There are so many nuggets in this passage. First, you’ll notice Jesus said, “If you love Me, keep My commandments.” It’s interesting that Jesus prefaces His comments about the Holy Spirit with a reminder to recognize Jesus’ supreme authority, His lordship. He places a huge emphasis on our obedience in keeping His commandments. Peter confirms this truth: “We are His witnesses to these things, and so also is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey Him” (Acts 5:32). God gives the Holy Spirit to those who obey Him.

Now notice that Jesus says in John 14:16, “I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper.” Let’s take a look at the Greek word for another. There are two Greek words that are translated into our English word another throughout the New Testament. These Greek words are heteros and allos. Heteros means “another of a different sort.” Allos means “another of the same kind.”2 The question we have to ask is, which word is Jesus using here?

Before I give you the answer, let me provide an example that will illustrate the difference between these two Greek words. Imagine this scenario: I hand you a piece of fruit, an apple for instance. After you have eaten the apple, I ask you, “Would you like another piece of fruit?”

Now if you reply, “Yes,” and I proceed to give you an orange, I gave you “another.” However, I gave you another of a different sort. An orange is a type of fruit, but it is a different sort of fruit than an apple. This is an example of heteros.

Now if you asked for another piece of fruit and I gave you a second apple, then you would say I gave you another of the same kind. This is an example of allos.

So let’s return to the original question. When Jesus says the Father will give us “another” Helper, which word is He using? He is using the word allos. So He is saying, “The Father is going to give you another Helper who is just like Me.” In other words, Jesus is saying that He and the Holy Spirit are of the same kind.

Day 5

Our Lifelong Companion

Another word Jesus uses in John 14:16 is the word Helper. The Greek word for helper here is parakletos. Jesus is also referred to as parakletos in an Epistle of John: “My little children…we have an Advocate [parakletos] with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous” (1 John 2:1). Both Jesus and the Holy Spirit perform this role of helper or parakletos. So what does this Greek word mean? In the vernacular of the day, it was used to describe a lawyer who pled someone’s case.3 It was also used to describe a personal counselor or a coach—a life coach.

Parakletos is a compound word of two Greek words, para and kaleo. Para means “very close.”4 Paul used this word to describe his relationship with Timothy. There was nobody closer to Paul than the apostle Timothy (see Philippians 2:20). My wife, Lisa, is para to me. There is nobody on the face of the earth who is closer to me than she is. I would use that word in describing my relationship with her.