Joy

What is joy? When you think back on times of great joy in your life, what brought you this joy? A wedding, the birth of a child, birthdays as the child grows, spending time in loving fellowship with your wife or husband, graduation day? Or various holidays can fill us with great joy, especially Christmas, Mothers' Day or Fathers' Day.

Sunday, December 17 will be the third Sunday of Advent. The Bible theme this Sunday is JOY. Again, there are any number of directions I could go with this, but when I thought about joy, I could think of no greater cause for joy than the Return of Christ to take us to be with Him forever. My thoughts then turned to Zechariah 9:9-10:

                        “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion!

                        Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem!

                        Behold, your King is coming to you;

                        He is just and having salvation,

                        Lowly and riding on a donkey,

                        A colt, the foal of a donkey.

                        I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim

                        And the horse from Jerusalem;

                        The battle bow shall be cut off.

                        He shall speak peace to the nations;

                        His dominion shall be 'from sea to sea,

                        And from the River to the ends of the earth.'"

On Palm Sunday, Jesus made a triumphal entry into Jerusalem at the beginning of we call Passion Week. Oh, the great rejoicing among all the people! This was in direct fulfillment of this passage in Zechariah. You may recall how it was the Babylonians who came in, sent the people into exile in Babylon, and destroyed the city of Jerusalem and the temple. Eventually, the Medes and the Persians conquered Babylon and the people of Israel were allowed to return home and rebuild both the city and the temple. The Book of Zechariah and the Book of Haggai were written at that time to encourage the people in their rebuilding project.

The great joy of Palm Sunday turned to great sorrow on Good Friday with the crucifixion of Jesus Christ on the cross. But, there was great joy among the disciples early that Sunday morning when they discovered that Jesus was risen from the dead. He is alive! He lives in our hearts! He came bearing salvation. He brings great joy to our hearts.

As we walk on this earth we must trust Jesus at every turn, always prepared to face everything in His power. As He leads us and guides us along the way, an attitude of joy should permeate our soul. As He answers your prayers and as He meets your daily needs, rejoice in Him. Joy isn't always shown through exuberant exaltation. It can simply be a quite assurance that we are in Christ.

Zechariah 9:10 can be confusing. It seems out of place. However, when you think about it, everything becomes clear. Jesus made a triumphal entry into Jerusalem to die on the cross and rise again for our salvation. He is about to make another triumphal entry: His Second Coming, when He returns as the conquering King. When He returns, He will set all things straight. There will no longer be any need for implements of war.

There will be no greater time to rejoice than when Jesus returns to take us home to be with Him forever. Oh, what joy will feel my soul! In the meantime, wherever you are, whatever you are doing, always keep one eye on the sky, watching for Jesus and keep joy in your heart. Amen.