Paraklesis
[‘encouragement’, ‘exhortation’, for life and ministry]
November 2024
Peter Adam
Dear friends,
In this Paraklesis I explain a crucial key to read the gospels, recognising their place in the Bible, in Salvation History and Biblical Theology. I don’t often hear it explained, though I think we all use it instinctively to some extent. I hope that this may help you to read and teach the gospels, knowing their place in the Bible.
Jesus taught his disciples, and we have much of his teaching recorded in the gospels. Jesus also taught in John’s gospel that he would give further revelation through his Spirit, after his death, resurrection, and ascension.
14:16–17 | And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— the Spirit of truth … |
14:26 | But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. |
15:26 | When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father—the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father—he will testify about me. |
16:7-8 | Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. When he comes, he will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment. |
16:12–15 | I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you. All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will receive from me what he will make known to you. |
Notice that the Advocate is ‘the Spirit of truth’ will both teach new things, ‘all things’, ‘all the truth’, ‘all the truth’, ‘what is to come’, and also remind his disciples of everything Jesus has taught them. ‘All the truth’ includes the new revelation in the rest of the NT. ‘Remind you of everything I have said to you’ results in the writing of the gospels. [These promises are specifically for those disciples: they are not universal promises to all believers: there is no more content of revelation after the writing of the NT.]
If you think of the theological differences between Jesus’ teaching in the gospels and compare it with the apostles’ teaching [including Paul], you will easily see what Jesus taught through his Spirit, through his apostles from heaven: a rich and comprehensive teaching on the atonement [Romans, Galatians, Hebrews, 1 Peter, 1 John]; life in the Spirit, as a temple of the Holy Spirit, and fruit of the Spirit, and the gifts of the Spirit [Rom 8, 1 Cor 3 and 6, Galat 5, 1 Cor 12]; the power of Jesus’ death and resurrection enabling us to die to sin and live to righteousness [Rom 6]; the inclusion of the Gentiles as ‘heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus’ [Ephes 3:6]; the consequence that circumcision is not required of Gentiles who become Christians [Gal 6:15]; that the Jewish food laws are abolished [Acts 10 and 11]; the centrality of the mission to the Gentiles [Acts 9:15, Gal 1:9]; the clear fulfilment and replacement of the Jewish priesthood, sacrifices, and Temple in Jesus [Hebrews]; the fact that to be a follower of Jesus no longer means that you had to leave home and leave your paid employment [1 Cor 7:24, 2 Thess 3:11-13]; and the varieties of ministry done by Christians, compared with the identical instructions given to disciples in the gospels [Rom 12, 1 Cor 12, cf Mk 6:7]; the change of focus for those sent out with the removal of healing and casting out of evil spirits [Mark 6:7,12, cf. the instruction to Saul [Acts 9], and Timothy and Titus]; and the new instructions about setting up churches and appointing their elders [Tit 1:5-9]. It is also the case that Jesus did not warn against idolatry in his earthly ministry, as he mostly ministered to Jewish people; but did so later in the context of the Gentile mission. And, as Jesus promised in John 14-16, this later teaching by the Spirit is from the Father, and both from Jesus, and about Jesus.
As you will observe, there are the seeds of the much of this later teaching in Jesus’ earthly teaching and actions.[1] But his later revelation through the Spirit of truth, through the apostles shows the full significance and implications of what Jesus revealed during his earthly ministry.
In the rest of the NT we find a clear recognition of these two stages of Jesus’ revelation, first in his earthly ministry, and secondly through his apostles.
That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us [1 Jn 1:1-3].
Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit [Ephes 2:19-22].
Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ to further the faith of God’s elect and their knowledge of the truth that leads to godliness— in the hope of eternal life, which God, who does not lie, promised before the beginning of time, and which now at his appointed season he has brought to light through the preaching entrusted to me by the command of God our Saviour … [Tit 1:1-3].[2]
What difference does this make to our reading, teaching, and preaching of the gospels?
We are used to thinking of 2 stages of God’s cumulative and increasingly clearer verbal revelation, namely, the OT, then the NT. It would help to clarity of our reading and teaching if we recognised 3 stages: the OT; the Gospels; then the other NT writings. [I know the gospels were written later, but they faithfully record this earlier stage of revelation.][3]
So:
When we read and teach the OT, we rightly look forward and interpret it by the NT, which provides fuller and clearer revelation. So when we read and teach the gospels, we should also rightly look forward to and reference the fuller and clearer revelation in the rest of the NT.
When we read and teach any part of the NT, it is good to remind ourselves and others of the OT background and foundation for this teaching. So, when we read and teach the rest of the NT, it is good also to remind ourselves and others of the background and foundation to this teaching in the gospels.
The more we show the coherence of the Bible, the more we will value every part of it. The more we understand and show its coherent cumulative and increasingly clearer verbal revelation, its promise and fulfilment, the more we will show it glorious trustworthiness.
The more we point to Jesus as the teacher of the verbal revelation of both parts of the NT the better we are able to rescue people from ‘I trust Jesus and I distrust Paul’.[4]
This is my last Paraklesis for this year, as I holiday in December.
Dear reader, I value you as a fellow-worker in God’s global gospel team, working together to proclaim the glory of Jesus, our only High Priest, Judge, Lord, Prophet, Redeemer, Saviour, and Teacher.
Yours,
See for example, Mark 7:19, Jn 2:22, 6:62, 7:39, 10:16, 12:24, 14:12-14, 17:20. ↑
And see Jn 17:20, ‘I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message’. ↑
It also helps us understand the OT to recognise the different stages in that revelation, for example: the time of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; the Covenant given through Moses; Israel in the Promised land; the Exile in Babylon; the time of the return from Exile. ↑
Please notice that I am not saying that the apostles knew more than Jesus, or that they are a superior authority. The apostles and prophets of the NT are Jesus’ apostles and prophets. Their words are the words of Christ, seated at his Father’s right hand in glory. [‘Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God’ [2 Cor 1:1]; ‘the revelation from Jesus Christ’ [Rev 1:1]. We all have ‘one Teacher’, the Lord Jesus [Matt 23:8].