Comforter, Counselor, Rescuer

John 20
19 On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!”
20 After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.
21 Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.”
22 And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit 

Who came to mind when you read these three
words chosen for this post?

I’m willing to bet your answer was the same as mine.  It’s Jesus…and that’s absolutely right!  I pondered these verses and those three words and realized Comforter, Counselor and Rescuer are nouns that we all identify as interchangeable with Jesus Himself.  What caught my attention was those same three words can also be used as verbs that describe an action if you just change the ending to “ing.”

I am confident every one of those frightened men would have answered my first question in the same way we did, it’s Jesus!  They certainly recognized Jesus as Comforter, Counselor and Rescuer.  What may seem like subtle shades of difference between a noun and a verb has helped me recognize knowing the identity of Jesus is vital but it’s incomplete without the personal experience of His purpose for our life.

• Jesus’s identity is Comforter, but His purpose is comforting so we may be comforted
• Jesus’s identity is Counselor, but His purpose is counseling so we may be taught
• Jesus’s identity is Rescuer, but His purpose is rescuing so we may be saved

The hope for those men as they hid behind “doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders” was summed up in one simple phrase; “Jesus came and stood among them…”   Jesus came to verify his identity as Comforter, Counselor and Rescuer AND put His purpose for their lives into action by comforting frightened people with His presence, counseling them with His peace and rescuing them with His Spirit. Thanks be to God, Jesus has become our hope for completeness too.