There it is! There’s the promise! Jesus promised the disciples “another Counselor (Helper),” namely the Holy Spirit. Did you catch it? There are no conditions attached. Jesus didn’t say that He would send His replacement to some believers and not to others. Nor did He say that you had to belong to a certain group of believers or be on a higher plain of spiritual performance or maturity. And did you happen to catch the time? TO BE WITH YOU FOREVER! Unlike Jesus, this Holy Spirit would come, slip inside each of them and live within them forever. This wasn’t a temporary presence; the Spirit’s presence would be unending – permanent!
One of Socrates’ disciples mourned the departing of his teacher just as Socrates was about to take that fatal cup. The disciple lamented that they were being left orphans. The disciples of Jesus were not left alone. Jesus promised, “I will not leave you desolate; I will come to you.” The Greek word Jesus used, translated by the RSV as desolate, is the same word the disciple of Socrates used for orphan.
These verses are special to me, as I suspect they are for many of you. Through a series of tragic events just after my birth, my sister and two brothers and I were placed in a foster home in Orlando, Florida. During those first four years of my life, the word orphan was heard often. Other children living with our foster parents never saw or heard from their parents again. My brothers and sister and I were among the fortunate ones. Sometime during the year before I turned five years of age, my father reentered our lives. We had a new mom and a new house to call home. Being the youngest, those four years of fearing abandonment and isolation had little lasting effect. For my brothers and sister, however, the psychological impact still lingers. Jesus promised His disciples He would not leave them as orphans. He promised them His Living Holy Spirit.
The promise of the Holy Spirit was that of a permanent presence. The Greek root word Jesus used for the “Counselor” (Advocate), which He says is the Holy Spirit, is Parakletos. This little tidbit of Greek carries for me an extraordinary significance. The literal meaning of Parakletos is “one who stands beside you.” While the various translations of the Bible have tried to render the meaning of Who this Parakletos is by using titles like Counselor or Advocate, they have come up short of the fullness of this word. May I suggest another name for the “one who stands beside you” – Friend! I pray as you continue reading this book, you will come to know and accept the Holy Spirit as your Friend, if you haven’t already.
The Promise – His Power
Jesus said He would leave for a little while, and He did. The gospel records the terrifying events that followed their supper in the upper room. Jesus was arrested, whipped, paraded through the streets as a criminal and then crucified. After He died, they buried Him. The disciples fled and hid out of fear. During the course of those three days the disciples agonized over Jesus’ words. The promise was not fulfilled!
But we all know what happened next! The Resurrection! God raised Jesus from the grave, defeated death, and glorified His Son. After Jesus was raised from the dead He personally visited the disciples. He fellowshipped with them. He walked with them. He ate with them. He talked with them. Jesus was seen not only by the disciples and their close friends, but also by five hundred people! But God said, “Wait.” The promise was not yet fulfilled.
Jesus was with them. He still had to leave them so the promised Holy Spirit could come. His final departure is recorded in Acts, chapter one:
To them he presented himself alive after his passion by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days, and speaking of the kingdom of God. And while staying with them he charged them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which he said, “you heard from me, for John baptized with water, but before many days you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit.” So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has fixed by his own authority. But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:3-8).
Jesus was leaving again, only this time He would ascend into Heaven. His ascension was only seconds away. Jesus wanted to reassure His followers of God’s promise. Again, they were asked to wait. But, when the promise was fulfilled, the disciples would receive power – power to be witnesses for Christ throughout the world. Take a close look at the passage again. Jesus didn’t say “if” the Spirit comes, but “when” the Spirit comes.
Unfortunately, it is the promise of power that has caused the most trouble for the Church down through the centuries. But we shouldn’t be shocked. Minutes before Christ’s ascension the disciples still persisted in their lack of understanding. “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” (Acts 1:6) After all they had experienced over the previous three years, they still didn’t get it. After the tremendous events of Easter and the forty days that followed, the disciples were still thinking about political kingdoms and personal influence. It was over this very issue that Jesus assured them with the promise of power. But this power would be different than anything the disciples could have imagined!
Then Jesus was gone, and the waiting began. The disciples continued to meet and the scriptures tell us that they “devoted themselves to prayer” (Acts 1:14). They even went about the heartrending task of replacing Judas. Each day that the promise didn’t come must have been dreadful.
Linda and her twin brother, Buddy, lived in the same foster home as my brothers, sister and me. They would receive presents and cards at Christmas time from their absentee parents. Birthdays were the same. But there was never a personal visit. Each time, the cards would promise the twins that the parents would return soon. The years went on, the presents and cards became fewer and fewer. Though I had left the foster home years earlier, I kept in touch with Linda and Buddy right up until their graduation from high school. The promise was never fulfilled. I thank God for the love given by our foster parents, which softened their disappointment.
The Promise – His Fulfillment
But Jesus doesn’t make promises He doesn’t keep! Seven weeks after the Passover commemoration, the Jews celebrated what they called Festival of Weeks. Because it was held fifty days after the Feast of the Unleavened Bread, it came to be called Pentecost, based on the Greek word for “fifty.” It was on this special occasion that the promise was fulfilled.
When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly a sound came from heaven like the rush of a mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared to them tongues as of fire, distributed and resting on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. (Acts 2:1-4).
What a day that must have been! Just imagine how the disciples and followers of Jesus felt. Fifty days they had waited, remembering every word that Jesus spoke to them. He promised that things would be different, but every day brought more of the same. The Romans still occupied their land. The religious leaders were still in charge, boasting of how their scheme to get rid of Jesus had worked. And now, the next major Jewish holiday had arrived – and still no promised Holy Spirit. In our present day of pragmatism and intellectual sophistication, it is extraordinarily difficult for us to imagine the amazing events of that morning. But the scriptures are clear. Those men and women were totally transformed. The fulfilling of the promised Holy Spirit utterly changed their lives! Our world has never been the same since.
That’s the good news! You and I are no longer living in the era of waiting or even in an age of promise – we are living in the days of fulfillment! The Holy Spirit’s presence was promised,