The Comforter

When Jesus mentions the “Comforter” in John 14:16, the original word used is “Parakletos”, which means a person who is called to help; an advocate, a counselor, One who has been called to be your friend. You should know that when someone comes to Jesus, they’ll never again feel like an orphan. It describes a constant presence — not like in ancient times, when the Spirit would come upon someone momentarily when the people cried out and prophesied. But to us, the permanent presence of the Holy Spirit has been promised.

That word Comforter also comes from the Latin “Advocatus”, which means advocate/lawyer. Let’s look at three texts in the New Testament where we see the Holy Spirit defending us:

The first is Matthew 10:18–20, where the Bible says that we would be brought before governors and kings in unjust trials, but the Holy Spirit will tell us what to say. He is our lawyer!

The second text in John 15:26, which shows that He is the advocate for Jesus’ cause, who would testify all about Him.

Finally, in the Gospel of John 16:8–11 we see that because of the Gospel, the Holy Spirit would convict the world of sin because they did not believe in Jesus; of righteousness, because He testifies that Jesus rose again and is seated at the right hand of the Father; and of judgment, because Satan is an enemy who has already been judged.

The Holy Spirit is our Comforter!