The Paraclete Saying in

John 16:7-11

NT503 Gospel According to John

Rev. Stephen Salocks

Br. Paul M. Nguyen, OMV

Congregationis Oblatorum Beat Mari Virginis
December 10, 2014

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The Paraclete sayings in the farewell discourses of the Fourth Gospel include various
theological revelations concerning the Spirit and his relationship with the Father and the Son.
The Johannine pneumatology is most clearly given in the passage in 16:7-11, with its
eschatological overtones and threefold description of what the Spirit will do. Scholars have
wrestled with what the Fourth Evangelist (or the Johannine redactors) meant by each of the
keywords in this passage, but in general, we can see the Paraclete continuing the work of
revelation begun by the Father, expressed with a human voice in the Son, and now imminently
accomplished by the Spirit.
Absent textual disputes over manuscript variations, we can move directly to a treatment
of the keywords in this passage. The term Paraclete in Greek () literally means one
called to the side or one summoned but in the Fourth Gospel is connected directly to the
phrase (the spirit of truth). This phrase refers directly to the Hebrew
image of wind ( )often used for the spirit of God.1 We will explore the full meaning of this
term in its Johannine context later.
The triad of notable words follow, describing the activity of the Paraclete. First comes
(v. 8), variously translated conviction, to prove guilty, or to expose. Aloisi points
to the LXX usage to translate the Hebrew which bears the connotation of confronting sin in
rebuke, as used in Genesis, Leviticus, and Proverbs. In both the Old and New Testaments, this is
used to show someone his sin in lead him to repentance. In Hebrews and Revelation, it involves
disciplinary action. In Matthew and 1 Timothy, it constitutes strong disapproval leading to
repentance.2 According to Aloisi, the full sense here would be to show the world its error or to
demonstrate the error of the world to the disciples.3 Beasley-Murray cites the Oxford English
1
2
3

David Hill, Greek Words and Hebrew Meanings (Cambridge:University Press, 1967), 285-287.
John Aloisi, The Paracletes ministry of conviction: another look at John 16:8-11, Journal of the Evangelical
Theological Society 47, no. 1 (March 1, 2004), 56-59.
Aloisi, 60.

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Dictionarys definition of unmasking and interprets this usage in John 16 as an exposition to
the world of what these three things are generally.4 Schnackenburg corroborates this
interpretation of the pedagogical and didactic usage of in the LXX.5
Next, we address the keywords that describe the Paracletes action of . The first is
sin (). Beasley-Murray points out, as consistent with the Johannine tradition, that
unbelief is the capital sin (not only ignorance or rejection) and leads to not loving and not being
able to love.6 Bultmann agrees that this sin is unbelief in the revealer.7 The next term is
, variously translated righteousness or justice. Lawrence notes that this is a
hapax legomenon for the Gospel of John.8 Aloisi interprets the Spirits action here as
demonstrating the false righteousness of the world, which is preeminently personified in the
Jews.9 Beasley-Murray sees this exposition of justice as reversing the condemnation by men of
Jesus, and illustrating the joy of the disciples when they meet the risen Jesus.10 Bultmann
interprets as those going to the Father, following the forensic term referring to the
victorious defendant, in this case, eschatologically (because the world can no longer see Jesus).11
The final term of the triad is judgment (). This judgment is certainly directed at the world,
and Beasley-Murray says that the worlds judgment of Jesus is reversed on the Cross, proving
that the world did not acknowledge Jesus as Lord and divine.12 Bultmann asserts that the world
has been judged for holding onto itself, to its own standards and ideals, to what can be seen.13
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13

Beasley-Murray, John, Vol. 36, World Biblical Commentary, Second Edition (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1999),
270.
Rudolf Schnackenburg, The Gospel According to St. John, vol. 3 (New York: Crossroad, 1990), 128-129.
Beasley-Murray, 270ff.
Rudolf Bultmann, The Gospel of John: A Commentary, transl. Beasley-Murray (Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1971),
563.
Lawrence J. Luktemeyer, The role of the Paraclete (Jn. 16:7-15), Catholic Biblical Quarterly 8, no. 2 (April 1,
1946), 225.
Aloisi, 61-63.
Beasley-Murray, 270ff.
Bultmann, 563-565.
Ibid.
Bultmann, 562-563, 565.

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Scholars also dispute the authorship of this section, suggesting that it was an addition to
incorporate additional material from the principal evangelist and his community, and even that
this section was added very casually rather than having been purposely woven into the existing
text. Brown notes the parallels between the end of chapter 13 into chapter 14 with the chapter 16
material, including shifts in tone and complementary meaning.14 Bultmann suggests a
rearrangement that in his mind solves the puzzle according to the narrative logic found in the
Synoptics.15 He also suggests that the unity and internal harmony of the material from 15:1816:11 shows that this was not a historical discourse, but only the symbolical representation of
the situation in which the believers always live their lives, ... which they have to overcome by
continually calling the revelation to mind.16
Culpepper notes that in the Farewell Discourses, there is a character of timelessness, and
the plot does not advance.17 He also suggests that the whole text of the Fourth Gospel presents its
own narrator as credible, alongside the figures of John the Baptist, the Beloved Disciple, and the
Paraclete, and that taken together, they tell a complete and true story that has profound
significance for the lives of its readers.18 That narrator seems to present the details of the
discourse(s) according to an order that is relevant for those whom the narrator addresses, not for
the benefit of the characters within the story. The narrators temporal point of view is clearly
exposed in the prolepses and analepses present in the text, even if they cause the text to seem out
of order (as Bultmann suggests).19

14 Raymond E. Brown, The Gospel According to John (XIII-XXI), vol. 29A, The Anchor Bible (New York:
Doubleday, 1970), 588-597.
15 Bultmann, 459-461.
16 Bultmann, 566.
17 R. Alan Culpepper, Anatomy of the Fourth Gospel (Philadelphia: Fortress, 1983), 94-95.
18 Ibid., 43-49.
19 Ibid., 37-39; cf. Bultmann, 459-461.

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But the overarching question concerns the identity and activity of the Paraclete Himself.
Schnackenburg proposes that the Paraclete has roots in Jewish and Qumranic circles as an
intercessor;20 he later invokes the forensic precedent to identify the Paraclete as the defense
attorney, but notes that in this passage, he becomes the plaintiffs counsel, taking the disciples
side in condemning the world.21 Bultmann sides with the helper interpretation, which agrees
with Gnostic tradition, early Christian ideas, and the Mandean writings, together with the
negative witness of Jewish tradition (which does not support Spirit in his view).22 While the
narrative progress of the passage would suggest that Jesus proclamation of the Paraclete
responds directly to the disciples sorrow at Jesus departure, Bultmann suggests that the
explanation Jesus gives conquers their sorrow, but cautions that the Paraclete Himself should not
be seen as a consoler necessarily, as various translations have interpreted.23
Brown also explores the motif of Wisdom, seeking to identify characteristics of Wisdom
in the Old Testament tradition that align with characteristics of Jesus and the Paracletes ministry
as depicted in the Fourth Gospel. Brown identifies that Wisdom teaches things that are above,
speaks the truth, instructs concerning how to do Gods will, and thus leads people to life.24
Brown finds all of these in Jesus, but he also finds them in the SpiritParaclete, exemplified in
this passage.25
The overall meaning of the passage, therefore, coalesces in the exposition of the work of
the Paraclete, the one whom Jesus will send after he departs from the disciples. He will remind
the disciples of all that Jesus taught them (14:26), and He will clarify and expose the worlds
20
21
22
23
24

Schnackenburg, vol. 1, 133-34.

Schnackenburg, vol. 3, 143.
Bultmann, 566-572.
Bultmann, 588.
Raymond E. Brown, An Introduction to the Gospel of John, ed. Francis J. Moloney (New York: Doubleday,
2003), 261-262.
25 Ibid., 263.

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errors, convincing it unto repentance according to sin, righteousness, and judgmentthis is the
work of the Church.26 Brown supports this grammatically, in that a simple genitive understanding
cannot modify the action of conviction; justice and judgment are not suitable objects for it.
Rather, Brown offers the interpretation that the Paraclete will teach the truth about sin, justice
(preferred to righteousness because of the legal and forensic overtones here), and judgment.27
The overall understanding of the Paracletes role throughout the Farewell Discourses
shows that the Fourth Gospels audience must have understood that they already possessed the
Spirit, and that He has already begun this work of encouraging, admonishing, and consoling
them.28 Brown concludes from the description in John 16 that the Paraclete is the persistent
presence of Jesus after His departure from the earth,29 but then posits in his study of the
community surrounding the first epistle that the Paraclete serves an analogous role to Jesus as
Jesus did to the Father: revealer.30 While it seems likely that this was an aspect of the apostolic
age, the deposit of faith ended with the death of the last apostle, and the revelatory work of the
Spirit would thereafter be limited31 to personal insights and the role of reminding and convicting
individual hearts concerning what had already been revealed in its fullness to the apostles. A very
special ecclesial work of the Paraclete will also be to guide the apostles successors, reminding
them of the truth as they shepherd the universal Church.32 Bultmann even suggests that the
Paraclete, by His work of convictionexposition according to this passage, actually made that
first deposit of faith for the apostles to secure.33

26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33

Schnackenburg, vol. 1, 163.

Brown, Anchor Bible, 705.
Schnackenburg, vol. 3, 153.
Raymond E. Brown, The Community of the Beloved Disciple (New York: Paulist, 1979), 88.
Ibid., 138-139.
cf. Ibid., 29.
cf. Ibid., 159.
Bultmann, 566.

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This passage (from 16:5-11) is paired with Acts 16:22-34 for the Tuesday of the Sixth
Week of Easter, just two days before Ascension Thursday (approaching Pentecost in the
following week). Taken together, the wrongful imprisonment of Paul and Silas is conquered by
the Paraclete, Who exposes the true sin (not Pauls or Silas, but their imprisonment) and
righteousness (their preaching) and judgment (the unbelieving worlds authority does not prevail
over the true authority of God). The Paraclete, who is sent to those who live by faith without the
earthly presence of Jesus, also accomplishes the same work within individuals hearts,
convincing them of the truth concerning personal sin with the invitation to repentance in faith
(against unbelief); of the truth concerning righteousness before God, in humility and
perseverance; and of the truth concerning judgment, that it is ultimately God who judges and
who will ultimately (as He already has) deal with the rulers of the world. He does this especially
for those who do not see Jesus and yet believe (which is manifestly more difficult34). But while it
seems easier to believe Jesus when He is physically and corporeally present, that revelation is
mediated by flesh, and it is only upon His departure that the Spirit can teach the heart directly.35
The teaching work of the Paraclete is consoling, because, for those who may have forgotten, He
reminds them of all that they had once learned from Jesus, and the consolation comes
particularly from the reality that this reminder is spoken into their present circumstances, that
they may recognize its harmony with what they had previously treasured.36 And the Paraclete
accomplishes this work in order that, to escape the condemnation of not seeing Him (cf. 16:10),
they will see Him, upon the final judgment after which all the righteous will go to the Father.

34 Brown, Anchor Bible, 713.

35 Bultmann, 599-560.
36 Bultmann, 561.

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References
Aloisi, John. The Paracletes ministry of conviction: another look at John 16:8-11. Journal Of
The Evangelical Theological Society 47, no. 1 (March 1, 2004): 55-69. ATLA Religion
Database with ATLASerials, EBSCOhost (accessed November 23, 2014).
Beasley-Murray, G. W. John, Vol. 36, World Biblical Commentary, Second Edition. Nashville:
Thomas Nelson, 1999.
Brown, Raymond E. The Community of the Beloved Disciple. New York: Paulist, 1979.
Brown, Raymond E. The Gospel According to John (XIII-XXI), vol. 29A, The Anchor Bible. New
York: Doubleday, 1970.
Brown, Raymond E. An Introduction to the Gospel of John, ed. Francis J. Moloney. New York:
Doubleday, 2003.
Bultmann, Rudolf. The Gospel of John: A Commentary, transl. Beasley-Murray. Oxford: Basil
Blackwell, 1971.
Culpepper, R. Alan. Anatomy of the Fourth Gospel. Philadelphia: Fortress, 1983.
Hill, David. Greek Words and Hebrew Meanings. Cambridge:University Press, 1967.
Lutkemeyer, Lawrence J. The role of the Paraclete (Jn. 16:7-15). Catholic Biblical Quarterly
8, no. 2 (April 1, 1946): 220-229. ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials,
EBSCOhost (accessed November 23, 2014).
Schnackenburg, Rudolf. The Gospel According to St. John, vol. 1-3. New York: Crossroad, 1990.