On a number of occasions Yah'shua (Jesus) tried to forewarn His disciples that He would soon be leaving them in death and that in His stead another would act for Him. It is unlikely that many, if any, of His disciples under stood what he was trying to tell them initially. Indeed, Yah'shua (Jesus) makes the point that had he revealed earlier on in His mission that he was going to depart from them His disciples may well have fallen away from Him in large numbers, as they did on earlier occasions when describing the emblematical way in which they would have to eat His flesh and drink His blood.

The idea of a Counsellor administering to the disciples after Yah'shua's (Jesus') departure must have been hard to understand for them. For one thing they interpreted Yah'shua's (Jesus') departure as a departure to a foreign land as though he was about to go on a long journey. Not until later when after His resurrection Yah'shua (Jesus) breathed upon them, and on the day of Pentecost (Shavu'ot) itself, did the disciples truly appreciate what Yah'shua (Jesus) meant by the 'Comforter' or 'Counsellor'. They did not understand it until they had experienced it for thremselves.

The word 'Counsellor' is one of many translations for the Greek word paraklétos otherwise rendered as the Paraclete. In the Greek texts Yah'shua (Jesus) describes it as a person of male gender. However, in the Hebraic languages the sense is always female, as in Isaiah 66:13, "As one whom his mother comforts, so I [Yahweh] comfort you" (ISRV). The word 'comfort' translates the Hebrew nacham, meaning to 'breathe' or 'sigh deeply'. Thus She is to be the disciples' revelator in Yah'shua's (Jesus') absence, the spirit of Truth, teaching them the meaning of many of Yah'shua's (Jesus') parables that he could not reveal whilst in the flesh because of the disbelief of the Jews. She is to expose all sin, lead people to the truth, and say only what Christ says, as Christ said only what that Father said while He was in the flesh.

A more familiar term for the Comforter, Counsellor, or Paraclete is the Ruach haQodesh or Holy Spirit. John says no more about this Person than what I have written above but we may assume from what Yah'shua (Jesus) says that She is, in a way, subject to Christ as Christ is subject to the Father. We cannot say that She possessed godhood from John's writings; indeed, some commentators maintain that the Paraclete is the spirit of Yah'shua the Messiah (Jesus Christ) Himself, that Christ in the flesh is the First Paraclete and that the Ruach (Spirit) is the Second. However, given that the Ruach haQodesh (Holy Spirit) is exclusively female in Hebrew, we must conclude that Yah'shua (Jesus) and the Paraclete are not one and the same.

Apart from the theological difficulty of precisely identifying the Counsellor from John's writings it is almost as difficult to understand why it was that Yah'shua (Jesus) had to leave before the Comforter could come, unless the two are one and the same. In that sense the Paraclete cannot come (or return) because Christ has not yet departed out of the world through the cross. Would this therefore mean that there was no Ruach haQodesh (Holy Spirit) on the earth before Christ's death, that She departed from the earth when Yah'shua (Jesus) appeared, and returned when He left, or has She been present all the time?

There are several scriptural indications that show the Ruach haQodesh (Holy Spirit) was present before Christ came and whilst He was yet on the earth. The Ruach (Spirit) is described numerous times in the Old Testament as creator of the earth, as equipping individuals for service, as inspiring the prophets, as producing moral living, and in foretelling the Messiah. In the New Testament Yah'shua (Jesys) "breathes" the Ruach (Spirit) onto the sick to make them well as He breathes on His disciples after His resurrection in the Cennacle. Yahweh-Elohim even breathes the Ruach (Spirit) into Adam that he might live.

The only conclusion that I can come to, that harmonies all scripture, is that Yah'shua (Jesus) is promising the Ruach haQodesh (Holy Spirit) in a new way. Indeed, the 'spirit' of the Epistles is quite different from that of the Gospel and the Old Testament. It is almost as though the Ruach (Spirit) has come with a newness or fullness never quite experienced before to the same degree. It is a Ruach (Spirit) that moves the apostles to do what they did; it was more effective than the physical presence of Yah'shua (Jesus) because each righteous individual could enjoy the constant companionship of the Paraclete in his or her ministry. Yah'shua (Jesus), in the flesh, can only be in one place at a time, but the Ruach (Spirit) can be everywhere. Hence it is true to say that it is to the disciples' advantage that He leaves the world so that this Ruach (Spirit) may come in the fullness to the elect. Pentecost (Shavu'ot) illustrates this perfectly. Suddenly men like Peter, who in their immaturity have made bold declarations of loyalty to the Saviour and then denied Him, are filled with a refining Ruach (Spirit) that carries them on through numerous missions and finally to martyrdom. The paraclete turns spiritual boys into spiritual men as only She could. Without it Christianity would not have been born.