When the Helper Comes

Festival of Pentecost

 May 19, 2024

John 15:26-27, 16:4b-15

"When the Helper Comes" 

Helper, Spirit of Truth, Advocate, Comforter, Counselor – these are all names used in Scripture to describe the Holy Spirit. “When the Helper comes…” (John 15:26), Jesus said. The original word for “Helper” (παράκλητος) is where we get the word “Paraclete” in the English language. It is a word we don’t use much anymore, but it is a word with a powerful meaning. It implies one who represents you in a court of law; one who stands beside you and speaks for you. Such a one is your defense attorney, and this is the Holy Spirit, who calls us and keeps us in this one truth faith into which we have been called by the working of the Spirit through the Means of Grace in Word and Sacrament.

Was the outpouring of the Spirit at Pentecost a miracle of the tongue that enabled those first disciples to speak in so many different languages in which they were not fluent? Or was the outpouring of the Spirit a miracle of the ear that enabled all who heard those first disciples who were speaking in so many different languages to understand, saying “we hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God” (Acts 2:11b)? I believe it was both because the Spirit will use both tongue and ear, together with our hands and hearts and our whole being, to proclaim the mighty works of God made known in the life, death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, all for the forgiveness of our sins; for our life and salvation.

Jesus’ words here in John 15 and 16 are a promise of the coming of the Holy Spirit. They are part of that final teaching discourse of Jesus in the upper room on the night in which he was betrayed (John 13-17). When the Spirit of truth does come, Jesus tells us, he will completely reverse the result of Jesus’ own trial before the Sanhedrin and Pontius Pilate in which Jesus was convicted, found guilty, and sentenced to death. Over against this, the Holy Spirit will convict the world of sin – the very sin that led to Jesus’ death. The Holy Spirit will direct us to the righteousness of Jesus through his innocent suffering and death upon the cross, where he took our place and bore the crushing burden of our sins upon himself. The Holy Spirit will assure us of Satan’s defeat (John 16:8-10); that he has been judged by the Judge of heaven and earth. The Holy Spirit will confirm the Easter victory won by our Lord Jesus Christ through his death and resurrection. This promise of Jesus given here in John 15 and 16 is what was fulfilled at Pentecost. That promise of Jesus continues to be fulfilled in our lives today as that same Spirit is poured out upon us today through the preaching and teaching of God’s Word, through the cleansing waters of Holy Baptism, through the life-giving Body and Blood of Christ received in his holy Supper.

Jesus, who is the Way, the Truth and the Life (John 14:6) is made known to us by the Spirit of truth, who as Jesus tells us, “will guide you into all the truth” (John 16:13), as we spoke together in the words from that Scripture memory verse. Whether our heart language is Amharic or English, whether we were  born in Ethiopia or America, together with believers everywhere we are led by the Spirit of truth so that more and more we may grow into Jesus. This is the great change that is underway in our lives and in the world around us. The Holy Spirit brought great change on the day of Pentecost to the lives of the disciples, who were transformed from fearful uncertainty into bold ambassadors for Christ. There were some 3000 people who came to faith in Christ that very day. We are living in a time of great change today, not all of it good. We long for such bold manifestations of the Spirit’s fire and power as were seen on that first Pentecost! But the Spirit is even now doing great things among us. Do we see this? Do we hear this? Today we give thanks for all that the Spirit has done and continues to do for the people of God, opening hearts and minds, pointing us to Jesus always.

Come, Holy Spirit, come. Fill the hearts of your faithful people with the fire of your love. Amen.