Advocate in 1 John
2:1. In that passage he wrote, "My little children, these things
I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have
an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous."
Why two divine Paracletes? Greek scholar and
New Testament commentator A. T. Robertson describes the difference of
their function this way: "So the Christian has Christ as his
Paraclete with the Father, the Holy Spirit as the Father's Paraclete
with us (Jn. 14:16,26; 15:26; 16:7; 1 Jn. 2:1)."
What Will These Comforters Do? How does this
work and what does it accomplish? Perhaps it is best to see these two
ministries of advocacy as similar but accomplishing very different
goals.
The Role Of Christ. As our Advocate, Christ
defends us before the Father to keep us secure. It is a part of His
promise that "the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast
out" (Jn. 6:37). What a rich promise! Christ Himself serves as
our Defender. He doesn't defend our works, which are flawed and
faulty. His defense of us is based on His perfect and completed work.
The Role Of The Spirit. The Holy Spirit as our
Comforter works within us to declare to us the abiding presence of
the living God in our lives. Romans 8 talks extensively about this
wonderful work of the Spirit. Paul wrote, "As many as are led by
the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. For you did not receive the
spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of
adoption by whom we cry out, 'Abba, Father.' The Spirit Himself bears
witness with our spirit that we are children of God" (vv.14-16).
The role of the Spirit as our Comforter, in part, is to assure us of
the wonderful position that is ours as the children of the living
God!
"THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH." This final
phrase that our Lord used to describe the promise of the Spirit has
significant implications all its own. Jesus used it in John 14:17 to
show another facet of the Spirit's ministry. At the same time, He
gave definition to the Holy Spirit's character. Just moments before,
Jesus had told His men that He alone was the way, the truth, and the
life (14:6). Now He tells them specifically how the Spirit is
"another of the exact same kind" by referring to Him as the
"Spirit of truth."
A. T. Robertson has an interesting note on the
title "the Spirit of truth." He says that it is appropriate
because "the Holy Spirit is marked by it [truth], gives it,
defends it, [and is] in contrast to the spirit of error."
Integrity. The Spirit is marked by truth
because of His divine nature. As God the Holy Spirit, He has all the
attributes of deity, one of which is truth. He does not have the
capacity to lie and is therefore absolutely trustworthy in all that
He says.
In this truthfulness of the Spirit, it is
apparent why those who want to be in step with the Spirit must long
to be people of integrity. We cannot hope to be under His influence
if we are consciously distorting the truth in a misguided effort to
protect ourselves or someone else.
Inspiration. The Spirit gives truth in the
sense of divine inspiration (2 Pet. 1:21). He is the dispenser of all
biblical truth. The Word of God is reliable because it came to us
under the guidance of the Spirit of truth.
Invincibility. The Spirit defends the truth by
empowering the preaching and teaching of the Word of God, which
proclaims the truth and answers the arguments of the world against
it. In the ministry of proclamation, the Word of God is not only
announced but exonerated.
Incompatibility. The Holy Spirit of truth
stands in stark contrast to our spiritual enemy. Satan, a mere
created, fallen being, is the father of lies (Jn. 8:44). Satan is in
the business of deception and subtle trickery (Gen. 3; 2 Cor.
11:3,14). The Holy Spirit deals in the truth. In fact, this is a
large part of what He was sent into the world to do. As we saw
earlier, the Spirit was sent to expose the truth to a lost world by
convicting the world of sin and righteousness and judgment (Jn.
16:8)--a hard but eternally necessary truth about the world's
condition.
Occasionally in major dramatic plays and
musicals, the star of the show (the lead) becomes ill, needs time
away for another project, or will be gone for some reason. In those
times, a substitute steps into the lead role (a stand-in). When that
happens and the stand-in is announced, there is generally a groan
from the crowd. The stand-in will do his or her best, and may
actually do a better job than the star, but it is still a
disappointment to the audience.
It should be a great comfort to us that Jesus
did not send an inferior stand-in or second-best. Our Savior sent in His
place a co-equal, co-eternal member of the Trinity. He would
perfectly represent Christ and the Father in the lives of God's
beloved children.
There can be no question about the divine
nature of the Holy Spirit, and there can be no question about His
perfect character. He is our Comforter, another of the exact same
kind as Jesus, who gives and substantiates the truth.
Curtis
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