The other context in which the Spirit could be described as our ‘advocate’ takes us back, as promised, to Romans 8 – and also to our fifth and final example of ‘entunchano’, to ‘intercede’. “In the same way also”, Paul writes (26-7) “the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know what to pray as we ought, but the Spirit himself” (n.b.) “intercedes for us with wordless groans. And God, who searches human hearts, knows what is in the mind of the Spirit, because he intercedes for Christians according to God’s will”. The first ‘intercede’ here is, in the Greek, a double compound form of the verb, ‘huperentunchano’ (‘huper’ meaning ‘on behalf of’), so that this idea of the Spirit as our advocate pleading for us is doubly emphasised. But of course the context here is very different from the court-room scenario of 1 John 2. 1-2. Here it is Christians, “the saints”, who are acting as advocates for the world, a world which Paul has described a little earlier as “groaning” (v. 22), interceding with God for its salvation and liberation, but (unsurprisingly) not really knowing how or what to pray. So the Spirit intercedes on our behalf, in a different sense from that in which Jesus intercedes ‘for’ us before God. Jesus pleads our cause, and his atoning sacrifice means that we have access to a holy God which otherwise would be denied, and can come into his presence to plead the cause of others. But we can only do this effectively with the help of the Spirit; he understands our weakness, feels much more acutely than we ever can the pain of the fallen world, and, most important of all, knows the will of the Father. In the previous example, the Spirit gives us the words to speak, and we speak them in our hour of need. Here, our stumbling and inadequate words of intercession are translated by the Spirit into powerful pleas which the Father, as he looks into our hearts and sees our genuine desires, is pleased to grant, because they accord with his will. The Holy Spirit here, then, is not so much an advocate as an interpreter – or a communications expert – who knows the language of heaven. It is not our skill with words which makes our prayers effective – that would disenfranchise many who do not have such skill – but the desires of our heart, which the Spirit can bring to God for us, if we ask for his help.
Thursday, 29 December 2011
PARAKLETOS 2 (c) the Holy Spirit our intercessor
The other context in which the Spirit could be described as our ‘advocate’ takes us back, as promised, to Romans 8 – and also to our fifth and final example of ‘entunchano’, to ‘intercede’. “In the same way also”, Paul writes (26-7) “the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know what to pray as we ought, but the Spirit himself” (n.b.) “intercedes for us with wordless groans. And God, who searches human hearts, knows what is in the mind of the Spirit, because he intercedes for Christians according to God’s will”. The first ‘intercede’ here is, in the Greek, a double compound form of the verb, ‘huperentunchano’ (‘huper’ meaning ‘on behalf of’), so that this idea of the Spirit as our advocate pleading for us is doubly emphasised. But of course the context here is very different from the court-room scenario of 1 John 2. 1-2. Here it is Christians, “the saints”, who are acting as advocates for the world, a world which Paul has described a little earlier as “groaning” (v. 22), interceding with God for its salvation and liberation, but (unsurprisingly) not really knowing how or what to pray. So the Spirit intercedes on our behalf, in a different sense from that in which Jesus intercedes ‘for’ us before God. Jesus pleads our cause, and his atoning sacrifice means that we have access to a holy God which otherwise would be denied, and can come into his presence to plead the cause of others. But we can only do this effectively with the help of the Spirit; he understands our weakness, feels much more acutely than we ever can the pain of the fallen world, and, most important of all, knows the will of the Father. In the previous example, the Spirit gives us the words to speak, and we speak them in our hour of need. Here, our stumbling and inadequate words of intercession are translated by the Spirit into powerful pleas which the Father, as he looks into our hearts and sees our genuine desires, is pleased to grant, because they accord with his will. The Holy Spirit here, then, is not so much an advocate as an interpreter – or a communications expert – who knows the language of heaven. It is not our skill with words which makes our prayers effective – that would disenfranchise many who do not have such skill – but the desires of our heart, which the Spirit can bring to God for us, if we ask for his help.
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