b'Consider the five ways in which Jesus speaks about the Holy Spirit in the Gospel of Johnfour that use the term Advocate and one that implies such a role. 1 In John 14:16, Jesus tells his disciples: I will ask the Father, and he will give you5 In John 20:2123, Jesus sends the Spirit in a different way: Jesus breathed on [his another Advocate to be with you always, the Spirit of truth, which the world cannotdisciples] and said to them, Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven accept, because it neither sees nor knows it. By referring to the Holy Spirit asthem, and whose sins you retain are retained. While this seems to indicate a mission of another Advocate, Jesus clearly distinguishes the Holy Spirit from himself, even asthe Spirit with a broader purpose, it nonetheless implies that the Spirit serves to counsel he implies that he himself was the first advocate.the disciples in discerning the forgiveness of sins. 2 In John 14:26, Jesus elaborates: The Advocate, the Holy Spirit that the Father willThis series of Jesus sayings concerning the Holy Spirit promises something truly novel send in my name will teach you everything and remind you of all that I told you.that requires a new way of viewing and speaking about the Holy Spirit. From this novelty Expanding the notion that he will ask the Father to send the Spirit of truth, Jesusemerges a new sense of the Holy Spirit both in relation to the Father and the Son and in further develops the character of the Spirit as a teacher in the Spirits own right, evenrelation to the nascent Christian community.as he affirms that the Spirit reinforces what Jesus himself has taught.3 In John 15:26, Jesus attributes the sending of the Holy Spirit not only to the Father but also to the Son: When the Advocate comes whom I will send you from the Father, the Spirit of truth that proceeds from the Father, he will testify to me. This corresponds to the relational distinction of persons through the internal dynamic of the Trinitarian processions. As Christians profess in the Nicene-Constantipolitan creed, the Holy Spirit is the one who proceeds from the Father and the Son. Moreover, the Spirit is now spoken of as a witness, one who testifies to what one has seen or heard, which further emphasizes the distinction of persons.In John 16:7, Jesus definitively testifies to this distinction between the Spirit and himself: I tell you the truth, it is better for you that I go. For if I do not go, the Advocate will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. Two further insights about the Spirit emerge in this part of the discourse. On the one hand, the statement contends that the Son and the Spirit are mutually exclusive, for if the Son remains, the Spirit does not come. On the other hand, the sending of the Spirit is now exclusively attributed to the Son rather than to the Father or the Father and the Son together.24 AspireVolume 2//Fall 2020 Subscribe today! smp.org/aspire ARTICLE 25'