On the Feast of Pentecost, we celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit upon the disciples. The Gospel, especially John, calls the Holy Spirit the Comforter and the Spirit of truth. This explains much of the work of the Holy Spirit.

Jesus leaves his disciples upon the Ascension, but before that he promises them that he will not leave them orphans, but will send them “another Comforter.” When Jesus was with his disciples, he was protecting them from the world. But now it is good for us that He departs and sends us another comforter and supporter, which is the Holy Spirit (John 14:16).

“In the world we will have trouble,” because if we were of the world, the world would love what is like it and what is similar to it. But the truth of faith and the nature of the believer's life contradict the spirit of the world. The sacrifice and crucifixion of Jesus are witnesses to this conflict between the methodology of the world and the methodology of faith. Jesus was the martyr of this battle and an example for every believer.

There is no doubt that this conflict is between the lower and the higher, between good and evil, between faith and atheism, between God and Satan, between man’s good desires and his strange whims. But the colors, shapes, and arenas of this conflict change in time and place. The question for the believer is not so much about the form of the conflict, but rather about the presence of the comforter, advocate, and supporter, in a time when Jesus is not physically present. Jesus, with his disciples, cried out in moments of fear and distress: “Be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” This is a very comforting word. The Teacher has “conquered,” and this is our victory through him.

The Holy Spirit is the next (last) Comforter after Jesus ascended to the heavens. He takes the place of Jesus, or makes Jesus present among us as he was among his disciples. Just as Jesus and the Father are one, by the Holy Spirit we and Jesus become one.

It is the Spirit that strengthens us and reminds us of everything Jesus said (John 14:26) and thus makes our connection with Jesus closer; Therefore, he is the comforter whom we call upon every time.

The Holy Spirit is a comforter because he is a supporter of the truth. He is the Spirit of truth, who guides us to all the truth (John 16:13). He is the opposite of the father of lies (Satan) and the witness to him and his works in the world (John 17:16). The basis of consolation in the believer's struggle between light and darkness is for the believer to be in the light and in the truth. Therefore, we know that we have no victory except through the Spirit of Truth, this Comforter. “Without me you can do nothing,” according to the words of Jesus. Now, “without the Holy Spirit, we cannot do anything good.” Because the Spirit establishes us in the truth, and the Spirit comforts us, and through the Spirit comes our victory over the world.

“Know the truth and the truth will set you free.” These words mean exactly: “Where the Spirit of God is, there is freedom.” Whoever abides in the truth will be freed from fear; From all fear. Whoever resides in righteousness no longer fears death. Whoever establishes the Spirit with him is freed from the fear of the world and is confident that through the Spirit with Jesus he will overcome the world.

But this Holy Spirit cannot be received by the world (John 14:17), because it is the Spirit of truth. Darkness does not accept light because its deeds are rebuked by it. Whoever does not abide in the truth and abstain from lying, the Spirit will not abide with him. The greatest sin in the Church is lying, and its punishment in the Book of Acts (the death of Sapphira and Ananias) was evidence of its horror and the extent of its evil.

Sin against anything is forgiven, except against the Holy Spirit: “Whoever blasphemes the Son will be forgiven, but whoever blasphemes the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven.” This verse seems like a puzzle, but the key to understanding it, as Saint Chrysostom explains, is that the Holy Spirit is the spirit of truth. This is why Jesus then says to the Pharisees, scribes, and teachers: If common people blaspheme the Son and do not acknowledge the divinity of the incarnate Son of God, and people are not accustomed to God being incarnated, then this is a sin that can be forgiven. As for you who do the law and have truly realized the completion of the prophecies and known the divinity of the Son, your blasphemy now is no longer a sin out of ignorance, but rather a sin out of knowledge, a sin not against the Son of God but against the truth, and this sin is from the love of evil and not from the love of good. The evil person does not originally ask for reconciliation and does not wait for forgiveness.

He who resides in a lie is weak, because the Holy Spirit does not reside with him. Trust in the Spirit. We will overcome every lie before us. With the Spirit, the spirit of the world that does not love the truth will be defeated. With the Spirit, all masks will fall from all things. In the presence of the Spirit, there is no hypocrisy, and the person who is in the truth is not deceived by deception. In the spirit we will cry out for the world to go away and for grace to come. In the spirit, we will cry out while we are in the world, “Abba, Father,” and this is our victory that we are in the world, but we are children of God.

O Heavenly King, the Comforter, O Spirit of Truth, come, dwell in us and purify us from every filthy lie, and free us, O Good One, from all the fear of our souls.

Written by: His Eminence the Metropolitan
Paul Yazji

Also, “Al-Mu’azi”, quoted from my parish bulletin, No. 4, issued on Sunday, January 28, 1996.

The Apostle John the Theologian speaks at length about the Holy Spirit, describing him as the Comforter or another Comforter, and linking his coming with the going of Jesus. The word comforter here means in Greek “supporter” or “comforter,” and the Orthodox tradition has decided to use the second meaning. It is worth noting that this expression “comforter” is not found in the Bible except in the writings of the theologian John.

The Holy Spirit is the other Comforter: “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Comforter, who will be with you forever” (John 14:16), because the first Comforter is Jesus Christ himself. The same writer says in his first letter: “And if anyone sins, there is an Advocate for us with the Father, who is Jesus Christ the righteous” (2:1). This Comforter Spirit is sent by the Father into the world, but the Son also sends the Spirit into the world. The Gospel verse says: “But the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name” (John 14:26), and then: “When the Comforter comes, whom I will send to you from the Father” (John 15:26). It is clear in these verses that the Father and the Son send the Holy Spirit into the world.

If the sending of the Spirit into the world occurred in time, then the emanation of the Spirit is eternally from the Father. Jesus says, according to the testimony of the Gospel of John: “The Spirit of truth proceeding from the Father bears witness of me” (15:26).

The Comforter is also “the Spirit of truth” (14:17) who guides the church to the truth. He “teaches you all things, and brings to your remembrance all things that I have said to you” (14:26). This teaching is preserved by the Holy Spirit in the Church, and it is the same as the teaching of Jesus Christ: “When He, that is, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth. For He will not speak on His own authority, but He will speak what He hears and will declare to you what will happen” (John 16:13). He is the one who will glorify Jesus and tell everything that he has done: “He will glorify me, because he will take it for me and declare it to you” (John 16:14).

The Comforter does not come into the world unless Jesus departs from it: “It is expedient for you that I go. If I do not go, the Comforter will not come to you. But when I go, I will send him to you” (John 16:7). This means that the coming of the Holy Spirit into the world is linked to the mystery of the divine plan that was accomplished on the cross and resurrection, and it does not mean at all that Christ left the world. It is absolutely incorrect to say that the Old Testament is the Age of the Father, and the period of Jesus’ life on earth is the Age of the Son, and after Jesus’ ascension the Age of the Holy Spirit began. This temporal division is rejected by the Church, as the Holy Trinity, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, is always present in every work of salvation from creation to eternity.

In the Book of Acts of the Apostles we find a translation of what was mentioned in the Gospel of John about the Comforter. How many times have the writers said that the disciples did not understand what Christ was teaching and did not understand it until after the resurrection? These same disciples who were afraid and hiding when Christ was being tried and tortured, after the coming of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost, declared their faith without fear or hesitation, by the power of the Holy Spirit. Here Peter says about the Jews: “When God exalted him (that is, Christ) with his right hand, he received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and poured it out of him, and this is what you see and hear” (Acts 2:33).

If the justification for the existence of the church is to call Jesus Lord, and if the Apostle Paul calls the Corinthians saints who, along with everyone, “in every place call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord our Lord” (1 Corinthians 1:2).

This call cannot be fulfilled except by the action of the Holy Spirit, because the Apostle himself says in the same message: “No one can say, ‘Jesus is Lord’ except by inspiration from the Holy Spirit” (12:3).