But on the other hand, Luke may well have chosen the round number precisely because everybody knew of like 40-day periods of spiritual discipline and preparation;11 ancient thought-forms can be checked by the words and behavior of an Ignatius, willing to give his life to show how he interpreted the 40 days;12 and contradictions may well have their source in the minds of readers rather than writers—the “flesh and blood” issue, in fact, seems to be of our own making.
Yet even those who accept the reality of the 40-day ministry are at a loss to explain it. Plainly the key is missing when serious commentators can describe the event as a mere “example of condescension and friendship” by one who had more urgent business elsewhere,14 or as a magnanimous recompense for the 40 hours of anguish occasioned by the Lord’s absence in the tomb, 15 or as a long lingering farewell,16 or as “forty-odd days of frustration and inaction,”17 or as a strategic and psychological holding back of forces for a more effective charge on the enemy.18 It is often claimed that a full 40 days were necessary to demonstrate the reality of resurrected flesh, 19 and if that seems odd (40 seconds were sufficient to convince Thomas) we are told that the Apostles had to over-learn their lesson in order to persuade an over-skeptical world.20 The 40 days are also described as a weaning process, to draw the disciples away from undue attachment to each other,21 or to the person of the Lord —lest they be too upset by his departure,22 or, strangest of all, to wean their minds away from corporeal concepts to the pure realms of disembodied intellect.23 In short, if anything like “The Great Forty Days” occurred, the enormous portent of it, which Luke puts at the very root of the Christian faith, quite escapes the commentators, who view it as an odd and rather “interesting” interlude,24 but admit that in the end we do not know what Christ did or said during the 40 days but can only conjecture.
The Second Comforter
In the upper room Jesus promises two Comforters, the Holy Ghost and then his own personal coming: “I will not leave you comfortless; I will come to you… we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.”
Note. The upper-room discourse is John’s witness alone.
? How to read this edition
The reading is the Joseph Smith Translation, in the text of the Covenant Christian Edition, carried beside each Gospel and set against the King James baseline. Headers give both numbering systems: the CCE chapter and verse, and the traditional KJV reference.
15If you love me, keep my commandments. 16And I will ask the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may be with you for ever — 17even the Spirit of Truth, whom the world cannot receive because it sees him not, neither knows him. But you know him, for he dwells with you, and shall be in you. 18I will not leave you comfortless. I will come to you. 19Yet a little while and the world sees me no more, but you see me. Because I live, you shall live also. 20At that day, you shall know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. 21He that has my commandments and keeps them, he it is that loves me. And he that loves me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him and will manifest myself to him. 22Judas says unto him (not Iscariot), Lord, how is it that you will manifest yourself unto us and not unto the world? 23Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words, and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him and make our abode with him. 24He that loves me not keeps not my sayings. And the word which you hear is not mine, but the Father’s, who sent me.
25These things have I spoken unto you, being yet present with you. 26But the Comforter, who is the holy ghost whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance — whatever I have said unto you. 27Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you — not as the world gives, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.
The Other Comforter
The Other Comforter
Joseph Smith taught that John records two Comforters: the Holy Ghost, received by the laying on of hands; and a second, greater promise, reserved for those proven and made sure. He pointed the Saints to this very chapter.
Discourse, between circa 26 June and circa 2 July 1839, Commerce, Illinois (dated 27 June 1839 in the History) · History, 1838–1856, vol. C-1, Addenda, pp. 8–9 (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, pp. 149–151); reported by Willard Richards and Wilford Woodruff · Joseph Smith Papers ↗The other Comforter spoken of is a subject of great interest and perhaps understood by few of this generation. After a person hath faith in Christ, repents of his sins, and is baptized for the remission of his sins, and receives the Holy Ghost (by the laying on of hands) which is the first Comforter, then let him continue to humble himself before God, hungering and thirsting after Righteousness, and living by every word of God, and the Lord will soon say unto him, Son thou shalt be exalted &c. When the Lord has thoro’ly proved him, and finds that the man is determined to serve him at all hazard, then the man will find his calling and Election made sure, then it will be his privilege to receive the other Comforter which the Lord hath promised the Saints, as is recorded in the testimony of St. John, in the xiv ch, from the 12th. to the 27th. verses— Note the 16. 17. 18. 21. 23. verses (16) and I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; (17) Even the Spirit of Truth; whom the world cannot receive because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him; but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you and shall be in you, (18) I will not leave you Comfortless I will come to you (21) He that hath my commandments and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me, and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him and will manifest myself to him (23) If a man love me, he will keep my words, and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him”.
Now what is this other Comforter? It is no more or less than the Lord Jesus Christ himself, and this is the sum and substance of the whole matter, that when any man obtains this last Comforter he will have the personage of Jesus Christ to attend him or appear unto him from time to time, and even he will manifest the Father unto him, and they will take up their abode with him, and the visions of the heavens will be opened unto him and the Lord will teach him face to face, and he may have a perfect knowledge of the mysteries of the kingdom of God, and this is the State and place the Ancient Saints arrived at when they had such glorious vision— Isaiah, Ezekiel, John upon the Isle of Patmos, St. Paul in the third heavens, and all the Saints who held communion with the general assembly and Church of the First Born &c
I Will Not Leave You Comfortless: Verse by Verse
A report of Joseph Smith’s preaching from the same summer, copied into Willard Richards’s notebook, walks this chapter one verse at a time. Upper Room prints its opening, on verses 1 through 13; here it goes on through this section: the other Comforter who seals, the Son of Man dwelling with the disciple, “I will come to you… Seal you up to Eternal life,” the manifestation to the one who keeps the commandments, and the Comforter who teaches all things “until ye come to me & my father.” It is given whole from verse 16 to its end.
Discourse, between circa 26 June and circa 4 August 1839, Commerce, Illinois · Willard Richards, “W. Richards Pocket Companion Written in England,” pp. 76–79 (Words of Joseph Smith, “Before 8 August 1839 (3)”) · Joseph Smith Papers ↗I will pray the Father & he shall send you another Comforter. There is one Comforter & another Comforter to abide with you forever, reach to things within the vail. know that you are Sealed. If you get it, it will stand by you forever. How is it to be obtained? Keep my commandme[n]ts & I will pray &c.— It is a privilege to view the son of man himself, he dwelleth with you & Shall be in you. his Spirit shall be in you. I will not leave you comfortless, I will come to you, abide with you forevever, Seal you up to Eternal life. yet a little while & ye shall see me no more, but ye see me.— He that hath my commandments & keepeth them. he it is that loveth me &c— I will manifest myself to him. If he does not he has not told the truth. I will put promises in your heart. that will not leave you that will Seal you up. we may come to the general assembly & church of the first born, Spirits of Just men made perfect, unto Christ. The innumerable company of Angels are those that have been ressurrected from the dead. the Spirits of Just men made perfect are those without bodies. It is our privilege to pray for & obtain these things.
How wilt thou manifest thyself to us & not to the world? evidently knowing that it would be so that he would manifest himself. There was no cholera, no mobs before this came. I told them that rejoiced in Mobs that they Should have them, they have since come in torrents. they did not receive the testimony of the Servants of God. If a man love me he will keep my words. & my father will love him. & we both me & my father will take our abode with him. There are certain characters that walked with God. saw him, conversed about heaven &c But the comforter that I will send. (not the other Comforter) shall teach you all things.— Who?— He that loveth me &c— This shall bring all things to remembrance whatsoever things I have said unto you. he shall teach you until ye come to me & my father. God is not a respecter of persons. we all have the Same privilige. Come to God weary him until he blesses you &c— we are entitled to the Same blessings. Jesus, Revelations, Just men, &c— Angels &c. &c. not Laying again the doctrine of Christ go on to perfection. Obtain that holy Spirit of promise— Then you can be sealed to Eternal Life.—
The Other Comforter Spoken of by John Is Jesus Himself
At a meeting of the Nauvoo lyceum in March 1841, after Ebenezer Robinson spoke on the other Comforter in John 14 and 16, Joseph Smith corrected a word in John 16:8 and then named the second Comforter of this chapter plainly: Jesus himself, who comes to make his abode with them (v23). William McIntire took it down at the meeting.
Account of meeting, circa 30 March 1841, Nauvoo lyceum · William P. McIntire Notebook, pp. [18]–[19] (Words of Joseph Smith, 30 March 1841) · Joseph Smith Papers ↗E[benezer] Robinson spoke on the other Co[m]forter in the 14 & 16 of John & that to all man kind for he shall prove the world of sin & Righteou[s] & of Judgment &c Joseph said he would corect in the translation it ought to Read thus & he shall Remind the world of sin & of Righteous & of Judgmen[t] & this Comforter Reminds of the these things through the servents of the Lord— But the other Comforter spoken of By John is Jesus himself that is to come & take up his aboad with them
It Brings Things Past to Our Remembrance
On the first Comforter (v26): an editorial on the gift of the Holy Ghost in the Times and Seasons, which Joseph Smith then edited, calls the Spirit a comforter and a witness bearer that brings things past to remembrance, leads into all truth, and shows things to come.
Editorial, “Gift of the Holy Ghost,” Times and Seasons, 15 June 1842 (3:823–825), p. 823; Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, 243 · Joseph Smith Papers ↗We believe in the gift of the Holy Ghost being enjoyed now, as much as it was in the apostles days;—we believe that it is necessary to make and to organize the priesthood; that no man can be called to fill any office in the ministry without it; we also believe in prophesy, in tongues, in visions, and in revelations, in gifts, and in healings; and that these things cannot be enjoyed without the gift of the Holy Ghost; we believe that holy men of old spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost, and that holy men in these days speak by the same principle; we believe in its being a comforter and a witness bearer, “that it brings things past to our remembrance, leads us into all truth, and shews us of things to come:” we believe that “no man can know that Jesus is the Christ, but by the Holy Ghost.” We believe in it in all its fullness, and power, and greatness, and glory: but whilst we do this we believe in it rationally, reasonably, consistently, and scripturally, and not according to the wild vagaries, foolish, notions and traditions of men.
A Personal Appearance, Not the Indwelling Spirit
Four years later, in an instruction at Ramus, Joseph made the meaning of the twenty-third verse explicit, guarding it against the notion that the promise is merely a feeling in the heart. Willard Richards and William Clayton both took it down; the canonized wording of Doctrine and Covenants 130:3 draws on both. Switch to “Scribal accounts” to compare them.
Instruction, 2 April 1843, Ramus, Illinois · Joseph Smith journal, kept by Willard Richards; reported also by William Clayton (Doctrine and Covenants 130:3) · Joseph Smith Papers ↗14 John 23.— the appearing of the father and of the Son in that verse is a personal. appearance.— to say that the father and the Son dwells in a mans heart is an old Sectarian notion. and is not correct.
The First Comforter: The Holy Ghost Is a Revelator
On the first Comforter (v16–17, 26): the gift of the Holy Ghost is not merely a feeling but the open channel of revelation.
Discourse, 15 October 1843, Temple Stand, Nauvoo (Joseph Smith journal, kept by Willard Richards; Words of Joseph Smith, 15 October 1843; Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 328) · Joseph Smith Papers ↗no man can r[e]ceive the Holy Ghost without r[e]ceiving re[v]elations, The H. G. is a revelator.
The Forgotten Heritage
The Comforter promised here is bound up, in Nibley’s reading, with the great teachings the risen Lord gave during the forty days: the most important instruction of all, which the commentators pass over as a curious interlude.
Another Comforter: How the Lord Returns
Barker reads the promise of “another Comforter” as the heart of John’s hope: the Paraclete, the Spirit of truth, is how Jesus himself returns to remain with his own.
In his farewell discourse, Jesus told the disciples that he was going to Him who sent him (John 16.5 [John 9:13]). ‘Going’, hupagō, has the sense of withdrawing and even of withdrawing secretly (also in 16.10, 17; and in 8.14, 21; 13.3, 33, 36; 14.4, 5, 28). John here gave a new understanding of Jesus’ departure and the manner of his return, prompted by the delay in the future Parousia. In ‘a little while’, mikron, his disciples would see him no more, and then in a little while, presumably a similar length of time, they would see him again (John 16.16 [John 9:14]). The emphasis is on the ‘little while’, and on the disciples not at first understanding what Jesus meant about going to the Father in a little while and then, in a little while, returning.
One problem may be ‘he will give you another Paraclete to be with you for ever’ (John 14.16 [John 9:8]). Unless Jesus delivered these teachings in Greek, which is unlikely, the word would have been ’aḥēr, another, which is very easily confused with ’aḥar, afterwards. There was a similar confusion when Revelation was put into Greek, resulting in a whole series of mighty angels when in fact some instances of ‘another’ should be read as ‘afterwards’ (e.g. Rev.7.2 [Rev. 2:13]; 10.1; 18.1). This gives not several mighty angels, but several appearances one after another of one mighty angel, the Angel of the LORD, whom John called the Paraclete. The Sinai Syriac text was aware of this problem, and renders the verse ‘He will give you Another, the Paraclete’,20 but such a change does not accord with Jesus’ words that he himself would return.
John did describe a few resurrection appearances, but his main emphasis was on the coming of the Paraclete, the implication being that this was how Jesus would return and remain with his disciples. Thus Brown concluded: ‘Virtually everything that has been said about the Paraclete has been said elsewhere in the Gospel about Jesus.’ This identification of Jesus as the Paraclete was known to the disciples of Valentinus in the second century CE. Theodotus, according to Clement of Alexandria, said that Jesus was the Paraclete, but that people did not [no longer?] realise the true identity of the Paraclete: The followers of Valentinus say that Jesus is the Paraclete... But [the Valentinians] do not know that the Paraclete, who now works continuously in the Church, is of the same substance and power as he who worked continuously according to the Old Testament.
The opening words of the Book of Revelation show that John was entrusted with the visions of Jesus, and enabled by his spirit, elsewhere called the Paraclete, to explain them: ‘The revelation of Jesus Christ which God gave him to show to his servants what must soon take place; and he made it known by sending his angel to his servant John...’ (Rev.1.1 [Rev. 1:1]). In his gospel, John wrote of the Paraclete who would teach the disciples all things and help them remember all that Jesus taught them (John 14.26 [John 9:9]). ‘When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth; for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come’ (John 16.13 [John 9:14]). He was speaking of the same Spirit of truth when he wrote of the mighty angel who appeared to John with the open book and told him to eat it (Rev.10.1-11 [Rev. 3:11-13]).
John received the secret teachings and in the Book of Revelation he wrote: ‘Blessed is he who reads aloud the words of the prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep [that word again, preserve or guard] what is written therein...’ (Rev.1.3 [Rev. 1:1]). At the end of the book too: ‘Blessed is he who keeps, tēreō [preserves, guards] the words of the prophecy of this book’ (Rev.22.7 [Rev. 8:15]; also 22.9). This is almost a quotation from Psalm 119: ’Blessed are those who keep his testimonies’ – the nōṣrîm again; and ‘keeping’ the testimonies is repeated throughout the psalm.9 This form of words is often found in the Hebrew Scriptures: people had to keep the covenant, the statutes and the laws, and in return the LORD kept the faithful (Ps.31.24 [Ps. 31:4]). Isaiah said the LORD was the keeper of his vineyard - the guardian and preserver (Isa.27.3 [Isa. 7:7]). Jesus was the Nazōrean, the King of the Jews.
The first Christians, however, were not preserving the Law of Moses; they were preserving something different. Their secret teachings were temple teachings, the esoterica of the high priests which the Law of Moses had replaced, teachings in which Wisdom or the Lady had a central role. Deuteronomy, which sets out the teachings of the ‘Moses only’ people who had banished the Lady from the temple, emphasises that the secret things were to be left alone.
Ellipses mark omissions within Barker’s own sentences.