Lent Day 30

John 14:26

But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit,

whom the Father will send in my name,

will teach you all things and will

remind you of everything I have said to you.

Jesus spoke these words to the disciples just before His arrest and crucifixion.   He knew He would soon be leaving His disciples and was preparing them to carry on His work after He was gone.   He was telling them a Helper was coming to them, to help them remember all He had taught them and to teach them  new things. He was making a promise to the disciples that although He would leave, He would not leave them stranded. 

But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit – the Greek for Advocate is Parakletos and means to comfort, encourage, advise.  It is one that comes forward on behalf of and as the representative of another, but of equal quality.  Therefore, the Holy Spirit is designated by Jesus Christ as equal with Himself, ie God.   (1John2:1).  The Holy Spirit was to witness concerning Jesus Christ and to glorify Him.  He is called an Advocate because He undertakes Christ’s office in the world while Christ is away from the world. (Key Word Study Bible)

When Christ was resurrected and left earth, the Father sent a replacement to us.  He is not flesh and blood as Christ was but is fully God as Christ is.  He was sent to us In Jesus name meaning He was sent in authority, on account of Christ, as His representative.  God’s clever plan, to give us a physical, tactile example of Himself in Christ, for the disciples to walk with, travel with, live and eat with in order to know Him, learn from Him, grow with Him.  But God knew all along Jesus would leave to sit at His right hand after His resurrection and sent us an Advocate to depend on, and learn from in His place.    But this Advocate is not physically present as Christ was, we have to work to recognize Him.  God’s clever plan again to make us seek Him more deeply to recognize the Holy Spirit.  As we do, we grow in our faith, grow in our transformation, grow in our salvation, just as the disciples did. 

The Holy Spirit was sent to teach all things and remind us of what Christ taught.  Can you imagine if the disciples did not have the Holy Spirit?  What would have happened to the validity and truth of the gospel if they had not been granted the help of the Holy Spirit?  Many things Christ taught them to share they did not understand at the time He taught them or I imagine, they did not remember.  The Holy Spirit came to remind them what they had been taught and to give them an understanding of it.  The disciples were to teach and some of them write the things Jesus did and taught.  Had they been left to themselves to do so, some things would have been forgotten or misrepresented destroying the truth of the gospel.  But they received the Holy Spirit to teach and remind so the accounts they gave would be accurate.  The Holy spirit allowed the truth of God to be spoken and written through the disciples. 

We have the same Spirit within us, to learn from, to grow from.  He will teach us exactly what He taught the disciples.  He did not come to teach something new or different.  He was sent by the Father to teach what Jesus had taught.  That’s where unity from Gods people comes from.   If we are all receiving wisdom from the Holy Spirit, then we are unified in our thoughts, for He teaches today, what He taught then and will teach in the future. 

Peace and Love,

LeAnn