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square, the heavenly Jerusalem. There is still another connection between the sacrificial work
at the brazen altar and the symbolical intercession at the golden altar. The fact that the incense
might be burned only on living coals taken from the altar of burnt-offering was an indication of
the fact that the intercession was based on the sacrifice and would be effective in no other way.
This clearly indicates that the intercessory work of Christ in heaven is based on His
accomplished sacrificial work, and is acceptable only on that basis.
2. NEW TESTAMENT INDICATIONS OF CHRIST’S INTERCESSORY WORK.
The term parakletos is
applied to Christ. The word is found only in John 14:16, 26; 15:26; 26:7; I John 2:1. It is rendered
“Comforter” wherever it is found in the Gospel of John, but “Advocate” in the single passage in
which it is found in the First Epistle of John. The form is a passive, and can therefore, says
Westcott, “properly mean only ‘one called to the side of another,’ and that with the secondary
notion of counseling or aiding him.”[Commentary on the Gospel of John, Additional Note after
Chapter XVI.] He points out that the word has that meaning in classical Greek, in Philo, and also
in the writings of the Rabbis. Many of the Greek Fathers, however, gave the word an active
sense, rendered it “Comforter,” and thus gave undue prominence to what is but a secondary
application of the term, though they felt that this meaning would not fit in I John 2:1. The word,
then, denotes one who is called in for aid, an advocate, one who pleads the cause of another
and also gives him wise counsel. Naturally, the work of such an advocate may bring comfort,
and therefore he can also in a secondary sense be called a comforter. Christ is explicitly called
our Advocate only in I John 2:1, but by implication also in John 14:16. The promise, “And I will
pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, that He may be with you forever,”
clearly implied that Christ was also a parakletos. The Gospel of John regularly applies the term
to the Holy Spirit. There are therefore two Advocates, Christ and the Holy Spirit. Their work is
partly identical and partly different. When Christ was on earth, He was the Advocate of the
disciples, pleading their cause against the world and serving them with wise counsel, and the
Holy Spirit is now continuing that work in the Church. In so far the work is identical, but there is
also a difference. Christ as our Advocate pleads the believer’s cause with the Father against
Satan, the accuser (Zech. 3:1; Heb. 7:25; I John 2:1; Rev. 12:10), while the Holy Spirit not only
pleads the cause of believers against the world (John 16:8), but also pleads the cause of Christ
with believers and serves them with wise counsel, (John 14:26; 15:26; 16:14). Briefly, we can
also say that Christ pleads our cause with God, while the Holy Spirit pleads God’s cause with us.
Other New Testament passages which speak of the intercessory work of Christ are found in
Rom. 8:24; Heb. 7:25; 9:24.