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One should almost substitute "common sense" for
what Jesus meant by his use of the word paraclete!
Paraclete Passages from John
01/11/2019
Subject note: Throughout these verses Jesus seems to
consistently personify the "spirit', but did so because that was built into
the paradigm and language that they used. To actually believe in a "Trinity"
of God-beings based on this language is being ignorant and irresponsible.
John 14:15-24 "If you{pl} love me, you{pl}
will keep MY directives. And I will ask the Father, and he will impress
for you{pl} another Paraclete, to remain with
you{pl} forever, even the Spirit of the love of truth, whom the world is not
able to receive, because it neither contemplates him nor perceives him; but
you{pl} perceive him, for he remains with you{pl}, and will be in you{pl}.
[Commentary] The word translated directives above means instructions to
help the understanding of what to do, or directions to follow to get to
where you want to go, and does NOT mean commandments as we think of them
today. A paraclete was a person like an
attorney for the defense with whom you could feel secure and not be conned
or falsely convicted, an advocate of significant
experience who can serve as a protector, or like a special forces older brother, one with whom
you feel safe with from being attacked or mugged. When he personifies this spirit Jesus is
NOT
implying that he was referring to a person. He personified wisdom,
evil, etc., because this was the way they talked back then, partly because
of their paradigm of thinking that demons—good and bad—controlled the
actions of men. It is the "God attitude" and the attitude of loving and seeking the truth that
keeps us from being deceived, led astray or falsely self-convicted. One
could almost substitute "common sense" in order to countermand the false
conviction of personhood prevailing religions
John 14:25-31 "These things I have spoken to you{pl},
while abiding with you{pl}. But the Paraclete, the Holy Spirit, whom the
Father will inaugurate on my authority, that one will teach you{pl} all
things, and remind you{pl} of all that I said to you{pl}.
[Commentary] "Teach you all
things" (that we want to know). What a promise!
John 15:26,27 "But when the Paraclete comes, whom I will
put forth to you{pl} from the Father, even the spirit of loving the truth,
who proceeds from the Father, he will testify about ME; and you{pl} also
witness, because you{pl} have been with me from the beginning."
[Commentary] The spirit is not something
tangible nor an entity that cfan be "sent", but is an attitude that can be
engendered or initiated in us. The spirit of
loving the truth will enable us to see that Jesus is the only voice in
the world offering the total package of human needs and desires, the
only voice offering the total solution and the final resolution.
John 16:7-11 "Nevertheless I tell you{pl} the truth: it
is to your advantage that I should go away, for if I don't go away, the
Paraclete will not come to you{pl}; but if I go, I will dispatch him to
come to you{pl}. Upon coming that one will put the proof to the world about sin
and about reasonableness and about judgment: about sin, because they do
not choose what they believe within me; about reasonableness, because I
go to the Father, and you{pl} no longer see me; about judgment, because
the dominant theme of this world has been judged.
[Commentary] The disciples
were so taken with Jesus and so dependent upon him, that had he remained
he would have been their focus and their weakness. Further ministry to them would have reinforced
their conviction of inferiority and prevented them from growing
spiritually. Understanding the message of Jesus eliminates sin, and his
going away and back to the father was the most reasonable thing to do in
this context because it fostered them to think for themselves and focus on the issues. These verses are some of the most enigmatic to
Christendom, yet Jesus is actually explaining his meaning in the
passage.
John 16:12-15 "I have yet many things to say to you{pl},
but you{pl} are not able to handle them now. When that one comes, the
spirit of loving the truth, that one will lead you{pl} into all the truth; for
he will not address on his own, but as to whatever he hears he will address, and
the future things he will portray to you{pl}. That one will glorify me,
for he will receive and declare to you{pl} from what is mine. All things
which the Father has are mine; therefore I said that he will receive and
declare to you{pl} from what is mine."
[Commentary]
So many times in Christian thinking the first sentence of this passage
is interpreted in a negative or misguided and false way, a way that helps defend the
idea that later apostles and Bible authors further elucidate the message
of Jesus for us. This is utterly backwards! The "many things to say to you" are
GOOD and WONDERFUL things to which we we are not open, good things that the
old paradigm and religions preclude.
The phrase "for he will not speak from himself, but whatever he hears he
will speak" is enigmatic and is retranslated above. The
following verse indicates that the true Spirit of God will focus on the
meaning of the life and message of Jesus and not on other or more
irrelevant, mundane or random issues. Thus the part "he will not
address on his own, but to whatever he is exposed he will address" is the
normal way of our being independent where our minds usually address the
issues as they come. The "spirit" is not some God-person that
enters us and controls or
leads us around by driving us.
"That one will
lead you into all the truth." What a promise! |