“…But if anyone does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense—Jesus Christ the Righteous One.”

Sometimes I wonder…I really do.  I wonder about translators’ objectivity.  In this case, it works with both the NIV and NKJV translators.  And it revolves around 1 John 2:1, where Jesus is described as “one who speaks to the Father in our defense” and “advocate” respectively.  It is clear that Western culture got the best of both groups.  Let’s look at it.

Both translations are made for the Greek word parakletos, which literally means, “one called alongside”.  So how did both groups get their translation from that?  Part of it is because of the immediate text.  John writes about sinning (1:6-2:2).  When we sin before God, how do most Westerners feel?  Guilty.  Sometimes ashamed.  Obviously we want to get rid of it, and soon.  Thus (in theory), we need Jesus to speak up, or advocate, on our behalf.  After all, isn’t Satan still accusing us day and night (Revelation 12:10)?  Well, yes, that’s true.  He does that.  And the word itself was used of a legal assistant.  So the idea — at least to the translators apparently — is that there is a heavenly courtroom where the Father is the judge, Satan the prosecuting attorney, Jesus the defense attorney and we as the offending party.  Our guilt needs to be dealt with and put behind us.  And that’s why they translated the way they did.

While I think this can be an application of what God is saying here, I think it severely limits his point.  Besides, if parakletos means “alongside” (sounds like a wife to me), how much time does our attorney spend beside us if he’s pleading our case before the judge?  Not only that, once Jesus truly saves us, our sins are never in view again.  The above courtroom scenario suggests our salvation hangs in the balance.  Not so.  John wrote to believers, not unbelievers.  The point of his letter is fellowship (1:3-4, 6-7), not salvation.  So reducing parakletos to an attorney attempting to rid us of our guilt falls short.

John uses this very same word in his gospel, and looking at the immediate contexts of those uses should help us get a handle on what this word means and how we are to understand it.  Jesus introduces this new revelation in 14:16 saying, “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor (parakletos) to be with you forever…”  The first thing we notice about this “Alongsider” is that he will never leave the disciples.  They won’t be left “as orphans” (v. 18).  In other words, after Jesus returned to heaven, they might feel abandoned.  But no more: the Parakletos was here.

14:25 says, “But the Counselor, 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”.  The immediate need was to know the Lord’s teaching, but with Jesus gone, how would they know?  The “Alongsider” is with them.  In 15:26 Jesus said, “When the Counselor comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father, he will testify about me”.  Again, the immediate need in a hostile world rejecting the witness of miracles is a strong testimony.  But don’t worry: The “Alongsider” will be it.  In 16:7, the need was comfort, and again the remedy is the “Alongsider” who will comfort them in their grief (v. 6).

Are we seeing a pattern here?  When God speaks of the parakletos or ”Alongsider”, the pattern is that his presence in our midst is the consummate resource.  Sure, we could limit the Spirit’s ministry to just these three areas, but that too is completely unnecessary.  This is the divine Spirit we’re talking about.

So returning to 1 John 2:1, let’s recall an earlier question: When we sin before God, how do Westerners generally feel?  Most feel guilt, some feel shame.  How about non-Westerners?  Many feel shame.  Others fear.  Some feel depressed or angry.  I have never heard of a believer celebrating after thy sinned, at least not one in his/her right mind.  Clearly, when we sin, there is a need in us that immediately surfaces, depending on what our emotional reaction is in our surrounding culture.  Whether it’s a sense of shock, discouragement, grief, whatever, Jesus the Parakletos meets us, bringing us what we lack.

Does this sound like Jesus or the Father is soft on our disobedience?  It shouldn’t.  The point is that our foolish rebellion as his children is not needed.  He’s our “Alongsider” before we sin too!  And he gives us what we need to avoid yielding to temptation.  Remember, his being alongside us today is based on his being “along side” us at Calvary when we were nowhere to be found.  Through the Spirit, he is always beside us, bringing exactly what we need, even after we sin.  Are you standing alongside him?