An Advocate to guide us
Commentary
Object:
Sooner or later most of us have the experience of getting behind the wheel for the first time. No matter how much preparation we’ve been given, or what examples we’re following, it can be scary when it’s our turn. But it has to happen. My first day driving was as a high school student. I thought the instructor would show us how to drive and then let us circle the parking lot at school -- but no, we plunged into Los Angeles traffic, then went off into the mountains to drive alongside sheer cliffs.
But we did have the presence of our instructor to reassure us, give us advice, and provide support.
Pentecost is all about having an Advocate, a guide -- the Holy Spirit -- as we become Christ’s presence in the world. Pretty scary, but we manage. Thankfully, the Spirit is the driving force and the inspiration, but for some reason God has decided the action of the good news of Jesus Christ will fall on us!
Acts 2:1-21
Acts is the “Old Testament” lesson, which in this case is appropriate because the apostle Peter’s speech interprets the experience in light of the Hebrew scriptures. The descent of the dove, the arrival of the Holy Spirit, the rush of the mighty wind happens on Pentecost, which is what the Greek speakers called the Fiftieth Day since crops were planted. The Hebrew-speaking believers referred to this as Shavuot, the Feast of Weeks. This is when, after a long winter dependent on pre-prepared foods, the people celebrated the first fruits of the first planting. The long winter is over. The spring is fulfilled. It’s going to be okay. We’re eating fresh food again.
Against this backdrop comes the rush of the mighty wind into the Upper Room. (You know, this room has quite a pedigree -- the Last Supper, appearances by the resurrected Jesus to the disciples, Pentecost, and the first place Peter comes after his miraculous release from prison -- pretty good mileage for a room owned by Mary, the mother of the evangelist John Mark.) Notice that this Spirit is given to all 120 or so of those in the room -- women, men, young and old, just as Joel predicted. It is not limited to those in line for any apostolic succession, nor is it for males, church leaders, or the powerful only.
So this is not a personal experience. This is a corporate experience. It is not about an ecstatic experience treasured by one person or interpreted by one person, but God’s Spirit bursting in on the whole universe. All of them were filled. This will be for all humanity. Of course, the Holy Spirit is not a wind or a fire, but this is what the experience was like.
Notice that this is an experience of clarity! It is not a matter of speaking in tongues, but of the spoken tongues being heard clearly.
The Spirit is so powerful that Peter’s limitations (he denied Jesus, the other apostles ran) don’t matter. He is the one speaking for all. Our prior resumés do not need to be spotless. In Peter’s speech, history is interpreted in the words of the Hebrew scriptures through the lens of Jesus’ life. Joel’s prophecy about the universal gift of the Spirit to all age groups, all economic groups, regardless of gender, is used to show that we have reached a pivot of history.
Romans 8:22-27
This passage is crammed with images -- the creation in labor pains, first fruits (harvest) of the Spirit, intestinal pain, adoption, weakness, intercession with wordless sighs -- this on the week when words are crystal-clear. Clarity is the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Paul suggests that we have a foot in two worlds -- a hope that is still in process, a world waiting to be redeemed, yet with God’s love and the Spirit actively working among us, within us.
The present pains matter, but not as much as the future hope. The world is not abolished but transformed. The parable of childbirth is to the point -- the arrival of an infant transforms the lives of the family. It is real, it is painful. It ends in joy, like our lives and history.
But this is also a process of adoption. Someone else suffers the pains of childbirth’s pains before our adoption. These are God’s pains. This is the reward for the suffering of Jesus.
This is all happening now, but greater things are coming.
The Spirit speaks for us, as the Spirit spoke through Peter, and through the scriptures Peter quoted. They come alive with new life, but the foundation is in the original sitz im leben of the words as originally delivered.
The word used by Paul in verse 26 for the help given to us by the Spirit, synantilambanetai, is the same word used by Martha to describe what Mary ought to have been doing. This is real and practical help in setting the table for the banquet of the Lamb.
John 15:26-27; 16:4b-15
Now it all makes sense, looking back in retrospect. Jesus told the disciples they couldn’t understand it yet, but they would. We do.
The word sometimes transliterated as Paraclete is translated as comfort, console, encourage, exhort, admonish, advocate, beseech, and call for help. This Advocate is the Holy Spirit. But what is Jesus trying to tell us about the Holy Spirit by using the word parakletos?
The word is often used for someone called in to provide support in a court case. A parakletos could be someone who pleads for a defendant in court in order to enlist the sympathy of the judges.
John, for whom Greek seems to be a second language that he wields with the skill of an artist, probably intends for us to mark “all of the above” when it comes to the definition for parakletos. But let us not forget that the word has a real-life meaning, not a church meaning. I think the best parallel is the goel, the Hebrew word sometimes translated as redeemer, who is the fixer in the family that everyone counts on, the one who helps your kids make bail, or helps with the rent, or fixes a problem with city hall, or knows a guy who knows a guy who can fill the potholes on the street.
Though Jesus is speaking to the disciples, the conversation was meant for us all along. We are listeners as well. Jesus is suggesting that he must vacate the scene so the apostles (like Peter in Acts) can rise to the occasion with the help of the Advocate. We’re going to be doing the work of the good news in the world, but we’re not alone when we do this, even though Jesus is not physically with us just yet.
I have been emphasizing the practical real-world nature of the Advocate; Jesus reminds us that something cosmic is going on as well. The ruler of this world has been cast down (see Revelation 12). It’s a done deal, despite appearances. This is a reminder our faith is not dualistic. There is only one God. God does not have an “opposite number.” And we are part of a great chain of believers who share the same goel, the same Advocate, who will be fix things for us and stand by us and spur us on to great things.
But we did have the presence of our instructor to reassure us, give us advice, and provide support.
Pentecost is all about having an Advocate, a guide -- the Holy Spirit -- as we become Christ’s presence in the world. Pretty scary, but we manage. Thankfully, the Spirit is the driving force and the inspiration, but for some reason God has decided the action of the good news of Jesus Christ will fall on us!
Acts 2:1-21
Acts is the “Old Testament” lesson, which in this case is appropriate because the apostle Peter’s speech interprets the experience in light of the Hebrew scriptures. The descent of the dove, the arrival of the Holy Spirit, the rush of the mighty wind happens on Pentecost, which is what the Greek speakers called the Fiftieth Day since crops were planted. The Hebrew-speaking believers referred to this as Shavuot, the Feast of Weeks. This is when, after a long winter dependent on pre-prepared foods, the people celebrated the first fruits of the first planting. The long winter is over. The spring is fulfilled. It’s going to be okay. We’re eating fresh food again.
Against this backdrop comes the rush of the mighty wind into the Upper Room. (You know, this room has quite a pedigree -- the Last Supper, appearances by the resurrected Jesus to the disciples, Pentecost, and the first place Peter comes after his miraculous release from prison -- pretty good mileage for a room owned by Mary, the mother of the evangelist John Mark.) Notice that this Spirit is given to all 120 or so of those in the room -- women, men, young and old, just as Joel predicted. It is not limited to those in line for any apostolic succession, nor is it for males, church leaders, or the powerful only.
So this is not a personal experience. This is a corporate experience. It is not about an ecstatic experience treasured by one person or interpreted by one person, but God’s Spirit bursting in on the whole universe. All of them were filled. This will be for all humanity. Of course, the Holy Spirit is not a wind or a fire, but this is what the experience was like.
Notice that this is an experience of clarity! It is not a matter of speaking in tongues, but of the spoken tongues being heard clearly.
The Spirit is so powerful that Peter’s limitations (he denied Jesus, the other apostles ran) don’t matter. He is the one speaking for all. Our prior resumés do not need to be spotless. In Peter’s speech, history is interpreted in the words of the Hebrew scriptures through the lens of Jesus’ life. Joel’s prophecy about the universal gift of the Spirit to all age groups, all economic groups, regardless of gender, is used to show that we have reached a pivot of history.
Romans 8:22-27
This passage is crammed with images -- the creation in labor pains, first fruits (harvest) of the Spirit, intestinal pain, adoption, weakness, intercession with wordless sighs -- this on the week when words are crystal-clear. Clarity is the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Paul suggests that we have a foot in two worlds -- a hope that is still in process, a world waiting to be redeemed, yet with God’s love and the Spirit actively working among us, within us.
The present pains matter, but not as much as the future hope. The world is not abolished but transformed. The parable of childbirth is to the point -- the arrival of an infant transforms the lives of the family. It is real, it is painful. It ends in joy, like our lives and history.
But this is also a process of adoption. Someone else suffers the pains of childbirth’s pains before our adoption. These are God’s pains. This is the reward for the suffering of Jesus.
This is all happening now, but greater things are coming.
The Spirit speaks for us, as the Spirit spoke through Peter, and through the scriptures Peter quoted. They come alive with new life, but the foundation is in the original sitz im leben of the words as originally delivered.
The word used by Paul in verse 26 for the help given to us by the Spirit, synantilambanetai, is the same word used by Martha to describe what Mary ought to have been doing. This is real and practical help in setting the table for the banquet of the Lamb.
John 15:26-27; 16:4b-15
Now it all makes sense, looking back in retrospect. Jesus told the disciples they couldn’t understand it yet, but they would. We do.
The word sometimes transliterated as Paraclete is translated as comfort, console, encourage, exhort, admonish, advocate, beseech, and call for help. This Advocate is the Holy Spirit. But what is Jesus trying to tell us about the Holy Spirit by using the word parakletos?
The word is often used for someone called in to provide support in a court case. A parakletos could be someone who pleads for a defendant in court in order to enlist the sympathy of the judges.
John, for whom Greek seems to be a second language that he wields with the skill of an artist, probably intends for us to mark “all of the above” when it comes to the definition for parakletos. But let us not forget that the word has a real-life meaning, not a church meaning. I think the best parallel is the goel, the Hebrew word sometimes translated as redeemer, who is the fixer in the family that everyone counts on, the one who helps your kids make bail, or helps with the rent, or fixes a problem with city hall, or knows a guy who knows a guy who can fill the potholes on the street.
Though Jesus is speaking to the disciples, the conversation was meant for us all along. We are listeners as well. Jesus is suggesting that he must vacate the scene so the apostles (like Peter in Acts) can rise to the occasion with the help of the Advocate. We’re going to be doing the work of the good news in the world, but we’re not alone when we do this, even though Jesus is not physically with us just yet.
I have been emphasizing the practical real-world nature of the Advocate; Jesus reminds us that something cosmic is going on as well. The ruler of this world has been cast down (see Revelation 12). It’s a done deal, despite appearances. This is a reminder our faith is not dualistic. There is only one God. God does not have an “opposite number.” And we are part of a great chain of believers who share the same goel, the same Advocate, who will be fix things for us and stand by us and spur us on to great things.
