September 9, 2023
Closer Than Jesus
“I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.” John 14:16-18 (NASB)
“I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever;” To understand this verse and the coming verses, it is important to understand the word “Another.” “Allos, or “Another” means other or another.”[1] There are two words in Greek; allos and heteros which some have used. One word is used correctly, and the other incorrectly. “Allos, used here, means another of the same kind, while heteros means another of a different kind.”[2]The correct word allos is used here. Heteros is incorrect usage. As an illustration to help understand what I mean is this: A mother cat has six kittens. Four were orange and two were black. All the kittens were cats, but each was of differing colors. There was no loss in their identity. They are all the same, just packaged differently (allos). When Jesus said He would ask the Father, and He would give us another Helper (note the capitalization of Helper) to be with us forever. This Helper (the Holy Spirit) would be just like Jesus, only in a more personal way. Today, the Father and Son (Jesus) live in heaven. The Holy Spirit is the only One who exists on earth today. His duties consist of drawing men to salvation and restraining a certain amount of evil here on earth today. He also indwells the believer upon salvation, whereby He performs many duties. The disciples didn’t have anyone after Jesus left. When Jesus ascended into heaven, the disciples for the first time were alone. No deity was there for them. The Father and Son were together. Jesus was preparing for the Holy Spirit’s arrival. In Acts 2, the Holy Spirit was given to believers. He now lives within the lives of those who are Christ’s. Those who don’t know Jesus don’t have him. The “Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you.” Because the world denies Christ, they will not receive the Spirit of God until they receive Christ as Savior. We, as believers, have proof of our salvation because the Spirit of God has adopted us into His family. We are no longer orphans. Jesus said, “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.” We become the children of God.
Hughes leaves a great illustration for today: “The logic of our text tells us that having the “Counselor” or, as in some translations, “Helper” (the Holy Spirit), is the same as having Jesus physically accessible, only better. Imagine he is in Jerusalem. All the airlines would be applying for routes to the Middle East. You would not be able to book a seat on a plane. Steamers, passenger liners, and the trains of Europe and Asia would all be moving toward Jerusalem. And even if we ever managed to get close to where Jesus was, there would be long convoys and great crowds of people. We would come to see Jesus, but it would be nearly impossible to get within arm’s reach of him. But we have access to the Holy Spirit right now and always. He is at our side.”[3]
[1] Thomas, R. L. (1998). In New American Standard Hebrew-Aramaic and Greek dictionaries : updated edition. Foundation Publications, Inc.
[2] Hughes, R. K. (1999). John: that you may believe (pp. 342–343). Crossway Books.
[3] Ibid.