May 19 - 56 - John 14:16

Jesus said,

And I will ask the Father,

and he will give you

another advocate to help you

and be with you forever

John 14:16

Bible Rank: 56

On the night he was betrayed, Jesus broke bread ... and he did several other things. 

 

Yes, he was arrested, beaten, and "tried." (I put that in quotes, of course, because it surely wasn't a fair trial.)

 

But knowing that it was his final free hours on earth, Jesus also spent significant time -- as evidenced by John 14, 15, and 16 -- praying (absolutely) and giving final instructions to his disciples. 

 

Today's verse reflects a powerful assurance that Jesus was giving to his followers -- "[when I go,] the Father will give you another Advocate to help you and be with you forever." The "Advocate" that Jesus was talking about is the Holy Spirit. In fact in John 16:7, Jesus goes on to say, "it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you."

 

Imagine being a disciple. Jesus is talking less and less cryptically about "going away." He's been hinting that the chief priests will put him to death. The disciples have witnessed the hatred, the plots, and the "tests" and "traps" designed to snare their friend. Now he's hinting that this is the moment. And Jesus is naive enough to say, "it is to your advantage that I go away"? They want to scream at him, "No!"

 

Jesus was God in human form. (Indeed, the Son of God condescended to temporarily take our physical, broken, limited form.) And part of this limitation was that Jesus/God-on-earth could only be in one place at one time. And Jesus was trying to tell them that it would be infinitely better for the Holy Spirit to come. They couldn't comprehend this yet, but the Spirit would be with all believers. Would Indwell all believers. Would fill believers with heaven's power. 

He would -- to use the original meaning of that word translated "Advocate" -- come along side of us, like a tug boat comes alongside a big, awkward ship to guide her safely into port. That's what the Greek word  "Paraclete" means. And as translated with various terms into English, rather than a human Jesus being one place at one time, the Holy Spirit would be all places at all times ...

 

·         to be an "Advocate" on our behalf

·         to be our "Helper" in times of trial

·         to be our "Comforter" when life gets hard

·         to be our "Intercessors," praying for us with sighs too deep for words

·         to be our "Companion" -- the one with whom we do life together

·         to be our "Counselor" to guide us through life

·         and to simply be our "Friend" (as a children's Bible renders it). 

 

In Christ's Love,

a guy who like to do things himself

and doesn't like to admit that

he's a big awkward ship who needs

a tug to occasionally bring him in

 

 

 

 

 

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