Another Helper From Heaven

At the Last Supper, Jesus was giving His final instructions to His disciples before He went to the cross and ultimately would return to Heaven.

The disciples were understandably grieved at His message that He was about to leave them (Jn 16.6).

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But Jesus had some good news for them:

¹⁵ “If you love me, keep my commands. ¹⁶ And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate to help you and be with you forever— ¹⁷ the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. ¹⁸ I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.” (John 14.15-18)

As with so many things in the Bible, we need to be careful that those of us who are familiar with the Scriptures and who know these passages well don’t just gloss over them and speed past them because we intellectually/theologically understand them.

The Father will send another “Advocate,” Jesus promises. The Greek word behind it also gets translated as another Helper, or another Comforter. The original Greek phrase “paraklete” literally means “one who comes alongside to help.”

So Jesus promises that One will be sent who will come alongside the disciples (and all who follow Jesus), who will help them.

And Jesus says this is “another” Advocate/Helper/Comforter.

There has already been one divine Helper who has come down – Jesus.

This Spirit of truth – the Holy Spirit – is “another” divine Helper who will come down too.

Again, Greek bible study is fun:

There are 2 Greek words for “another.”

One means, “in the same category as the first, but different.”

So if I said, “One way to get to work is by car; another way is by bicycle,” I’d be sharing in the spirit of the first Greek word for “another.”

These are both modes of transportation, but very different from each other.

The second Greek word for “another” means, “a second one exactly like the first one.”

So, “I bought a pizza, and wasn’t sure it would be enough, so I got another pizza”, this would be the idea behind the second Greek word for “another.”

When Jesus says “another” Advocate is coming, He uses the second version of “another.”

A second heavenly Advocate, just like the first one, is coming.

The first Advocate from Heaven was Jesus; the Holy Spirit will be another Advocate from Heaven, just like Jesus.

Although in a different form (spirit vs. flesh), the Spirit is just like Jesus.

The Holy Spirit will come down from Heaven just like Jesus did.

The Holy Spirit will lead and guide the Christ-followers, just like Jesus did.

The Holy Spirit will reveal truth, just like Jesus did.

The Holy Spirit will show us God and make Him known, just like Jesus did.

The Holy Spirit will work signs and wonders, just like Jesus did.

The Holy Spirit will display the character and nature of God, just like Jesus did.

The Holy Spirit will draw near, just like Jesus did.

Another divine Helper will come, and He will continue the ministry of Jesus, although this time, this Helper will actually take up His home within every believer, which was something Jesus couldn’t do as a man, even a God-man.

Because of this, the Holy Spirit will speak and breathe and move in power through every believer, exponentially multiplying the work of Christ through so much more than just one man, spreading the Gospel to the ends of the earth, revealing the glory of the Father and the Son, and bringing the Kingdom of God everywhere that a Christ-follower sets their foot and opens their mouth.

“I will not leave you as orphans,” Jesus said. You will not be alone when I leave. Although physically gone, I will not really be gone; I will be with You, through my Spirit.

This is wonderful, powerful, exciting news!

So our constant prayer should be to be filled with the Holy Spirit (Eph 5.18).

We should be hungry for His presence and hungry to know Him better.

Seeking Him should be a priority.

If Jesus said, “This is the Helper that I will be leaving with you,” then He must know that we need the help.

We cannot know Jesus, know God’s will, experience His power or presence, understand the Scripture, or walk obediently with God without the Holy Spirit.

We need Him desperately.

Pray to know Him with that desperation.

Find the places in your life where you can meet with Him and receive from Him.

Find another believers who can help you know Him and follow Him.

Find ways to experience Him and learn to hear His voice and sense His leading.

We will be better when we do, not because we ourselves are better, but because He is good, and will help us, just as Jesus promised that He would.

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