“…[H]e will give you another Counselor…”

He was always on the move, going from village to village.  You would never guess where he would turn up next.  A wedding here, a dinner there.  A lunch with a hated tax collector or a respectable Pharisee.  He was not regularly in Jerusalem, only at some of the feast days.  He was always on the go, traveling around from place to place, something like a political campaign, with the excitement and the crowds, but without the hectic pace.  However, on this night he was back again in the capital city…during the Passover Feast.  It would be his last.  He had already told them at dinner, “I tell you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now until that day when I drink it anew with you in my Father’s kingdom” (Matt. 26:29).

So the eating was done, and life with him as they knew it would soon be over.  They were now on their way to the garden in Gethsemane, on the other side of the valley, where he could pray before Judas would betray him in a short hour or two.  Time was critical; words were important…very important.  Death was lurking like an ugly giant that cast his shadow over the tiny innocents just before striking.  Jesus spoke what was uppermost on his mind.

He told them he would send “another Counselor” (John 14:16) who would be with them “forever.”  This word counselor literally means, “one called alongside.”  The implication is that one needs help, so an assistant, a helper, is called to accompany and assist.  In the past this “Spirit of truth” had been “with” them (v. 17) and soon would be “in” them.  What would that be like?

This Counselor was “another” one.  In the Greek there are two words translated “another.”  This one means, “one of the same kind, similar.”  The inference we can draw is that Jesus, too, was a Counselor (see Isaiah 9:6 and 1 John 2:1).  Thus the Spirit would be no different.  As Jesus was with them the Spirit would be in them.  What Jesus had been to them the Spirit of truth would replicate, so much so that Jesus said, “I will come to you” (v. 18).  The Spirit’s coming is the spiritual return of Christ to his followers.  Indeed, a bit later he told them, “we” — both Father and Son — “will come to [you] and make our home with [you]” (v. 23).  In other words, life is going to be radically different after the cross, after the resurrection, after the ascension and after Pentecost.  The whole Godhead would be the believer’s resource.

This special, intimate relationship is the hallmark of our faith.  We have access to the God of the entire universe.  Talk about excitement!  Talk about identity!  Talk about meaning, purpose and a future that can’t be beat!  Religion can’t create this.  Religions typically offer either a system of works where we try to please and pacify an angry God or try to tap us into some impersonal god to create harmony or balance.  When was the last time you had a good conversation with gravity are electricity?

This gift of the Counselor gives believers the inside track to God that unbelievers don’t and can’t have:  “I…will show myself to him” (v. 21).  Judas (son of James) then asked him how this would happen.  Notice the description Jesus gives.  The Counselor “will teach you all things and remind you of everything I have said to you” (v. 26).  Paul confirms this:  “No eye has seen, nor ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him” (1 Cor. 2:9).  These things cannot be learned through normal or paranormal channels.  “But God has revealed it to us by his Spirit” (v. 10).  Spirit touching spirit — his touching ours.  Ah…the inside track!  After going on to contrast the carnal and spiritual (vs. 11-16a), Paul concludes, “But we have the mind of Christ” (v. 16b).  How is that possible?  By the presence of the Spirit.  Among other things this allows us “to make judgments about all things” and not to be “subject to any man’s judgment” (v. 15).  Indeed, life is very different for believers after Christ’s ascension.  What a help this Counselor is!

How much have you gained through the inside track?  How much has Christ revealed himself to you through the Counselor?  How much are you subject to other men’s judgments?  The bottom line is really this:  How much is your spirit in communion with the Counselor?