The Holy Spirit in the Farewell Discourse of John 14–16
(avg. read time: 5–10 mins.)
One of the most fascinating sections on pneumatology in the NT is Jesus’s Farewell Discourse in John 14–16. No other text addresses the role of the Holy Spirit in maintaining the bonds of union between Jesus and his disciples, most specifically the apostles, after his ascension as much as this one. This text is not a systematic reflection on this role, as one might find in later theological treatments (as a general recommendation, I would suggest readers consult Basil the Great’s On the Holy Spirit), but is presented as a preview of things to come, which the disciples could not grasp the significance of until after these things came to pass. My own analysis of the pneumatological material will not be incredibly in-depth, as I would like to save that for another time. This is one of those cases where I am just preliminarily outlining thoughts on a subject. With that qualifier, let us now consider what John has written about the Holy Spirit in Jesus’s Farewell Discourse.
When the Spirit is first introduced in this discourse, Jesus uses two descriptors and one purpose statement to teach about him in 14:16–17a. First, he describes him as the “Paraclete,” a transliteration of the Greek term that can mean “advocate” (in a legal sense or otherwise), “counselor,” “encourager,” or (more broadly) “helper.” The Spirit is described in this fashion as another such Paraclete from the Father, which implies that Jesus had been serving in this capacity already. The continuity of Jesus’s presence and work is maintained through the Spirit’s presence and work in helping believers to “keep my commandments” (14:15). Second, to that point, the purpose of Jesus asking for the Father to give the Holy Spirit is so that the Spirit should be with the disciples forever. The everlasting presence of the Spirit in the present age, in the resurrection, and beyond is the foundation of all his other work with the believers. Third, the Spirit is described as the Spirit of truth.
This last point is related to what John established in the Prologue of Jesus as being full of “grace and truth” (1:14, 16–17). This pair of terms seems to correspond to a similar one in the OT in which the various authors use the words חסד and אמת and their derivatives to describe the expressions of God’s most fundamental relational qualities in terms of faithful love (or lovingkindness), and sometimes it described the ethical obligations of people in relation to others (Exod 34:6; 2 Sam 2:6; 15:20; Pss 25:10; 26:3; 40:10–11; 57:3, 10; 61:7; 69:13; 85:10; 86:15; 89:14; 108:4; 115:1; 117:2; 138:2; Prov 14:22; Mic 7:20; cf. Josh 2:14; 2 Sam 7:28; 2 Kgs 20:19//Isa 39:8; Prov 3:3; 16:6; 20:28; 29:14; Isa 61:8; Jer 33:6; Hos 4:1; Zech 7:9). In the LXX, the translators usually used some form of ἔλεος and ἀλήθεια to convey these ideas. Indeed, five of the six uses of ἔλεος in Luke are in the first chapter to convey the חסד of God in a linguistic context decidedly reminiscent of the LXX. However, it could be that John used χάρις to convey this idea due to it being a related concept and due to it being more prominent among the earliest Christians (159 uses for χάρις in the NT in every book but Matthew, Mark, and 1 and 3 John vs. 27 uses for ἔλεος in 13 out of 27 books). Also, it is worth nothing that χάρις appears only in the prologue while ἀλήθεια appears throughout the book more times than in any other NT work. Throughout John, “truth” primarily relates to knowledge of Jesus and thus of God through Jesus, as well as the conduct related to such knowledge (3:21; 4:23–24; 5:33; 8:32, 40, 44–46; 14:6; 15:26; 16:7, 13; 17:17, 19; 18:37–38). The Spirit is thus not only “of truth” in that his presence and action instantiate the faithful love of God, but also because he leads believers in truth in what they learn and how they conduct themselves.
Jesus says that the world cannot accept the Spirit because it does not know him, but the believers know him, “because he abides with me and will be in you” (14:17). This is a rather succinct presentation of the truth that the Holy Spirit, by virtue of his eternal bond with the Son and the Father, is the one who maintains the union of the faithful with the Father and the Son. He abides with them, and thus when he is “in” the faithful, he enables them to “abide” with God in the Son. The triune union of the Son with the Spirit is why Jesus can say immediately after this statement, “18 I will not leave you as orphans, I am coming to you. 19 A little while longer and the world will no longer see me, but you will see me, because I live you also will live. 20 In that day, you will know that I am in my Father, you are in me, and I am in you.” Of course, as noted elsewhere, this is most directly a reference to his resurrection and his appearances, but in light of what he has said and will yet say about the Holy Spirit, it is also a reference to how the Spirit is given to his disciples after his resurrection and ascension. That is why they will not be left as orphans, and that is why Jesus can say, “I am coming to you.” The Spirit is the one who maintains the active union between the living, risen Jesus and his disciples. For reasons explored elsewhere (and elsewhere in the NT), he is also the one who seals Jesus’s promise of resurrection life: “because I live you also will live.”
The next point he makes about the Paraclete is that the Father will send him in his name (14:26). A frequent description of Jesus throughout the Gospel is in terms of him being the one the Father sent, even in the immediate context here in 14:24 (cf. 1:9, 11–15; 3:17, 30–31, 34; 4:34; 5:23–24, 30, 36–40; 6:29–60; 7:16–18, 25–43, 52; 8:14–18, 22–29, 42–47; 9:4, 28–33; 10:36; 11:42; 12:44–50; 13:1–3; 14:24–26; 15:21–26; 16:5, 27–30; 17:3, 8, 18–25; 20:21). This reveals another connection between Jesus and the Spirit, which is only further reinforced by saying that the Father will send him in Jesus’s name.
Also significant is the role the Holy Spirit has vis-à-vis the disciples when the Father sends him. That is, he “will teach you all things and will remind you of all things that I told you” (14:26). As with the fact that the Spirit is sent from the same source and with his description being “the Spirit of truth,” this description reminds us of how the Spirit maintains continuity with Jesus. The combination of teaching and reminding is most directly applicable to the apostles, the ones whom Jesus sent, but it applies indirectly to others. In this context in particular, this note establishes the primacy of the role of the Spirit in the passing of the traditions of Jesus, especially in the proclamation of the gospel. That is the main sense in which the Spirit is said to teach, since it is tied to reminding. We see various notes throughout the Gospel that hint toward future understanding of what Jesus has said and done (2:22; 7:39; 8:27; 11:13; 12:16, 33; 13:7; 18:32; 20:9; 21:19), and this statement from Jesus clarifies that this illumination of understanding comes from the Holy Spirit concerning their connection with the major gospel events, Jesus’s mission, and Jesus’s identity. Indeed, the Prologue itself attests to the illumination the Spirit brought, for this was not the understanding of Jesus the Beloved Disciple (or any of his disciples) had from the beginning. And as I have discussed in the entry on resurrection in John (as well as here), it was the giving of the Holy Spirit, which was itself in conjunction with eschatological promises, in combination with the major gospel events—particularly with the influence of the resurrection—that shaped the eschatological vision of this text and its use of language and ideas related to resurrection.
The Spirit is not referenced again until the end of ch. 15, but there are some crucial texts in between where the Spirit is implicitly present. For one, the peace that Jesus says he is leaving with his disciples appears to be precisely a result of the presence of the Spirit, as the remark in 14:27 follows immediately after what he has said about the Spirit. Likewise, when he exhorts them to not let their hearts trouble them, this fits with the fact that the other Paraclete is coming to them. Finally, when Jesus speaks in the beginning of ch. 15 of himself as the true vineyard, his Father as the vinedresser, and the necessity of his disciples abiding in him and of him abiding in his disciples, it seems clear from the context that the means of abiding is the Holy Spirit himself. He is the one who establishes and maintains this union, as he is the one who guides disciples in loving Jesus by keeping his commandments.
After once again referring to the Holy Spirit as the Paraclete and Spirit of truth, being the one who proceeds from the Father to execute the same will as Jesus/the Son, he says that the Spirit will testify about him (15:26). This fits with what we have observed about the description of him as the “Spirit of truth” in ch. 14. But it also conveys that the Spirit is the source of the disciples’ testimony. Hence, Jesus’s instruction to testify follows his statement that the Spirit will testify about him (15:27).
In ch. 16, Jesus foretells both suffering and victory for his disciples, which fits Jesus’s own story of crucifixion followed by resurrection and exaltation. The one who will make this possible is the Paraclete. Jesus says that it profits his disciples for him to leave because his departure will mean the coming of the Holy Spirit (16:7). He is the one who will also convict the world about sin, righteousness, and judgment (16:8–11). This is of one piece with the idea that the Spirit is the source of the disciples’ testimony. While this activity is not necessarily restricted to the domain of the disciples, where they live, and where they work, it is clear that believers participate in this insofar as they participate in the Spirit’s testimony and the mission from Jesus. He will convict about sin because faithful union with the crucified, resurrected, and exalted Jesus is the only means by which people can hope to overcome sin. He will convict about righteousness because he is carrying on the message and ministry of Jesus about the right way, the truth of righteousness, and the everlasting life God gives to the righteous because of their union with him. He will convict about judgment because the ruler of this world (the devil) is under judgment, even if the consummate execution of that judgment remains in the future with the complete implementation of God’s victory in Christ. All of this fits with what I have noted elsewhere about the cosmic conflict that is part of John’s communicated worldview.
While Jesus has more to say on these subjects and many others, he says that the Spirit, who he again calls the Spirit of truth, will guide them in every truth (16:13). This again establishes continuity between Jesus and the Spirit, but that continuity goes to a deeper similarity. For it is said, “he will not speak from himself, but as much as he will hear he will speak” (16:13). This is something Jesus has said about himself on multiple occasions, that he does not speak or act of himself, but he speaks what he hears from the Father and acts according to the Father’s will (5:30; 7:16–18, 28–29; 8:28, 42; 12:48–50; 14:10). In the same way, the Spirit will report what he receives, which ultimately comes from the Father (16:14–15).