I Know a Good Lawyer
Jesus is preparing to leave his disciples, and he knows what challenges and trials the future holds for them and those who will follow them, the suffering and pain, even the violence that will be brought against these beloved who have known him and struggled to understand his teaching, and he promises that God’s Spirit will come to them and abide with them when he is gone. He calls this Spirit, “Advocate”. In Greek, this word is “paraclete” a word that Johannine scholars have studied and debated and admired for millennia, and can mean “lawyer”, or, more accurately, an attorney for the defense. Seeing the conflicts and struggles of the church on the horizon, is Jesus assuring his disciples – “Don’t worry, I’ve got a great lawyer for you!”? Perhaps.
