RCL reading for Sunday, May 31, 2009:
Excerpt from the New Revised Standard Version
via Oremus (http://bible.oremus.org)
John 15:26-27; 16:4b-15
26 ‘When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who comes from the Father, he will testify on my behalf.
27 You also are to testify because you have been with me from the beginning.
4 But I have said these things to you so that when their hour comes you may remember that I told you about them. ‘I did not say these things to you from the beginning, because I was with you.
5 But now I am going to him who sent me; yet none of you asks me, “Where are you going?”
6 But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your hearts.
7 Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you.
8 And when he comes, he will prove the world wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment:
9 about sin, because they do not believe in me;
10 about righteousness, because I am going to the Father and you will see me no longer;
11 about judgement, because the ruler of this world has been condemned.
12 ‘I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.
13 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own, but will speak whatever he hears, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.
14 He will glorify me, because he will take what is mine and declare it to you.
15 All that the Father has is mine. For this reason I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.
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When the paraclete comes; This passage in the last supper part of John takes on a deeply forensic cast. The translation as advocate seems most apt and comforter wide of the mark. The function is that of a lawyer, a defense attorney coaching the accused in what to say. For some reason ancient commentators felt this was a particularly treacherous passage. Maybe we don't really understand the complexity surrounding the noun Elenchus and the verb form elenchien. In Plato the Elenchus was the climactic part of the argument when one participant was trapped in a contradiction, was refuted. Maybe there was more going on in those dialogs than we can understand.
ReplyDeleteAlthough our lectionary verses elide the part about jews killing christians, they do include the reader in the circle of those who have "been with Jesus from the beginning." Here again as in Doubting Thomas the author makes sure prompt the reader to identify with the action.
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ReplyDeleteKen Brown says ...
ReplyDeleteRE: John 16:13 Jesus’ first reference to the Spirit as the Paraclete (John 14:16) prepares the disciples for the Spirit’s ministry as another Counselor, Comforter, Helper in Jesus’ absence. The Spirit in this role will teach, guide, explain Jesus’ teachings, speak of things to come, bear witness on Jesus’ behalf, recall to their memory things which their Lord said, and console them in their grief and fear. Then Jesus further identifies the Paraclete as “the Spirit of Truth in John 1417, repeated in 15:26 and 16:13. As Jesus embodies “the truth” (14:16) the Spirit imparts truth, literally “leads them along the road” of total truth. Redemptive truth, centered on the risen Son of God, and practical truth regarding the development and missionary expansion of the church were part of Spirit’s ministry as Acts tells us. The theological implications of the Gospel are enlarged as the Spirit guides the apostles in the creation of the New Testament. “The things to come”, the emphasis on eschatology, God’s ultimate purpose for His creation is another aspect of the Spirit’s work and leadership unfolding in scriptures. Morris warns, “the Spirit never leads people into paths different from those Jesus advocated.” (p. 546, Reflections) We can never take as authentic truth from the Spirit anything that is in contradiction to what God has given us in His Word.
The scene in the garden where Mary Magdalene reaches out for the Risen Christ has been a favorite of artists through all the ages. It is referred to in the art world by its Vulgate text, "Nolo me tangere." In today's passage 16:7 we have the fuller explanation of what Jesus is saying.
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