Knowing Jesus and his joy

The Lord’s Day is an obvious day for thinking about aspects of the experience of Jesus, our Saviour. Every detail concerning him is precious to us. There are many matters about him that we will think about today, whether in private at home or in public in church or elsewhere.

We live in a world often marked by disappointments, frustrations and sadnesses, and sometimes we are prone to think that this is the only world that there is. Yet there is another world, invisible to us, yet very real and while we cannot touch it, it can reach us. The other world is heaven, and it touches us through the ministry of the Holy Spirit.

In that other world Jesus is central. If we could see him we would see one who is full of joy. During his time on earth he was the man of sorrows. This does not mean that he never experienced joy. Yet he looked forward to the joy of heaven. The writer of Hebrews tells us that Jesus endured the cross because of the joy that was before him.

On the Day of Pentecost, Peter preached a sermon in which he mentioned that David the Psalmist wrote about the joy that Jesus anticipated would be his after his resurrection (Acts 2:28). This joy would be his in the presence of the Father, which means he would experience it after his ascension to heaven. What are some of the features of his joy?

There is the joy connected to his exaltation when he was anointed with the oil of gladness (Heb. 1:9). This anointing was given him by the Father as a response to the successful work completed on the cross. Given that the Father has infinite resources then the joy bestowed is boundless and endless. The joy is the presence of the Spirit in the activities of the exalted Son.

One of those activities is the function of instruction. Jesus, now exalted, is the teacher of his church and he teaches his people joyfully through the agency of the Holy Spirit who takes of the resources of Jesus and bestows them on his people. There is a sense in which the church is the largest school in the world, even if many of its pupils are enjoying higher education in heaven. It is certainly the happiest school because of the presence of the Teacher. Through the ministry of the Spirit, Jesus is present to teach his people and he delights to inform them of the plan of salvation.

Another of his functions is that of invitation. Even as Paul says in Ephesians 3, Jesus by his Spirit through his servants preaches peace throughout the world. He is the peace-bringer as well as the peacemaker on the cross. As king, he comes to sinful rebels with the offer of pardon and invites all who hear, or read, about it to come to him by faith. His invitations are often expressions of power and many throughout the world will experience it today for the first time.

Today, the Lord’s Day, we have the opportunity of knowing the Saviour’s joy as he instructs us about his grace and invites us to experience the riches connected to it.