Reflections on the text: John 14:15-21
Come Along Side
Every so often in our reading of
the Bible we encounter a word that is central to the understanding of a
passage, but at the same time if we look beyond the word itself we usually
discover that this particular word is one of those words that the translators
found difficult, if not impossible to translate. Sometimes the word is just left in Greek, and
you are on your own; at other times the translators will pick one English word
from among multiple possible choices and go with that. The problem with this is that then how we
understand that word is limited by the narrow definition of the chosen English
word.
This is the situation we find
ourselves in this morning with our Gospel text.
Let’s look at verse 16: And
I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you
forever. Another
Advocate! Another? Well, Jesus is the first Advocate (see below
for more about that), so the next Advocate will be sent after Jesus’
resurrection and this is usually interpreted to refer to the sending of the
Holy Spirit. And then the word
“Advocate.” What does that mean? One meaning of an “Advocate” is one who
defends, or who speaks for someone else, as in a court of law. Sometimes defense lawyers are called “Advocates.”
But another dimension of the meaning of
this word is one who brings “help, consolation, comfort and encouragement.” And
it is the latter sense of the word that is closest to the Greek word here - and
the Greek word is PARACLETE.
Paraclete. Have you heard that word before? In the children’s sermon I will make a little
joke about how much the word sounds like Parakeet, or some might think we are
talking about a “pair of cleats.” But
no, PARACLETE is a Greek word that is
almost impossible to translate. When we
hear the word we naturally think of the Holy Spirit, but the literal meaning of
the word is this: One who comes along side another.
“Another
Advocate!” Jesus was the first! That is what Incarnation is all about. Jesus is the one who comes along side of us
by taking on our humanity in order to enter fully into the human
experience. The gods of the nations,
which Paul talks about in the Acts text could never do this. They were always remote and stayed as far
away from especially the dark side of human life as possible – just like our
own popular societal “gods” which deny loss and demand optimism and phony
happiness. But this is not true with the
God we worship. Through Jesus’
incarnation God enters fully into life – God enters fully into the losses we
experience – God is not afraid of suffering, grief or anything that is a part
of human life.
The Gospel text for
this day from John 14 is a part of what is called Jesus’ “Farewell Discourse.” The disciples have gathered with Jesus for
the Last Supper. There is a terrifying
feeling of loss and uncertainty that the disciples pick up on. Jesus keeps talking about crucifixion and the
disciples are confused and frightened by the prospect of this horrible loss. In the face of this Jesus tells them: “Love
one another” and “The Father will send another Advocate…” This “Advocate” will be the spirit of God and
this advocate will come along side of you in order to stand with you. But not
only that, this “Advocate – this Paraclete will empower you to stand with each
other. For one uniquely powerful way
that we experience the presence and support of God in the midst of our loss is
through the presence and love and caring and prayers of others within the
community. As we come along side of
another who is in the midst of suffering loss at the same time God comes up
along side as well.
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