The Joyful Jesus

Introduction

Of all the words I would use to describe Jesus, the word “joy” would not be in the top ten. Words like compassionate, serving, loving, forgiving, holy, shepherd, suffering, praying, healing, and few others would come to mind, but the word joy—not likely. My failure to use this word in connection with Jesus has more to do with my inferior perception of the concept of joy than Jesus’ demeanor in Scripture.

So I began looking through the gospel accounts and settled on John’s gospel for our study tonight. The gospel of Mark doesn’t mention joy at all. Matthew mentions it about four or five times. Luke uses the word joy almost a dozen times and John’s gospel uses the word joy about six times. The difference between these accounts is in terms of the emphasis. The difference is in the source of the joy. And that is what I want us to focus on tonight—Jesus as the source of our joy.

Defining joy is a lot like trying to define love—we know it when we see it, but putting just the right words to it is difficult at best. Add to the fact that we have a word like “rejoicing” which seems to at least suggest celebrate and it is hard to keep joy separate from an emotion. But joy is so much more than a simple emotional response to good things. The Bible speaks of joy in connection with suffering. So if the emotion of joy is present in the midst of suffering does that mean then that Christians are never to be sad? Hardly. It must mean that joy is something other than an emotion. Joy is an attitude which expresses delight and gladness. While joy is more than an emotion we must not lose the emotional aspect of the word. Joy denotes celebration. But biblical joy is not dependent upon circumstances. Biblical joy comes in spite of circumstances. This is possible because of the source of our joy—Jesus. So let’s look at John’s gospel and discover what John says about joy.

Texts

Look at John 3:22. John is baptizing in the Jordan area. So is Jesus. More people are going to Jesus. Slowly but surely John’s base of support is dwindling. Some who are jealous for John’s ministry come to him complaining that Jesus is taking all the people. Verse 27—isn’t that the truth. We can only receive what is given to us from heaven. Unless God gives it, we cannot receive it and we cannot receive anything unless God gives it. John goes on in verse 28. John says his joy comes from Jesus. It comes from hearing Jesus’ voice. And it is complete because Jesus has come. The attention which once was focused on John is now to be focused on Jesus and that brings John great joy. After all, Jesus is the bridegroom and John is merely the attendant. The focus in on Jesus and in John’s mind that is a reason to celebrate.

True joy comes when Jesus is present. Biblical joy’s source is Jesus. When Jesus comes, then the joy is made complete. Ever had the privilege of being the best man or the bridesmaid at a wedding. If you have done your job well, you have helped with some of the planning. But the real joy is when the bride begins to walk down the aisle. The groom is standing ready to receive his bride and the your joy is complete. Your job has been done. The focus in on the couple. The best man is nice but he isn’t the focus. The real joy is found in that couple and the source of that joy is the wedding itself.

From this point, John’s gospel is silent about joy. Jesus doesn’t mention it again until the night of his betrayal. Remember in ch. 13 Jesus washes the feet of the disciples and teaches them something about humility and serving. After sharing the Passover meal together, John records for us a long discourse which Jesus has with his disciples including a final prayer that he offers. It is a discourse filled with promises. In chapter 15, Jesus emphasizing the connection between himself and his disciples talks about the vine and the branches. “I am the vine and you are the branches” he says. Apart from me you can do nothing. Then he goes on to encourage them to remain in his love and to keep his commandments. By doing so he will imitate the relationship he has had with God. Then in 15:11, Jesus says this “I have told you this so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete.”

Why did Jesus tell them about obedience and commands? So that his disciples could have his joy. Jesus lived a life connected to his father. In that life he found great joy. This connection with God means that life is not some type of lifeless and cheerless existence. Being connected with the Father brought Jesus great joy and he wants his disciples to have that same joy—so obey my commands and remain in my love.

But Jesus also acknowledges that the joy that they currently have is lacking. It is not yet complete and whole and it will not be until they have the same type of joy that he has. Real joy then is found in Christ. Real joy looks like Jesus’s joy. Real joy is found in obedience to God’s commands and remaining in his love.

Remember this is said by the one who is getting ready to be crucified. Life is going to drastically change. Pain and suffering will be his. The sins of the world will be poured upon him and yet he is filled with joy. More than emotion, an attitude whose source is the Father. Even as we connect with Jesus so we connect with God. Our source of joy is Jesus who like us need to learn to connect with God in order to enjoy the life that God has planned for us. But Jesus is not through with this idea of joy yet. He has more to say to his disciples in the next chapter.

Jesus goes on to explain the coming of the Holy Spirit and how his presence will provide special insights for the disciples. Then he says in 16:16 that he is going away for a short time and then they will see him again. The disciples had no idea what he was talking about. They failed to realize what was happening. Look at verse 19. “You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy.” It’s like a woman who has a baby. There is lots of pain in childbirth but holding the child in her arms makes her forget about the pain. Look at verse 22, when you see me again, you will have joy which no one can take away. What is the basis of this joy? The resurrected Jesus. This joy is something which takes the place of their grief and no one can take away this joy.

A joy based on the presence of Jesus is powerful. Remember the disciples did not have a life of ease and comfort after the resurrection. For forty days life was pretty good, but after the ascension, these same disciples faced all kinds of troubles. Look at Acts 5. These disciples have been beaten for teaching about Jesus. Like their Lord, they have been flogged. Verse 41, “the apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name.”

And the words of Jesus are true—no one will take your joy away. The resurrected Jesus makes the difference. Joy comes not from within our own strength and our own resolve (although we must be resolved to be joyful) but real joy comes from Jesus who is our Savior.

So where does this joy come from? Jesus. But how do we get it? Notice verse 24. We get this joy through prayer. We ask for it. In the name of Jesus we ask the Father to supply us with a disposition of delight and gladness which surpasses the situations and circumstances of life. We ask and Jesus’ promise is that the Father will give us what we ask for. But just in case we don’t fully comprehend, John gives us one more insight into joy in chapter 17.

In this prayer, Jesus asks the Father to supply safety and protection for the disciples. This protection is immediate. He knows that the time coming is going to be hard, but the protection is so that they can be unified. It is so important for his disciples to remain committed to the Father. So in verse 13, Jesus draws this part of the prayer to a close by acknowledging that he is going to come back to the Father, but he is praying for his disciples so that they may have the full measure of “my” joy in them.

Just as in 15:11, Jesus wants what he has to be in these disciples. The joy that he has with the Father, he wants that same joy for his sons in the faith. Raising children reminds us of what Jesus wants. As our children grow we want them to avoid some things and yet we want them to experience many of the joys we have had in life. And we pass on what we can before they get away from us. Same thing here. Jesus wants to pass on whatever he can before these disciples get away from him.

Lessons

So what are we supposed to get from all of this. First, the idea of Jesus as joyful may not have entered your mind. We may not think of Jesus as some type of person who expressed the attitude of delight and gladness. But what do we think it means when Jesus says “I have come to that they may have life and have it to the full?”

Did Jesus, who knew he was going to a cross, find time to pick up a child and hold that child in his lap? And did that demonstration reveal his joy? Did Jesus, who knew that his back was soon to be battered and bruised, find time to recline with his disciples and enjoy a celebration feast as they remembered how God had delivered the people from Egypt? And was he joyful when he ate that meal? Did Jesus, who knew that the sins of the whole world would soon be upon him, demonstrate joy as he prayed for his disciples to love each other even as he and the Father loved each other?

Even as he prayed, Jesus prayed that his joy may become the disciples joy. Did the Son of God experience a sense of gladness and delight right before his death? I contend that he did, because he knew that he was doing the Father’s will.

Second, God wants us to be people of joy. He has planned on that. For the Christian no joy means that something is wrong in our life. No joy means that in some way God’s plan is not being carried out in our lives. Maybe it is our sin. Maybe it is our lack of understanding about the nature of joy. Maybe we haven’t asked. Whatever it may be, the plan of God includes joy. It is so much a part of God’s plan for us that in Galatians 5:22, Paul writes that the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace. God wants us to have joy so much that he has given us his Spirit who is working to produce the trait of joy in our lives.

Let’s not confuse joy with happiness or a sunny disposition. Joy comes from Jesus. In the midst of trials and confusion, joy can be expressed because we know the resurrected Jesus. We can have a sense of gladness and delight because we know Jesus. And nothing can take that away.

That doesn’t mean we don’t bleed when we are cut, or grieve when we have loss, or weep when we are sad, but it does mean that our relationship with God and Jesus have not changed because of the trial. There is joy.

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