Joy in Christ Jesus
I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete.
John 15:11
But now I am coming to you, and I speak these things in the world so that they may have my joy made complete in themselves.
John 17:13
On the evening of the Last Supper, Jesus spoke about joy. He taught so that His joy would be in the disciples and their joy would thereby be complete. And as He prayed, He spoke to the world so that people in the world would have His joy and their joy would thereby be complete. Our joy is made complete when Christ Jesus’ joy is in us.
What does this mean? What does this look like?
The epistle to the Philippians begins as follows:
Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus,
To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi, with the bishops and deacons:
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I thank my God every time I remember you, constantly praying with joy in every one of my prayers for all of you, because of your sharing in the gospel from the first day until now. Philippians 1:1-5
Paul is imprisoned and he prays with joy. Christ’s joy is in him, and he prays with joy, even while enduring awful conditions. Can we say the same thing? Do we experience joy in prayer? The answer depends on our prayer life, which depends on our relationship with God through Christ Jesus. Or perhaps it would be better to say our prayer life grows out of our relationship with God through Christ Jesus, and it works to strengthen our relationship with God through Christ Jesus. As with every relationship, true, honest, transparent communication is fundamental to its strength.
But what does “joy” mean in the context of God’s holy word? Scripture uses words translated as “happiness” in a lot of places referring to the universal human emotion resulting from ordinary human pleasures, like enjoying a good harvest, married life, and a good feast. When the word “joy” is used, it often refers to an experience of God’s presence and blessing.
When Jesus explains the Parable of the Sower, He says,
As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy… Matthew 13:20
So joy is the result of experiencing God and His Holy Presence through His holy word. When discussing the kingdom of God Jesus says,
The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which someone found and hid; then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. Matthew 13:44
Joy is the result of suddenly experiencing the treasure of God, the riches of His Holy Presence, and a personal association with Him. In the Parable of the Talents Jesus says,
His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and trustworthy slave; you have been trustworthy in a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.’ Matthew 25:21
Here, joy is associated with receiving God’s blessing through relationship with Him. God deems the slave to be good and trustworthy, and in response the slave enters God’s joy.
When Mary Magdalene and others went to Jesus’ tomb on that Sunday morning, they were met by an earthquake, and an angel descending from heaven who explained that Jesus was resurrected.
So they left the tomb quickly with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples. Suddenly Jesus met them and said, “Greetings!” And they came to him, took hold of his feet, and worshiped him. Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.” Matthew 28:8-10
They experienced joy in response to their encounter with the heavenly being. And as we turn through the gospels, we see many more uses of the word “joy.” When the angel Gabriel met with Zachariah, the angel explained that Zachariah would experience great joy because his son would be great in the sight of the Lord (see Luke 1:14), and when Mary visited Elizabeth, Elizabeth explained that the baby in her womb leapt with joy when the mother of the Messiah arrived (see Luke 1:44), and when the angel announced Jesus’ birth to shepherds he explained that he was delivering “good news of great joy for all the people” (Luke 2:10).
We experience joy in response to heavenly encounters, in response to encounters with the Divine, Holy, Pure. And so it follows that Paul says the Fruit of the Spirit includes many positive attributes, including joy. In his epistle to the churches in Galatia he writes,
By contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against such things. Galatians 5:22-23
As people encounter Christ Jesus through the Holy Spirit, as they gain His new life, abundant life, eternal life, as their spirits are transformed through His holy indwelling, they take on His attributes. They are transformed. They change. And people around them notice the change, and as Paul tries to use our limited language to communicate what this looks like in a way that our limited minds might be able to understand, he strings together a bunch of characteristics:
“love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control….” (Id)
Jesus says, “You are the light of the world” (Matthew 5:14). You are the light of the world when you allow His light to flow through you, and what does this look like? How does this manifest itself? It looks like the Fruit of the Spirit.
So, people experience joy when they encounter the Holy. Joy is part of our response to the Godly, heavenly, pure.
During the Last Supper, Jesus taught about the Vine and the Branches, and immediately after that He said,
I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete. John 15:11
And later that evening when He prays, He says,
But now I am coming to you, and I speak these things in the world so that they may have my joy made complete in themselves. John 17:13
Our light is Jesus’ light shining through us, and our joy is Jesus’ joy. It is Jesus’ joy flowing through us, and His word conveys His joy.
Or at least God’s holy word indicates it ought to be that way, and the notion that a gap may exist between my experience and the way it ought to be causes me to ponder true faith, and true belief. How do we know our belief is consistent with what God’s holy word prescribes? We must ask whether our lives demonstrate evidence of our spiritual transformation. If our lives look the same as they did before we met Jesus, before we heard His voice, before we believed in our heart, soul and spirit that He truly is the Son of God, truly is God, before we understood that we were dead in our sins, we were dead following the ways of the world, we were dead following our personal desires, were dead and wholly unworthy of God’s loving grace, but God made us alive. Through Christ Jesus, God made us alive, God granted us faith, God saved us by His grace, God gave us new life, abundant life, eternal life. He gave us new life, and “we are what He has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life” (Ephesians 2:10).
God created us in Christ Jesus for good works. He created us to live as transformed people, shining His light out into the dark world around us.
We must ask whether our lives demonstrate evidence of our spiritual transformation. Are we continuing to grow in Christ Jesus? Are we dwelling in Him, building relationship with Him, knowing Him and verifying that He is knowing us? Are we changing, day by day, growing step by step closer to His holy image? Is Jesus’ joy within you? Is His joy complete within you?
When we read Paul’s description of Fruit of the Spirit, do any of the words describe us? Those who live by the Holy Spirit will be guided by the Holy Spirit, and evidence of His indwelling will reveal itself through them.
So I ask, how? How can we possibly gain that? How might that become our reality?
First, consider whether you really want it. Because we cannot sit on the fence. We cannot grow in Christ Jesus while continuing to cling to our old life. We cannot live lives that reveal Fruit of the Spirit while continuing to cling to pleasures of the flesh, sin and darkness. So first, do you really want it?
If you do, beg God through Christ Jesus for it. Like the persistent widow, continue praying, seeking, asking, and if it is His will, He will make it happen.
Prayer is one of the avenues available to us for continued transformation through communion with God. Through prayer our intimacy with God grows through Christ Jesus, and we gain increasingly more of Him, and He dwells within us with increasing presence, and we gain His joy, and our joy is made complete, and we are able to pray joyfully regardless of our circumstance because His indwelling fills us.
May the joy of Christ Jesus be in you, may your joy be complete, and may the world know His joy through you. Amen.