Language and the Holy Spirit
Whenever you are arrested and brought to trial, do not worry beforehand about what to say. Just say whatever is given you at the time, for it is not you speaking, but the Holy Spirit. (13:11)
As verse 9 has already pointed out, the disciples would be tried in Sanhedrin and be severely persecuted by the Romans. Such account of Mark’s Gospel is based on the historical fact that early Christians had undergone. When someone wants to deal with trail properly he should collect evidence to proof his innocent. He also should find some witnesses who can speak in favor of him. However, according to the above verse such preparation is not needed. The Holy Spirit will be an advocate.
It will be an embarrassment if you misunderstand this word to be an act of the Holy Spirit which would appears like the angels and solve everything what we can not do. There is a well known joke regarding a seminary student. A seminary student prayed only in the end semester exam instead of studying hard. He had faith that the Holy Spirit will help him. When he received the exam paper, the answer sheet was totally blank. Then he said, “Even the Holy Spirit cannot do anything in matter of exam.”
Then what does it mean by “… for it is not you speaking, but the Holy Spirit.” The aphorism is similar to Heidegger’. Heidegger says that man does not say but it is the language which says. It means, in other words, existence reveals as language. The experience of a poet that language accosts is the same.
The spiritual level of a person in which the Holy Spirit speaks is an experience when a man is fully absorbed by the Holy Spirit. This high spiritual status of a person is similar to a poet who is caught by a poetical inspiration. Being caught by the Holy Spirit means that the Spirit of life fully fills our enter existence while our self endlessly get minified. This thing cannot happen to those who are living thoughtlessly. Early Christianity experienced this while they concentrated on Jesus Christ.
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