John 15:26-27 (ESV Strong’s Bible)
26 “But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me.
Take note that since chapter 15:18-25, Jesus has been telling his disciples that the world will hate them and they will be persecuted because of Jesus or in his name. He told them that they must know when these things happen that, the world hated him and persecuted him first. He also told them that the world does not have an excuse for unbelief since he has given them the word and showed them works that no one else could do.
Verse 26 starts with the word “but” indicating the opposite of what Jesus is being saying since verse 18. The opposite is that the helper will come. The word translated from Greek as helper is the word “parakletos”. This word means a comforter or advocate and does not really mean helper. I think the ESV mistranslated this word. The KJV translates it as comforter which makes sense in the context of the hatred and the persecution that the disciples will face. The comforter who is the Spirit of Truth, will not come to stop the hatred and the persecution but rather, he will come as a comforter amid these persecutions. Jesus will send him as soon as he returns to God and he, the Spirit of Truth, comes from God.
So, to translate “parakletos” as helper is to almost give an impression that Spirit of Truth is somehow going to interfere with the hatred or the persecutions. The purpose of the Spirit of Truth will be to bear witness about Jesus. Jesus does say in John 14:16-17 that he will ask God to send us a comforter, who is the Spirit of Truth, to be with us forever and to dwell in us. In verse 26 Jesus says that this comforter, who is the Holy Spirit, will be send by God and will teach the disciples all things and make them remember what Jesus taught them.
In John 16:8-11, Jesus said that the Holy Spirit or the Spirit of Truth, will convict the world concerning sin because they did not believe in him, righteousness because he is going to the Father and judgment because the devil is judged and judgement is coming. In verse 13-14, Jesus said the Holy Spirit will guide all into the truth. He will not speak of his own authority but will speak what he hears. He will also declare things to come and will glorify Jesus since he will take what belongs to him and declare it to the world.
This is how the Holy Spirit or the Spirit of Truth will bear witness about Jesus.
27 And you also will bear witness, because you have been with me from the beginning.
Now, the disciples are also going to bear witness about Jesus, why? Because they were with him from the beginning and have witnessed all,things that he had done or spoken. The Holy Spirit will make them remember all these and they will be able to tell others about them. In John 24:21, John says that he is bearing witness. In Luke 1:2, Luke is writing to Theophyllis and he confirms that indeed the disciples who were eyewitnesses did indeed become ministers of the word. In Luke 24:48, Jesus tells them that they are witnesses of the fact that Jesus had to suffer and rise from the dead in three days so that forgiveness of sins and repentance should be proclaimed in his name to all nations beginning in Jerusalem.
Luke 24:46-48 (ESV Strong’s Bible)
46 and said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, 47 and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. 48 You are witnesses of these things.
Not only did Jesus say that they will become witnesses but they did become witnesses and so have I. Are you?