The Role of the Paraclete in the Gospel of John

Introduction 

The impact Jesus made on the world is ineffable. Jesus is the word become flesh (John 1:14), and while on earth, he was the incarnate God walking amongst his creation. Considering the impact Jesus had on earth, it is puzzling that Jesus said to his disciples, “it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you” (John 16:7 ESV). The term “Helper” in the Greek is παράκλητος (Paraclete) which is another name for the Holy Spirit. The Paraclete is God Himself; He is equal with Jesus Christ, just as Jesus is equal to the Father.^[1] If the Paraclete and Jesus are equals, why is it better that the Paraclete came, and that Jesus left? How does the role and function of the Paraclete differ from that of Jesus?

The Gospel of John provides a rich depiction of the Paraclete from which a robust understanding of his role and function can be derived. This paper evaluates the Paraclete sayings within the Gospel of John and argues that the Paraclete reveals Jesus in alignment with the Gospel witness, acting as the shaliach of Jesus and empowering Christians by connecting them to Jesus’ presence.

To support this thesis, this paper will include two sections. The first section will focus on the Paraclete sayings within John 14:15-16:24. The second section will discuss the role of the Paraclete in relation to shaliach Christology.

The Paraclete Sayings

Chiastic Structure of John 14:15-16:24

In an article published in 2023, Kristian Klepes presented a chiasm within John 14:15-16:24 which has “been uniformly missed by Johannine scholarship.”^[2] Klepes utilized an established criteria for determining what constitutes a chiasm and concluded that these passages form an “extended macro-chiasm.”^[3] The chiasm has the following structure:

A – The Paraclete implicitly enables the Christ community to see Christ (14:15-20).

B – The Paraclete implicitly enables Christ to equip the Christ community for discipleship (14:21-31).

C – Christ abides in the Christ community (15:1-15).

B – The Paraclete implicitly enables Christ to equip the Christ community for discipleship (15:16-16:3).

A – The Paraclete implicitly enables the Christ community to see Christ (16:4-24).^[4]

This chiastic structure reveals that the heart of the Paraclete promise is John 15:1-15, which illuminates how the Paraclete functions to connect the Christ community to the abiding presence of Christ.^[5] As aforementioned in the thesis, this paper views the role of the Spirit as connecting Christian’s to the presence of Jesus. This is formally called the presence view and is contrasted by the replacement view, which observes the Paraclete functioning as Christ’s replacement, performing functions on his behalf in light of his physical absence. The replacement view highlights how it is only the Paraclete that has agency, precluding Christ’s agency in empowering the Christ community.^[6]

In John 5:5 Jesus says, “I am the vine; you are the branches, whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.” There is much to be unpacked in this verse. Jesus uses a simple metaphor to convey how his disciples are powerless apart from him. Jesus communicates that it is essential for his disciples to “abide” in him. In the Greek, this word is μένων, and being in the active voice, it places the onus on the disciples to be active in abiding in Jesus.^[7] The necessity of abiding in Jesus is very prominent in John 15:1-5, as the word “abide” is used seven times within these verses. The emphasis on abiding in Jesus being situated in the midst of the Paraclete sayings supports the presence view over the replacement view. Why would Jesus’ command his disciples to abide in him when he knew he was going to be leaving the earth very shortly? If Jesus knew the Paraclete would replace him on earth, then why would he not have commanded his disciples to abide in the Paraclete? It seems much more likely that John has placed this passage about abiding in Jesus at the heart of the Paraclete passages to reveal how the Paraclete empowers believers by connecting them to the abiding power within Christ.

Definition of παράκλητος

Before diving into the nuts and bolts of the Paraclete sayings, it will be helpful to first establish what is conveyed through the Greek word παράκλητος. In Fredrick Danker’s lexicon, the glosses given for this word are counselor, encourager, and intercessor.^[8]  D.A. Carson describes how this term is understood within secular Greek as meaning “legal assistant” or “advocate” and describes someone who helps another in court, but he observes how the role of the Paraclete extends beyond the legal sphere, and this term connotes the idea of someone who is “called alongside” and “encourages” and “exhorts.”^[9]

John 14:16-17

The Paraclete is called the Spirit of truth. Since Jesus is “the truth” (Jn. 14:6 ESV), the Paraclete will make Jesus an ever-present reality to the disciples. The Paraclete is therefore not a different presence from that of Jesus but is “the same reality which the disciples had known during Christ’s incarnate life.”^[10] It is interesting to consider this in conjunction with the ending of John 14:17, where Jesus says, “You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.” The word for “dwells” is the verb μένει, and it is in the active voice which conveys how the Paraclete will be actively abiding/dwelling within the disciples. This is contrasted with John 15:5 where it was the disciples who were to be active within the abiding process. When considering the faithfulness of God’s character, it is comforting to know, as unfaithful and sinful humans, that even if we fall short at times in the abiding process, that the Holy Spirit is also actively abiding in us. We can trust the constancy of the Paraclete’s abiding presence.

This idea of God being active in abiding with his people can also be seen in John 10:28-29, where Jesus, in speaking about his “sheep”, says “I give them eternal life and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.” The repetition of no one being able to snatch the sheep out of God’s hand expresses the holding power of God. Even if the sheep are unfaithful and have a “weak grip” on the hand of God, it is not so much they that are holding onto God but rather God who is holding onto them. In the same way, even if the disciples fail to be consistent in the abiding process, the Paraclete will be active in abiding in them, and his abiding is trustworthy and constant. It is also beautiful how these passages communicate that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are all involved in this process of holding onto/abiding with sinful human beings. This is a wonderful depiction of the unity of the Triune God.

John 14:26

This verse describes how the Paraclete was sent in Jesus’ name. Having been sent by Jesus, the Paraclete can be regarded as Jesus’ officially delegated representative to act on his behalf.^[11] D.A. Carson, commenting on this verse notes that, “Just as Jesus came in his Father’s name, as the Father’s emissary, so the Spirit comes in Jesus’ name.^[12] As a delegate for Jesus, this passage possesses similarities to shaliach Christology, which will be delved into more deeply in the second section of this paper.

This verse also describes how the Paraclete will teach “all things,” the act of teaching within a Jewish context typically included expounding and elaborating, and for the learner, memorization was also of high importance.^[13] There has been debate concerning whether teaching and reminding are different functions of the Paraclete or the same function.^[14] The debate hinges on the “and” which is italicized in this verse. “He will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you” (Jn. 14:26 ESV). Whether this καί is considered explicative or cumulative changes the interpretation of these verses, and the orientation of the teaching of the Paraclete.^[15] If explicative, then the teaching of the Paraclete is through reminding the disciples of what Jesus has said, but if it is cumulative, then teaching and reminding can be considered two distinct functions.^[16] In this view, the teaching of the Paraclete is much more dynamic than simply calling to remembrance the works of Jesus in the minds of the disciples. However, no matter the meaning of και, the substance of the Paraclete’s teaching should be viewed as being limited to what Jesus taught.^[17]Having been sent by the Father in the name of Jesus, the Paraclete does not teach new, independent doctrines but continues in the work of Jesus and the Father.^[18]

John 15:26 and John 15:15

John 15:26 reveals how the Spirit proceeds from the Father, which contributes to a larger debate concerning whether the Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son or just the Father.^[19] While this debate will not be handled in this paper, it can serve as evidence of the profound mystery within the Trinity. For this study, what is key within this passage is how it describes the Paraclete as bearing witness about Jesus in conjunction with the witness of the apostles, as the apostles have been with Jesus from the beginning. It can be observed that the Paraclete bears witness about Jesus “through the works granted for the disciples to accomplish.”^[20]

The Paraclete’s working through the witness of the apostles makes sense when considering Jesus words just eleven verses prior, where He says to his disciples, “No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you” (Jn 15:15, ESV). If Jesus transmitted “all” he learned from God, then the Paraclete would only serve to remind and interpret what Jesus had passed down to his disciples.^[21] This supports the idea that the Paraclete will only reveal Jesus in alignment with the apostolic witness of Jesus as recorded in the Gospels.

John 16:5-11

In these verses, the Paraclete is described as continuing the work of Jesus here on earth. Just as Jesus convicted the world concerning sin, calling it to repentance, so too does the Paraclete.^[22] Since the Paraclete continues Jesus’ ministry, it is unlikely that John is allowing for the possibility that the Paraclete will introduce new teachings.^[23] Since the Paraclete could not come until Jesus had gone away (Jn. 16:7), there is a mutually exclusive ministry of Jesus and the Spirt. The Paraclete could not come until Jesus’ redemptive work was completed.^[24] Carson describes how the “extra bits” that the Paraclete is described as teaching are “nothing more than the filling out of the revelation nodally present in Jesus himself.^[25] Admittedly, when Carson describes how the Paraclete does “nothing more” than reveal Jesus, this is a diminution of the significance of this function. To reveal Jesus, who is the fully infinite God incarnate to the minds of sinful, finite humans is a gargantuan task.

There is a profound insight into the role of the Paraclete that can be observed when John writes, “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come (Jn. 16:13 ESV). What are the things to come, and how does the Paraclete make it known? Carson answers this question in full.

It makes sense to suppose that the Holy Spirit is unpacking some of that event’s eschatological significance. The verb used here (anangello) and repeated in vv.14-15 suggests an announcement, indeed in this context a revelatory declaration, but it is a reiterative announcement. These features square best with the view that what is yet to comerefers to all that transpires in consequence of the pivotal revelation bound up with Jesus’ person, ministry, death, resurrection, and exaltation.[26]

What Carson astutely highlights is that the Paraclete is capable of communicating revelatory, eschatological information to the disciples about events that are yet to come, by revealing the truth about what has already happened through Jesus’ death, burial, resurrection, and ascension. The biblical book of Revelation is an excellent example of this. John experiences an incredible revelation while He was “in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day” (Rev. 1:10 ESV). This revelation of “things that are to come” is first grounded in a revelation of what has already occurred as a result of Jesus finished work on the cross. Namely, that Jesus has been glorified (Rev. 1:12-16) and has been seated on the throne of heaven and given all authority, power, and worship ascribed unto him (Rev. 4-5). This revelation given to John on the island of Patmos (Rev. 1:9) aligns with Carson’s interpretation of how the Paraclete will reveal the things that are yet to come by “binding it up with Jesus’ person, ministry, death, resurrection, and exaltation.^[27]

The insight into the role of the Paraclete gleaned from John 16:13 also highlights how the Paraclete connects disciples to Jesus. If disciples can bear no fruit apart from Jesus (John 15:5), then revelation that is not grounded within the person and work of Christ is powerless to bring about transformation in the life of the Christian. Thomas Tops conveys the need for transformation succinctly.

The Johannine believer does not only get to know the truth, but he or she is also transfigured by the truth. The reminding function of the Paraclete enables disciples to signify the truth. The teaching function of the Paraclete transforms the disciples into a designation of the truth.[28]

If the Paraclete functions to empower Christians to become more and more like the truth, then the Paraclete must bring Christians into an encounter with Jesus who is the truth. To teach outside of the confines of Jesus ministry, death, and resurrection, is to disconnect Christians from the transfiguring power of Jesus Christ. The Paraclete connects Christians to Jesus, empowering them as they are transformed by the process of abiding in the vine which is Christ.

The Paraclete and Shaliach Christology

The term shaliach is primarily a juristic one, where the shaliach is a delegate for another, and an authorized person to whom a definite commission has been entrusted.^[29] In the Gospel of John, it can be observed that Jesus is the shaliach of the Father and it can be observed that Jesus performs his miracles not by any power of his own, but by the power that the Father gives him in answer to prayer (Jn. 11:22, 41; 14:10).^[30] The mystery of Jesus being the shaliach of the Father is conveyed clearly in the following excerpt from Leonard Allen.

God is greater than his representative, and the confession that Jesus is Lord must be rendered “to the glory of God the Father.” The position is a paradoxical one, since Jesus in one sense is as God while in another, he is below him. But the difficulty is resolved when we remember that the delegate is as his master yet is other than his master. The Lord Jesus receives this singular honor because God has conferred it upon him, and it is rendered to him as his viceregent.[31]

The paradox of Jesus being “as his master yet other than his master” can be observed in Jesus’ response to Philip, when he said, “show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” Jesus responded by saying, “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father” (Jn 14:8-9 ESV). While Jesus is a distinct person of the Trinity, his actions as the delegate of the Father mean that the disciples have actually seen and heard the Father because they have seen and heard Jesus.

In the same way that Jesus is the shaliach of the Father, the Paraclete might be considered the shaliach of Jesus. The Paraclete is sent from Jesus (Jn. 16:7) and he does not speak on his own authority (v.13) but takes that which is Jesus’ and declares it to the disciples (v. 14). It can be observed that Jesus delegated authority to his apostles, and the apostles are considered to be the shaliach of Jesus when they are sent out in Matthew, Mark and Luke.^[32] When this role of the apostles is read in conjunction with John 15:26, which connects the witness of the apostles with the witness of the Paraclete, the argument that the Paraclete is the shaliach of Jesus is further buttressed.

By viewing the Paraclete as the shaliach of Jesus, it might be suggested that if someone has encountered the Paraclete, then they have encountered Jesus, in similar fashion to when someone encountered Jesus, they encountered the Father. Viewing the role of the Paraclete in this way can resolve the question posed in the introduction concerning why it was better for Jesus to go and for the Paraclete to come? If the Paraclete is the shaliach of Jesus, and if the Paraclete is not limited to only one space at one time as Jesus was within his incarnate human body, and if in encountering the Paraclete people are simultaneously encountering Jesus, then the sending of the Paraclete makes it possible for multiple people within the world to be encountering Jesus simultaneously through the person of the Paraclete. If Jesus were still physically on earth, everyone who desired to abide in him would have to physically move to the city where Jesus was dwelling. But with the sending of the Paraclete, Christians all over the earth are able to abide in Jesus through the connecting power of the Paraclete. Jesus was right, it truly is better that he left, so that Christians worldwide might encounter him simultaneously through his shaliach, the Paraclete.

Conclusion

The Triune God is a mystery, and the Paraclete may be the most mysterious member of the Godhead. The Paraclete sayings in the Gospel of John provided a glimpse into the marvelous role and function of the Paraclete. The Paraclete sayings were shown to be part of a chiasm that centers upon John 15:1-15, which emphasises the importance of abiding in Jesus. The Paraclete functions as the shaliach of Jesus, continuing his mission on earth. The Paraclete teaches Christians the truth which is founded within the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. By connecting them to the person and presence of Jesus, the Paraclete empowers Christians. The Paraclete does not function outside of the will and teaching of Jesus. Just as Jesus obeyed and revealed the Father while on earth, so too does the Paraclete reveal Jesus. It can be reasonably suggested that those who have encountered the Paraclete, have encountered Jesus. It is therefore beneficial that Jesus left, and that the Paraclete has come. The presence of Jesus via the Paraclete can now be experienced universally. Halleluiah!

Notes 

^[1] Ogunlana, Babatunde A. “Theological Implications of the Fourth Gospel Paraclete Sayings.” BTSK Insight 2, no. 1 (2006), 22.

^[2] Klepes, Kristian. “The Paraclete: Christ’s Replacement or Christ’s Connector?” Canadian American Theological Review 12, no. 1 (2023),1.

^[3] Klepes, “The Paraclete: Christ’s Replacement or Christ’s Connector,” 3.

^[4] Klepes, “The Paraclete: Christ’s Replacement or Christ’s Connector,” 3-4.

^[5] Klepes, “The Paraclete: Christ’s Replacement or Christ’s Connector,” 13.

^[6] Klepes, “The Paraclete: Christ’s Replacement or Christ’s Connector,” 1-2.

^[7] David L. Matthewson. Intermediate Greek Grammar: Syntax for Students of the New Testament. (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Academic, 2016), 144.

^[8] Fredrick William Danker. The Concise Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament. (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 2009), 268.

^[9] Carson, The Gospel According to John, 499.

^[10] Ogunlana, “Theological Implications of the Fourth Gospel Paraclete Sayings,” 19.

^[11] Ogunlana, “Theological Implications of the Fourth Gospel Paraclete Sayings.” 20.

^[12] Carson, The Gospel According to John, 505. 

^[13] Ogunlana, “Theological Implications of the Fourth Gospel Paraclete Sayings,” 20.

^[14] Tops, Thomas. “The Orientation of the Teaching of the Paraclete in the Gospel of John: Retrospective or Prospective?” New Testament Studies 66, no. 1 (2020), 69.

^[15] Tops, “Orientation of the Teaching of the Paraclete,” 70.

^[16] Tops, “Orientation of the Teaching of the Paraclete,” 70.

^[17] Lee, Sang Mok. “Jesus’ Philoi vs. Jesus’ Douloi: Conflicts over the Paraclete’s Function and Authority in the Johannine Community.” The Expository Times 129, no. 8 (2018), 360.

^[18] Herms, Ronald, Levison, John R. and Wright, Archie T. The Spirit Says: Inspiration and Interpretation in Israelite, Jewish, and Early Christian Texts. (Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter, 2021), 202.

^[19] Carson, The Gospel According to John, 528.

^[20] Ogunlana, “Theological Implications of the Fourth Gospel Paraclete Sayings,” 20.

^[21] Lee, “Jesus’ Philoi vs. Jesus’ Douloi,” 359.

^[22] Carson, The Gospel According to John, 537.

^[23] Lee, “Jesus’ Philoi vs. Jesus’ Douloi,” 361.

^[24] Ogunlana, “Theological Implications of the Fourth Gospel Paraclete Sayings,” 21.

^[25] Carson, The Gospel According to John, 539.

^[26] Carson, The Gospel According to John, 540 (emphasis added).

^[27] Carson, The Gospel According to John, 540.

^[28] Tops, “Orientation of the Teaching of the Paraclete,” 86.

^[29] Allen, Edgar Leonard. “Representative-Christology in the New Testament.” Harvard Theological Review 46, no. 3 (1953), 161.

^[30] Allen, “Representative-Christology in the New Testament,” 167.

^[31] Allen, “Representative-Christology in the New Testament,” 166.

^[32] Walter A. Elwell and Barry J. Beitzel, Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1988), 132.

Bibliography 

Allen, Edgar Leonard. “Representative-Christology in the New Testament.” Harvard Theological Review 46, no. 3 (1953).

Carson, D.A. The Gospel According to John. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1991.

Danker, Fredrick William. The Concise Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 2009.

Herms, Ronald, Levison, John R. and Wright, Archie T. The Spirit Says: Inspiration and Interpretation in Israelite, Jewish, and Early Christian Texts. Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter, 2021.

Klepes, Kristian. “The Paraclete: Christ’s Replacement or Christ’s Connector?” Canadian American Theological Review 12, no. 1 (2023).

Lee, Sang Mok. “Jesus’ Philoi vs. Jesus’ Douloi: Conflicts over the Paraclete’s Function and Authority in the Johannine Community.” The Expository Times 129, no. 8 (2018).

Matthewson, David L. Intermediate Greek Grammar: Syntax for Students of the New Testament. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Academic, 2016.

Ogunlana, Babatunde A. “Theological Implications of the Fourth Gospel Paraclete Sayings.” BTSK Insight 2, no. 1 (2006).

Tops, Thomas. “The Orientation of the Teaching of the Paraclete in the Gospel of John: Retrospective or Prospective?” New Testament Studies 66, no. 1 (2020).

Elwell, Walter A. and Beitzel, Barry J. Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1988.