“For ye shall go out with joy and be led forth with peace: the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.” Isaiah 55:12
In the gospel of Luke, at the occasion of Mary, the mother of Jesus, coming to visit Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist, she, speaking with a loud voice said: “…For, lo, as soon as the voice of the salutation sounded in mine ears, the babe leaped in in my womb for joy.” (1:44) Why was there the expression of joy even in the heart of an unborn baby? It is because of the manifestation, even the confirmation, of God’s blessing upon the child, John the Baptist, but more so, the testimony of the blessing of God upon the Lord Jesus, even as an unborn child. Later, when the Lord Jesus became a boy, then a young man, afterwards entering into his ministry and mission, He would know the constant joy of His Father, a joy that would be perpetually His. Ultimately, through the emotional, physical, and primarily spiritual, suffering on the cross, the joy of the Father belonged to Christ. He would endure the cross, because of the certainty of the “…joy that was set before Him.” (Heb. 12:2) The whole of creation, both physical and spiritual, seemed to be against Christ on the day of the crucifixion. With every appearance of the joy of the Father being swallowed up in the suffering of that moment, there remained intact the Son’s faith in the Father’s joy, that He would certainly know freely in its fullness. But what of the believer? Is there the same testimony of the Spirit, that Joy of Christ, to be known, even in the difficult time?
In John’s gospel, we read the following words of the Lord Jesus: “These things have I spoken unto you, that My joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.” (15:11) Of what does the Lord speak here? We know that the fruit of the Spirit, that very manifest communication to our own spirits and hearts of the joy of God, is given to every believer. It is indeed a “well” springing up. But that joy is also a “river of living water” in its expression because of its power and life giving, and manifesting properties. The testimony of the Spirit’s presence is the joy of the Lord. The testimony of the Spirit’s power is Christ’s joy to transcend, and overcome the obstacles to faith on this earth. For example, in the book of Nehemiah, we find that there came a moment of great revival in Israel, following the rebuilding of the wall around the city. However, when the book of the law was read before all the people, there was such a consciousness of their need and failure, that they were downtrodden, and discouraged. It is then that Nehemiah, Ezra, and the Levites, instructed the people to do the following: “Go your way, eat the fat, and drink the sweet, and send portions unto them for whom nothing is prepared, for this day is holy unto our Lord: neither be ye sorry (or grieved), for the joy of the Lord is your strength.” (8:10) The joy of the Lord possesses a power, not only of confirming the will and purpose of God, but of strengthening the soul for its accomplishment.
Moses, in Psalm 90, would write the following in the context of using well the opportunity, specifically the days, that the Lord has given to us: “O satisfy us early with Thy mercy; that we may rejoice and be glad all our days. Make us glad according to the days wherein Thou hast afllicted us, and the years wherein we have seen evil.” (v.14-15) If the believer, the disciple of Christ, would be engaged rightly in the work of God, and if his children would see the glory of the Lord, then there must be the testimony and experience of the joy of Christ. Christ’s joy is ours by the Spirit and can be known in its fulness.
Dear Father, Strengthen us to trust Thee for Thy Son’s joy in its fulness today. In Jesus’ name, Amen.