LOVE'S rEWARD
There is a threefold plea of Jesus asking for love from his followers in John 14. A statement about loving Jesus and keeping his commandments/words occurs in verse 15, verse 21. and verse 23. And in each instance there is a promise that a divine presence will come to those who meet the demand. The first:
15 "If you love me and keep my commandments,
16 then at my request
the Father will give you another Paraclete
to be with you forever.
17 He is the Spirit of Truth
whom the world cannot accept
since it neither sees nor recognizes him;
but you do recognize him
since he remains with you and is within you.
18 I shall not leave you orphans:
I am coming back to you."
In John's arrangement, the second entreaty and promise occurs shortly after the first:
21 "Whoever keeps the commandments that he has from me
is the man who loves me;
and the man who loves me will be loved by my Father,
and I shall love him
and reveal myself to him."
The third and last petition/reward is:
23 "If anyone loves me,
he will keep my word,
Then my Father will love him,
and we shall come to him
and make our dwelling place with him."
In 15-17 if is the Paraclete/Spirit who will come to dwell with the disciples. In 21 it is Jesus who will come to dwell with the disciples. In 23 it is the Father who will come along with Jesus to make a dwelling place within the disciples. There is a triadic pattern here placing in rough parallelism the Spirit, Jesus, and the Father (with Jesus). Three types of divine indwelling are woven together into a unit that begins and ends on the theme of loving Jesus and keeping his commandments.
As we now know, John's Gospel and Epistles were written in stages. Most likely, in the final stages of Johannine theology, all these indwellings were thought to be accomplished in and through the Paraclete. The Paraclete is the presence of Jesus while Jesus is absent, so that the "I am coming back to you" in 18 is no contradiction to the idea that the Paraclete is being sent. And since the Father and Jesus are one, the presence of the Father and Jesus (23) is not really different from the presence of Jesus in the Paraclete.
Jesus demand to be loved is perfectly at home in the covenant atmosphere of the Last Discourse and the Last Supper. There is a parallelism between the demand of the God of Sinai of the Old Covenant to be loved exclusively by His people (Deuteronomy 6:5) and the demand for exclusive love on the part of Jesus who is God's visible presence among men, establishing a new covenant with them.
It must be noted that none of these passages is concerned with the presence of Jesus encountered by mystics; the presence of Jesus is promised, not to an ascetical elite, but to Christians in general. Sharing Jesus' presence in any form is readily available, provided, John indicates, one loves Jesus and keeps the commandments. St. Augustine said centuries later, "Love separates the saints from the world."
A prophet like Zachariah (2:14) had promised on behalf of Yahweh: "For look, I come to dwell in the midst of you." Israel had expected this to take place in the Temple, the house of God (Exodus 25:8; 1 Kings 8:27 ff.); but in Johannine thought this was now the hour when men would worship the Father neither on Mount Gerizim nor in the Jerusalem Temple, but in Spirit and truth (4:21-24).
I have always been impressed by how each succeeding generation of Jesus' followers wanted to preserve any item from the Master that they thought would give an authentic glimpse of his mission and that would help believers in their spiritual awakening. The compilation of the Bible as we have it came in stages, layer after layer. And the discovery continues with modern scientific methods being applied to Biblical studies to bring out the hidden meanings and development of these precious documents.
Who knows what may help the spiritual sojourner? Every one of us has had a father. One may want to relate to God as a Loving Father who looks after his child and will not let harm come to him, who grooms him to eventually be on his own. Jesus was a Son, and every one of us is either a son or a daughter. To feel closer to God, one may like to look upon Jesus as a brother, a fellow traveling companion. Others of us may be entranced by the Spirit Mystery of the Paraclete, of his permeating and pervasive Presence. All are valid ways to God, and John's writings invite us to choose what is most fitting for the individual. At different stages in our life, we have different attractions.
John has given us so much to be aware of. I like to see Father, Son, and Spirit in stages one, two and three, all directed to mankind out of pure love. God's intercession is continuous, leaving it up to us to adapt to His phases in whatever way pleases us. God wants us to take what He gives and make it our own. We are here to live, and all life moves and grows. I like to see the Fatherhood of God somehow living in the Unmanifested Absoluteness of God. The Son, like each of us, is the absorbed manifestation of God. The Paraclete is the Divine Energy working to transform the world and each of us.
Since Paraclete is the least known and most mysterious of the three subjects we are exploring, Father, Jesus, Paraclete, I would like to spell out the various meanings and functions of a paraclete that have helped me to wonder at the presence of this divine figure in my life.
Paraclete can have many meanings, but they all seem related. At one level, a paraclete is "one called alongside to help," thus an advocate or defense attorney. In a more active sense, its meaning is "to intercede, entreat," thus an intercessor, a mediator, a spokesman. Still in the active sense, it means "to comfort," thus a comforter or consoler. Lastly, he exhorts and encourages the preaching of the apostolic witnesses, thus a friend.
No one translation of Paraclete captures the complexity of functions that this figure has. In an attempt to be comprehensive, the Paraclete plays the following roles: the Paraclete is a witness in defense of Jesus and a spokesman for him in the context of his trial by his enemies; the Paraclete is a comforter or consoler of the disciples for he takes Jesus' place among them; the Paraclete is a teacher and guide of the disciples and thus their helper or friend. Instead of choosing one of these meanings to translate Paraclete, we probably are wise in modern times to settle for "Paraclete," a transliteration that preserves the uniqueness of the title and does not emphasize one of the functions to the detriment of others.
The Spirit of Truth is a Paraclete precisely because he carries on the earthly work of Jesus. The Paraclete/Spirit will differ from Jesus the Paraclete in that the Spirit is not corporeally visible and his presence will only be by indwelling in the disciples. The Old Testament theme of "God with us" (the Immanuel of Isaiah 7:14) is now to be realized in the Paraclete/Spirit who remains with the disciples forever.
As suggested above that I may choose between Father, Jesus, or Paraclete in my spiritual endeavor, so too I may do the same regarding the various functions of the Paraclete that corresponds to my need at the time. For example, do I see the world as good or bad, and other people as pleasing or unpleasant? Each of us needs to answer to ourselves whether the world is a friendly place or not. In this quest it can be consoling to call upon the Helper Friend (Paraclete) to come to our aid regarding this questionable world. Father and son are known entities in our daily life; spirit is not. In looking at the different roles attached to Paraclete and the various functions He performs, they tell us he is unfolding the meaning of Jesus and God in our life, in a personal, intimate way. I like to see Him as the Transformer, active as the divine energy changing my life. It is a real possibility to glory in beholding the Spirit/Paraclete manifesting as me.
John has much to say about the Spirit/Paraclete which needs our attention. I think the multiple functions that He plays can be a boon in anyone's spiritual life because I think His role has been underplayed in the life of many a Christian. John presents the Paraclete as the Holy Spirit in a special role, namely, as the personal presence of Jesus in the Christian while Jesus is with the Father. In many New Testament passages, like the spirit of God in the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit is described as a force; in John, however, the Paraclete is more clearly personal.
Thus, the one whom John calls "another Paraclete" is another Jesus. Since the Paraclete can come only when Jesus departs, the Paraclete is the presence of Jesus when Jesus is absent. Jesus' promises to dwell within his disciples are fulfilled in the Paraclete. John insists that Jesus will be in heaven with the Father while the Paraclete is on earth in the disciples; and so the two have different roles.
By way of bringing this discussion of the Paraclete to a close, it is profitable to see how John uses his extended treatment of the Indwelling Presence to answer problems that the early Church was facing, answers that also have relevance today. The first problem was the confusion caused by the death of the apostolic eyewitnesses who were the living chain between the Church and Jesus of Nazareth.
The concept of the Paraclete/Spirit is an answer to this problem. The eyewitnesses who had guided the Church and the Beloved Disciple who bore witness to Jesus did so not primarily because of their own recollection of Jesus. After all, they had seen Jesus but not understood (14:9). Only the post-resurrectional gift of the Spirit taught them the meaning of what they had seen (2:22, 12:16). Their witness was the witness of the Paraclete speaking through them.
The second problem was the anguish caused by the delay of the second coming. In the period after A.D. 70 the expectation of the return of Jesus began to pale. His return had been associated with God's wrathful judgment upon Jerusalem (Mark 13), but now Jerusalem had been destroyed by Roman armies and Jesus had not yet returned.
John does not lose faith in the second coming but emphasizes that many of the features associated with the second are already realities of the Christian life (judgment, divine sonship, eternal life). And in a very real way Jesus has come back during the lifetime of his companions, for he has come in and through the Paraclete. In fact, the Paraclete demythologizes several apocalyptic motifs, including world judgment (16:11). The Christian need not live with his eyes constantly straining toward the heavens from which the Son of Man is to come; for, as the Paraclete, Jesus is present within all believers.
At the beginning of this discussion it was said that a divine presence will come to those who meet the demand of loving Jesus and keeping his commandments/words. Love produces intimacy and certainty. A Christian in union with Jesus prays in his name and is always learning things from his Master.
(The above reading is taken in large part from Raymond E. Brown, The Gospel According to John, XIII-XXI, The Anchor Yale Bible, vol. 29.)
15 "If you love me and keep my commandments,
16 then at my request
the Father will give you another Paraclete
to be with you forever.
17 He is the Spirit of Truth
whom the world cannot accept
since it neither sees nor recognizes him;
but you do recognize him
since he remains with you and is within you.
18 I shall not leave you orphans:
I am coming back to you."
In John's arrangement, the second entreaty and promise occurs shortly after the first:
21 "Whoever keeps the commandments that he has from me
is the man who loves me;
and the man who loves me will be loved by my Father,
and I shall love him
and reveal myself to him."
The third and last petition/reward is:
23 "If anyone loves me,
he will keep my word,
Then my Father will love him,
and we shall come to him
and make our dwelling place with him."
In 15-17 if is the Paraclete/Spirit who will come to dwell with the disciples. In 21 it is Jesus who will come to dwell with the disciples. In 23 it is the Father who will come along with Jesus to make a dwelling place within the disciples. There is a triadic pattern here placing in rough parallelism the Spirit, Jesus, and the Father (with Jesus). Three types of divine indwelling are woven together into a unit that begins and ends on the theme of loving Jesus and keeping his commandments.
As we now know, John's Gospel and Epistles were written in stages. Most likely, in the final stages of Johannine theology, all these indwellings were thought to be accomplished in and through the Paraclete. The Paraclete is the presence of Jesus while Jesus is absent, so that the "I am coming back to you" in 18 is no contradiction to the idea that the Paraclete is being sent. And since the Father and Jesus are one, the presence of the Father and Jesus (23) is not really different from the presence of Jesus in the Paraclete.
Jesus demand to be loved is perfectly at home in the covenant atmosphere of the Last Discourse and the Last Supper. There is a parallelism between the demand of the God of Sinai of the Old Covenant to be loved exclusively by His people (Deuteronomy 6:5) and the demand for exclusive love on the part of Jesus who is God's visible presence among men, establishing a new covenant with them.
It must be noted that none of these passages is concerned with the presence of Jesus encountered by mystics; the presence of Jesus is promised, not to an ascetical elite, but to Christians in general. Sharing Jesus' presence in any form is readily available, provided, John indicates, one loves Jesus and keeps the commandments. St. Augustine said centuries later, "Love separates the saints from the world."
A prophet like Zachariah (2:14) had promised on behalf of Yahweh: "For look, I come to dwell in the midst of you." Israel had expected this to take place in the Temple, the house of God (Exodus 25:8; 1 Kings 8:27 ff.); but in Johannine thought this was now the hour when men would worship the Father neither on Mount Gerizim nor in the Jerusalem Temple, but in Spirit and truth (4:21-24).
I have always been impressed by how each succeeding generation of Jesus' followers wanted to preserve any item from the Master that they thought would give an authentic glimpse of his mission and that would help believers in their spiritual awakening. The compilation of the Bible as we have it came in stages, layer after layer. And the discovery continues with modern scientific methods being applied to Biblical studies to bring out the hidden meanings and development of these precious documents.
Who knows what may help the spiritual sojourner? Every one of us has had a father. One may want to relate to God as a Loving Father who looks after his child and will not let harm come to him, who grooms him to eventually be on his own. Jesus was a Son, and every one of us is either a son or a daughter. To feel closer to God, one may like to look upon Jesus as a brother, a fellow traveling companion. Others of us may be entranced by the Spirit Mystery of the Paraclete, of his permeating and pervasive Presence. All are valid ways to God, and John's writings invite us to choose what is most fitting for the individual. At different stages in our life, we have different attractions.
John has given us so much to be aware of. I like to see Father, Son, and Spirit in stages one, two and three, all directed to mankind out of pure love. God's intercession is continuous, leaving it up to us to adapt to His phases in whatever way pleases us. God wants us to take what He gives and make it our own. We are here to live, and all life moves and grows. I like to see the Fatherhood of God somehow living in the Unmanifested Absoluteness of God. The Son, like each of us, is the absorbed manifestation of God. The Paraclete is the Divine Energy working to transform the world and each of us.
Since Paraclete is the least known and most mysterious of the three subjects we are exploring, Father, Jesus, Paraclete, I would like to spell out the various meanings and functions of a paraclete that have helped me to wonder at the presence of this divine figure in my life.
Paraclete can have many meanings, but they all seem related. At one level, a paraclete is "one called alongside to help," thus an advocate or defense attorney. In a more active sense, its meaning is "to intercede, entreat," thus an intercessor, a mediator, a spokesman. Still in the active sense, it means "to comfort," thus a comforter or consoler. Lastly, he exhorts and encourages the preaching of the apostolic witnesses, thus a friend.
No one translation of Paraclete captures the complexity of functions that this figure has. In an attempt to be comprehensive, the Paraclete plays the following roles: the Paraclete is a witness in defense of Jesus and a spokesman for him in the context of his trial by his enemies; the Paraclete is a comforter or consoler of the disciples for he takes Jesus' place among them; the Paraclete is a teacher and guide of the disciples and thus their helper or friend. Instead of choosing one of these meanings to translate Paraclete, we probably are wise in modern times to settle for "Paraclete," a transliteration that preserves the uniqueness of the title and does not emphasize one of the functions to the detriment of others.
The Spirit of Truth is a Paraclete precisely because he carries on the earthly work of Jesus. The Paraclete/Spirit will differ from Jesus the Paraclete in that the Spirit is not corporeally visible and his presence will only be by indwelling in the disciples. The Old Testament theme of "God with us" (the Immanuel of Isaiah 7:14) is now to be realized in the Paraclete/Spirit who remains with the disciples forever.
As suggested above that I may choose between Father, Jesus, or Paraclete in my spiritual endeavor, so too I may do the same regarding the various functions of the Paraclete that corresponds to my need at the time. For example, do I see the world as good or bad, and other people as pleasing or unpleasant? Each of us needs to answer to ourselves whether the world is a friendly place or not. In this quest it can be consoling to call upon the Helper Friend (Paraclete) to come to our aid regarding this questionable world. Father and son are known entities in our daily life; spirit is not. In looking at the different roles attached to Paraclete and the various functions He performs, they tell us he is unfolding the meaning of Jesus and God in our life, in a personal, intimate way. I like to see Him as the Transformer, active as the divine energy changing my life. It is a real possibility to glory in beholding the Spirit/Paraclete manifesting as me.
John has much to say about the Spirit/Paraclete which needs our attention. I think the multiple functions that He plays can be a boon in anyone's spiritual life because I think His role has been underplayed in the life of many a Christian. John presents the Paraclete as the Holy Spirit in a special role, namely, as the personal presence of Jesus in the Christian while Jesus is with the Father. In many New Testament passages, like the spirit of God in the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit is described as a force; in John, however, the Paraclete is more clearly personal.
Thus, the one whom John calls "another Paraclete" is another Jesus. Since the Paraclete can come only when Jesus departs, the Paraclete is the presence of Jesus when Jesus is absent. Jesus' promises to dwell within his disciples are fulfilled in the Paraclete. John insists that Jesus will be in heaven with the Father while the Paraclete is on earth in the disciples; and so the two have different roles.
By way of bringing this discussion of the Paraclete to a close, it is profitable to see how John uses his extended treatment of the Indwelling Presence to answer problems that the early Church was facing, answers that also have relevance today. The first problem was the confusion caused by the death of the apostolic eyewitnesses who were the living chain between the Church and Jesus of Nazareth.
The concept of the Paraclete/Spirit is an answer to this problem. The eyewitnesses who had guided the Church and the Beloved Disciple who bore witness to Jesus did so not primarily because of their own recollection of Jesus. After all, they had seen Jesus but not understood (14:9). Only the post-resurrectional gift of the Spirit taught them the meaning of what they had seen (2:22, 12:16). Their witness was the witness of the Paraclete speaking through them.
The second problem was the anguish caused by the delay of the second coming. In the period after A.D. 70 the expectation of the return of Jesus began to pale. His return had been associated with God's wrathful judgment upon Jerusalem (Mark 13), but now Jerusalem had been destroyed by Roman armies and Jesus had not yet returned.
John does not lose faith in the second coming but emphasizes that many of the features associated with the second are already realities of the Christian life (judgment, divine sonship, eternal life). And in a very real way Jesus has come back during the lifetime of his companions, for he has come in and through the Paraclete. In fact, the Paraclete demythologizes several apocalyptic motifs, including world judgment (16:11). The Christian need not live with his eyes constantly straining toward the heavens from which the Son of Man is to come; for, as the Paraclete, Jesus is present within all believers.
At the beginning of this discussion it was said that a divine presence will come to those who meet the demand of loving Jesus and keeping his commandments/words. Love produces intimacy and certainty. A Christian in union with Jesus prays in his name and is always learning things from his Master.
(The above reading is taken in large part from Raymond E. Brown, The Gospel According to John, XIII-XXI, The Anchor Yale Bible, vol. 29.)