1He showed me Joshua the high priest standing before Yahweh’s angel, and Satan standing at his right hand to be his adversary. 2Yahweh said to Satan, “Yahweh rebuke you, Satan! Yes, Yahweh who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Isn’t this a burning stick plucked out of the fire?”
3Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments, and was standing before the angel. 4He answered and spoke to those who stood before him, saying, “Take the filthy garments off him.” To him he said, “Behold, I have caused your iniquity to pass from you, and I will clothe you with rich clothing.”
5I said, “Let them set a clean turban on his head.”
So they set a clean turban on his head, and clothed him; and Yahweh’s angel was standing by.
6Yahweh’s angel solomnly assured Joshua, saying, 7“Yahweh of Armies says: ‘If you will walk in my ways, and if you will follow my instructions, then you also shall judge my house, and shall also keep my courts, and I will give you a place of access among these who stand by. 8Hear now, Joshua the high priest, you and your fellows who sit before you, for they are men who are a sign; for, behold, I will bring out my servant, the Branch. 9For, behold, the stone that I have set before Joshua: on one stone are seven eyes; behold, I will engrave its inscription,’ says Yahweh of Armies, ‘and I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day. 10In that day,’ says Yahweh of Armies, ‘you will invite every man his neighbor under the vine and under the fig tree.’”
John addresses the believers in this first letter as a father, rather than the apostle. He gently admonishes them not to sin. The Greek word for "if" assumes that the Christian would do so. However, in spite of this likelihood, the Christian has someone to stand by them, in dealing with this sin, Jesus the Messiah, the righteous one. Jesus will take the position of an advocate (parakletos, one called to the side),1 who will make the case on behalf of the believer in view of God's judgment. John indicates that Jesus can do this because He is the one who has made an atonement for sin by His sacrifice, not only for the Christian but for the entire world. Certainly, John's intent is not to encourage believers to sin, but to offer hope when this should happen.
The term parakletos is not only used of Jesus but the Holy Spirit in John 14:16, a helper to believers in regard to understanding the truth. This is in contrast to Satan, who accuses believers, according to Zechariah 3, and Revelation 12:10 ↩︎