Great Joy
“When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy.” (Matt. 2:10 NASB)
“But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid; for behold,
I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people (Luke 2:10 NASB)
Hello Saints,
Try saying that a few times, “rejoiced exceedingly with great joy”. I love that line! GREAT JOY – ‘Charan Megalen’ in the Greek. Mega Joy. Overwhelming joy. Thrilled with ecstatic joy. Overjoyed. Just some of the ways the translators have tried to capture the excitement of the scene. Think about it: Wise men, astrologers, scientists who had been studying the sky, were noticing the sky contained a special star. So they, being inquisitive researchers, set out to find the star. They knew somehow that this star was not an ordinary star – it was extraordinary. They also knew that it was tied to “He who has been born King of the Jews”, and they had traveled quite a distance to worship that King (Matt. 2:2). The first to hear of the good news were the shepherds who were with their flock not far from the birth site of Jesus. To them was the announcement made of “great joy” - the birth of Christ the Lord! Their angelic visitation, in all of its glory caused these lowly farmers to discover Jesus. God had intervened in their somewhat mundane, repetitive existence. He appeared on the scene in great fanfare and called them to witness and behold the Savior of the world! They were so overwhelmed with ‘great joy’, they left the Savior’s side “glorifying and praising God for all that they had heard and seen” (Luke 2:20). These were most likely local Jewish men since the angel who visits uses Old Testament language in his announcement: “city of David”, “Christ the Lord”. The magi, most likely Persian pagan philosophers/astrologers, possibly those who according to eastern religion worshipped the heavenly hosts; these idolaters were drawn to Jesus using the language they knew best – God spoke through the stars. Each group, divinely called by God in language that was unique to them. Oh what a merciful God who knows exactly how to reach each one of us no matter how far from Him, or what we are involved in! The magi made their journey to Jesus much later than the shepherds, even as much as 2 years after His birth (see Matt. 2:16). Yet, the result is the same…great joy! Great joy for all who ‘come’ to the Savior.
Now friends…let’s get real for a second! Great joy? Yes, there is joy when we come to discover Christ. We are divinely called by God, sometimes supernaturally, and we are drawn to Him, and have our moment when we discover that Jesus is the Savior of the world, my Savior! We embrace Him and receive Him into our heart after repenting of our sins and accepting the forgiveness offered through His sacrifice on the cross. By grace we are saved when we believe! The salvation we experience is wonderful! There is absolutely great joy when we have been forgiven of our sins, accepted into the family of God, and reconciled to our Creator. We are filled with Holy Spirit and experience the joy of His salvation (Psa. 51:7, 12). Often the joy of this life-changing event lasts only for a moment. Many times, if not all the time, there is great heartache and trouble for choosing Jesus and following Him. Often there are broken relationships, family divisions, heartaches, persecutions, church strife, etc. etc. etc. In this world, choosing Jesus means trouble and conflict. The joy we experienced in the moment of meeting Jesus for the first time dissipates quite rapidly. Like the crippled beggar of Acts 3 who miraculously meets Jesus through John and Peter, is suddenly healed, jumps up walking, leaping and praising God. The following day, the same man finds himself in the middle of controversy with the religious Jews. Many of you reading this are older and have encountered your share of controversy for just trying to follow Jesus – whether from family members, fellow church members, spouses, children, co-workers, etc. Sadly, “Great joy” can quickly turn to “great sorrow”.
How do you maintain this “great joy” that is found in Christ, and He alone (John 15:11)? Number one, you stay close to Jesus, the source of true joy – abide in Him. Number two, we focus on our salvation and glorious future, not our present circumstances. Take a moment to read 1Peter 1:1-9; it’s amazing!!! Just when you think you could not get any more joy than, “rejoiced exceedingly with great joy”, Peter writes this to a persecuted church, “and though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory (1 Peter 1:8 NASB).
“Greatly rejoice” in your salvation (1Peter 1:6). Meditate on all that God has done (1Pet. 1:1-9):
- God chose you
- God sanctified you by His Spirit
- God cleansed you by the blood of Jesus
- God in His mercy has caused us to be born again
- God gave us a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus
- God guarantees us an inheritance that will never perish, fade away, reserved in heaven for us
- God protects us by His power so that we will experience the fullness of our salvation
- God gives us grace to endure all the trials of life
- God gives us the faith to believe in a Savior we have never seen, but we love nonetheless
- God will reveal Jesus at His return and we will experience the fruit of our faith – the salvation of our soul
Oh friends! Great joy is truly only found in Jesus and the truth of the Good News! If we have lost that joy, we need to fix our eyes on Jesus, not the problems. We need to set our mind on things above, not the problems. I’m preaching to myself now! Come on! Somebody shout AMEN! What a Savior! What a great God! What a salvation! There is indeed GREAT JOY when we focus on JESUS!!!
Have a blessed week!
"Advancing the Kingdom of God by releasing Spirit-filled followers to serve Jesus in freedom and joy."
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