Abstract
This article aims to show that the Paraclete is portrayed in the Johannine farewell discourse (chapters 14–16) as the successor to Jesus in his ministry in the world and as the mediator of Jesus' ongoing presence. Jesus and the Paraclete are functionally similar yet not identical in person; they are distinct yet united. Their intimacy is such that the Paraclete can be understood as one who makes the presence of Jesus felt in the period of Jesus' absence. Contrary to some tendencies in Johannine scholarship, the Paraclete is not to be described as Jesus returned in another “form”. A close reading of the five Paraclete texts of the Johannine farewell discourse (14:16-17; 14:25-26; 15:26; 16:7-11; 16:13-15) shows that the Paraclete is Jesus' successor and the mediator of his presence. This implies that the two characters are distinct-and respects the sense of Jesus' impending death and absence - as well as implying that there is an inextricable intimacy between them.
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