WATCHWORD:
He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. Isaiah 53:3
My soul is deeply grieved to the point of death. Mark 14:34
At that time Jesus, full of joy through the Holy Spirit, said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children.” Luke 10:21
Go and celebrate with a feast of rich foods and sweet drinks, and share gifts of food with people who have nothing prepared. This is a sacred day before our Lord. Don’t be dejected and sad, for the joy of the Lord is your strength! Nehemiah 8:10
Meditation:
The Many Faces of Jesus I
Many years ago, my pastor introduced a picture of Jesus. It was a wonderful and beautiful picture of Jesus laughing out loud. Jesus’ mouth is partly open, his eyes are clearly sparkling with merriment, and the crinkles around His eyes communicated that he has found something hilarious that the only way he can express it is to simply laugh out loud.
The picture belies so much of what may have been imprinted in our minds about Jesus. He is called “a man of sorrows” in Isaiah. We see Jesus portrayed as rather stoic and unemotional, and yet the Scriptures tells us otherwise. In the garden of Gethsemane, on his way to the cross, the worst day of his earthly life, he says, “My soul is deeply grieved to the point of death.”
Randy Alcorn, in his book Face to Face with Jesus, makes this statement in counter-point to the idea of stoicism: “When Jesus walked the Earth, He lived with divine happiness in His past, the happiness of an eternal perspective in his present, and the anticipation of unending happiness in the future.” Happiness, a divine happiness, even in the face of the Cross.
English theologian and author William Morrice provides a positive perspective of Jesus’ emotions: “The very fact that Jesus did attract hurting people to himself shows that he cannot have been forbidding in his manner… Had He been a gloomy individual and a killjoy, he would not have had such an appeal to common people and to children.”
Can you imagine Jesus, the Son of God, the Second Person of the Godhead, enjoying happiness as a human being, at first as a newborn baby and then throughout his childhood into adulthood, following the will of his Father. We have to believe that his smiles and laughter would’ve been full of delight as he marveled at and experienced his own incarnation. A laughing Jesus? Why not? So be it.
Comment by Charles Spurgeon:
“We are happy to think Christ is happy… I have found it a very sweet joy to be joyful because Christ is joyful.” Isn’t that the truth?
Closing Prayer:
Dear God, how I long for the joy of Your Spirit. I have sought happiness according to the world. I have chased what they promised would bring me joy and happiness. I have purchased fine things and traveled to far-away places. But all of this is vanity. All of this will perish, but You alone are eternal. Only You can fill the void in our hearts. Help us to rest in Your arms. Amen.
