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Jesus was happy. Truly, genuinely happy.
Which, if you think about it, and as you will hear in this PODCAST, is a most remarkable statement.
As you know, and as we have chronicled over the now 3½ years of this Jesus in High Definition study, Jesus was (to quote Isaiah): “despised and rejected by men, a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.”
Never will that become so heartrendingly obvious as in the days immediately preceding His crucifixion. You want to talk about HD, we’ll soon see His rejection, sorrow, and grief in all of its gripping detail.
Jesus was a Man of whom it was written, “Jesus wept.” But the fact is, as we have seen and will see as His crucifixion approaches, Jesus wept often, convulsively, with a sorrow that penetrated down to His very bones.
Had we seen Him, up close and personal, we would have looked upon a Man who looked like He carried the weight of the world upon His shoulders… because He did.
But here, in Luke 10, this is the one and only time that this was recorded in any of the four Gospels:
Jesus was truly happy.
In order to capture this poignant moment, frozen in time, Luke employed a particular word, used of Jesus only here, that literally means to leap for joy, to exult, to show one’s joy by leaping and skipping. A word that denotes ecstatic joy and sheer delight.
We could therefore properly translate Luke 10:21 to read, “At that same time, Jesus jumped for joy.”
Given the rarity of such an emotion in Jesus’ storied life and ministry — punctuated as it was by the highest of highs and the lowest of lows — I want to know why Jesus jumped for joy.
Don’t you?
And in fact, if you read Luke 10:21 carefully, the whole of the Trinity got into the act: “At that same time Jesus was filled with the joy of the Holy Spirit, and he said, ‘O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, thank You…’”
Why? What caused Jesus to experience such a bounding joy? So much joy that the entire Godhead — Father, Son, and Holy Spirit — shared in His joy?
Well, let’s look at this verse in a bit of a larger context:
17 When the seventy-two disciples returned, they joyfully reported to him, “Lord, even the demons obey us when we use your name!”
18 “Yes,” he told them, “I saw Satan fall from heaven like lightning! 19 Look, I have given you authority over all the power of the enemy, and you can walk among snakes and scorpions and crush them. Nothing will injure you. 20 But don’t rejoice because evil spirits obey you; rejoice because your names are registered in heaven.”
21 At that same time Jesus was filled with the joy of the Holy Spirit, and he said, “O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, thank you for hiding these things from those who think themselves wise and clever, and for revealing them to the childlike. Yes, Father, it pleased you to do it this way.
22 “My Father has entrusted everything to me. No one truly knows the Son except the Father, and no one truly knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.”
23 Then when they were alone, he turned to the disciples and said, “Blessed are the eyes that see what you have seen. 24 I tell you, many prophets and kings longed to see what you see, but they didn’t see it. And they longed to hear what you hear, but they didn’t hear it.”
This is a remarkable statement!
To fully understand this, though, we need to go back to the Bible’s first person to wear the mantle of “prophet”, Moses.
4 It was by faith that Moses, when he grew up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. 25 He chose to share the oppression of God’s people instead of enjoying the fleeting pleasures of sin. 26 He thought it was better to suffer for the sake of Christ than to own the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking ahead to his great reward.
Think about the implications of that statement. It’s entirely possible that if Moses had kept his position as Pharaoh’s adopted son, he himself might have lived to become Pharaoh! But he gave it up.
Talk about a tough decision!
Jesus asks His followers to give up just as much, if not more in Matthew 16:24,
“If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me. 25 If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it. 26 And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? Is anything worth more than your soul? 27 For the Son of Man will come with his angels in the glory of his Father and will judge all people according to their deeds. 28 And I tell you the truth, some standing here right now will not die before they see the Son of Man coming in his Kingdom.”
Remember, Jesus said this amongst a culture where the streets were lined with Roman crosses where many, many Jews were tortured and killed. Everyone within earshot knew what Jesus was asking for them to give up in order to follow Him.
They knew that Jesus wasn’t talking metaphorically, but truly about giving up their lives in exchange for eternal glory with God.
Moses knew this same exchange when he gave up his royal position to live amongst God’s people, the Israelites. Moses knew what it meant to give up pleasures in this life in order to receive unending joy in heaven with Jesus! Even though he hadn’t seen a clue of how amazing that is.
This is what Jesus was talking about in Luke 10:23-24,
“Blessed are the eyes that see what you have seen. 24 I tell you, many prophets and kings longed to see what you see, but they didn’t see it. And they longed to hear what you hear, but they didn’t hear it.”
Peter, who was there listening to Jesus at that moment, paraphrased and expounded this concept in 1 Peter 1:10-12
10 This salvation was something even the prophets wanted to know more about when they prophesied about this gracious salvation prepared for you. 11 They wondered what time or situation the Spirit of Christ within them was talking about when he told them in advance about Christ’s suffering and his great glory afterward.
12 They were told that their messages were not for themselves, but for you. And now this Good News has been announced to you by those who preached in the power of the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. It is all so wonderful that even the angels are eagerly watching these things happen.
But, why was Jesus jumping for joy?
Because Jesus knew that now… finally… with these disciples seated before Him, every Old Testament shadows and pictures and promises that the prophets and kings had held to was about to be fulfilled right before their eyes!
Think of all the generations of Old Testament believers came and went, clinging to God’s promises and longing for that day, yet knowing they were not the generation to see it, but that their prophets were writing of future generations. But the generation of the disciples was THE generation, hand-picked by God to see the fulfillment of His promises.
That is what caused Jesus to jump for joy!
Now, that’s a great story. But the reality is that this is only half the story.
When Jesus referred to prophets and kings and Peter made reference to angels eagerly watching these things, they were not just writing about 2,000 years ago.
They were also writing about the day when Jesus will return, sit upon His throne and rule for all eternity at His second coming!
And, if you simply read any newspaper today, it’s easy to assume that we are living in an era which seems to be a turning point in world history, as the globe seems to be rushing toward a climax like the world has never known.
4 Jesus told them, “Don’t let anyone mislead you, 5 for many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah.’ They will deceive many. 6 And you will hear of wars and threats of wars, but don’t panic. Yes, these things must take place, but the end won’t follow immediately. 7 Nation will go to war against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in many parts of the world. 8 But all this is only the first of the birth pains, with more to come.
9 “Then you will be arrested, persecuted, and killed. You will be hated all over the world because you are my followers. 10 And many will turn away from me and betray and hate each other. 11 And many false prophets will appear and will deceive many people. 12 Sin will be rampant everywhere, and the love of many will grow cold. 13 But the one who endures to the end will be saved. 14 And the Good News about the Kingdom will be preached throughout the whole world, so that all nations will hear it; and then the end will come. (Matthew 24:4-14)
Consider this: today is the first era in human history when it is even possible for the whole earth to hear the Good News about God’s Kingdom, via podcasts and internet broadcasts such as this!
So, be encouraged that you and I are perched today with a front-row seat for prophesied events. We have our world news in one hand and our Bible in the other and the two are more compatible and overlapping than at any other time in human history. What a priceless privilege!
And what a message we have to share with people.
There are scores of people living amongst us whose greatest hope they hold today resides in who will win the 2016 Presidential Election. Yet, Jesus told us not to panic. Because He knew that a much greater hope is within our reach, waiting for us to grasp it, just like John wrote in the Book of Revelation 22:20,
Even so, come Lord Jesus.
His return can happen just that fast.
There is a new day coming. The stage is set. The principle players are in place. And I have no doubt that as Jesus thinks about this, and as He thinks about each of His beloved followers alive today, He once again is jumping for joy!
He can’t wait to come back!