The Holy Discomfort?

Jesus promised the Holy Spirit, starting in John 14, and I have taken a lot of comfort down through the years that he uses the term "The Comforter." There have been lots of times in my life I've needed someone to comfort me! (Could I hear an amen?) Well, that word is in the King James, which doesn't give the breadth of meaning of the word "parakletos" in the original. The English Standard version uses "Helper" instead. But I'd rather have a comforter, at least some days...What can we understand about the presence of God in our lives from this verse and especially that word?

In John 14:16-17, Jesus says "And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth" (ESV). Great! The Holy Spirit is here to help me...to do what? Live a life without sin? Resist something? Feel better? Lose weight and eat better? Not quite...

Jesus continues in v. 17, "whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him." So the element of perception and knowing (as a person is known) is part of the Spirit. Since "the world" had rejected Jesus, how would they receive the Spirit? Not hardly! "You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you," Jesus said. And earlier he had used the word "another" which relates to "another just like the first" in Greek. So because they knew Jesus, they would know the Spirit also. 

Boy, are we stuck. We didn't see Jesus like they did, so how will we recognize the Spirit? Catch-22? No, not really. Jesus says in John 15:26, "“But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me." So the Spirit is to "bear witness about" or reveal and lead people to Jesus. Not just through reading the words on the page, but through the Spirit's leading as we turn toward the Living Word, do we see Jesus.

When we start to see Jesus, that's good, because we see that our sins are forgiven and we are handed a new life, free of charge and tax-free, from our Savior. But folks, knowing Jesus also moves us into other matters that sometimes aren't as 'comforting' as being forgiven and accepted. The Holy Spirit starts to work on us in ways we might not have anticipated. You might also call him The Discomforter. More on that next week!