Jesus was a man of frequent prayer. We see this clearly in the text below-
And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, he went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed.
Mark 6:46 And when he had sent them away, he departed into a mountain to pray.
Luke 5:16 And he withdrew himself into the wilderness and prayed.
Luke 6:12 And it came to pass in those days, that he went out into a mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God.
Luke 9:18 And it came to pass, as he was alone praying, his disciples were with him: and he asked them, saying, Who say the people that I am?
Luke 22:41 And he was withdrawn from them about a stone’s cast, and kneeled down, and prayed,
Luke 3:21 Now when all the people were baptized, it came to pass, that Jesus also being baptized, and praying, the heaven was opened,
John 11:41 Then they took away the stone [from the place] where the dead was laid. And Jesus lifted up [his] eyes, and said, Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me.
But in His longest prayer ever recorded in John 17 we come upon verse 13 where we see that joy was one of His top priorities as He was about to leave this world and return to His Father.
John 17:13 “But now I am coming to you, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves.”
AMP
But now I am coming to You; and I say these things [while I am still] in the world so that they may experience My joy made full and complete and perfect within them [filling their hearts with My delight].
AMPC
And now I am coming to You; I say these things while I am still in the world, so that My joy may be made full and complete and perfect in them [that they may experience My delight fulfilled in them, that My enjoyment may be perfected in their own souls, that they may have My gladness within them, filling their hearts.
Take note of Jesus saying it is my joy that He wants to be made full and complete in His disciples. Jesus is saying that his life is one of great joy. We often quote that He was a man of sorrow and acquainted with grief, and this is true, but that does not diminish the fact that He was the most joyful man who ever lived. He experienced all the unhappiness of life, but His joy gave Him the strength to rise above it all and enjoy life to the full. Why would He pray for others to have His joy if it was not full and perfect joy. He is praying that His perfect joy be the best gift He can pass on to others. There is no greater joy than the joy of Jesus for it operated within regardless of the negative circumstances of life. That is why He made it a priority to pray for it to be made perfect in His disciples. We all need to pray with Him for joy and make it a priority. We can rejoice in the Lord always because He is ever rejoicing with us. And never was He more joyous than now for He was returning to His Father in heaven. He was going home.
Jesus is praying for His joy to be imparted to those He was leaving, and that was His disciples and all who would believe and follow Him. Jesus prayed that we would have His joy. It was joy that kept Him going through this world of rejection and suffering, but he had to get to the cross to fulfil His purpose for coming. And what was the motivation that kept Him going? We read it in Hebrews 12:2, "fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God." Joy kept Jesus going all the way for our salvation. Now Jesus is leaving his followers to face this same world He had to overcome for victory, and His prayer is that they be endowed with that same joy that made Him succeed. This was a top priority for Jesus for He knew we could never make it without His Joy. The reality is that Jesus by joy made our eternal salvation possible, and that is why Jesus made it a top priority.
His purpose and goal in His teaching was to make sure His joy was passed on to His followers. He said in John 15:11, "These things I have spoken to you that my joy may be in you, and your joy may be made full." By His truth He conveyed His joy. One of the main reasons to study the Bible is that Jesus might by it impart His joy to us. In John 16:24 Jesus said, "Until now you have not asked for anything in My name. Ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be complete." Joy is a main reason for prayer as well as Bible reading. Jesus wants us to be full of joy. He wants us to follow Him in making it a PRIORITY.
Calvin comments, "That they may have my joy fulfilled. He calls it HIS joy, because it was necessary that the disciples should obtain it from him; or, if you choose to express it more briefly, he calls it his, because he is the Author, Cause, and Pledge of it; for in us there is nothing but alarm and uneasiness, but in Christ alone there is peace and joy."
Poole comments, "I put up this prayer, that the joy of my people may not be diminished by my going from them, but that when they can no longer (as hitherto) rejoice in my bodily presence with them, they may yet rejoice that I am ascended to my Father, that they stand commended to the care of thee, my Father, by this my last prayer."
Pulpit commentary, "But now come I to thee. So that the condition, the shielding protection of my love is removed, thou, O my Father, must be their Sun and Shield. And these things I am uttering in the world; uttering, i.e., in their hearing before my last step is taken, and perhaps in the very midst of the machinations which are going on against me. That they might have the joy that is mine fulfilled, fully unfolded and completed, in themselves. By overhearing the high-priestly prayer, they would be assured of the Divine guardianship, and would receive the transfer of even his joy as well as of his peace. They would find the higher joy also of the return of their Lord to the bosom of the Father. Christ has taught his disciples to desire such joy and peace as he found on the night of the Passion."
In John 17:13 Jesus said, “I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them." He was not satisfied with partial joy. He wanted nothing less than the full measure of His joy. He does not want half a glass full, but rather a glass bubbling over. He wants us to have a joy that is complete. This kind of joy gives us the strength to press on through all of the trials of life. Joy occurs over 130 times in the Gospels and Epistles making it clear that God made it a priority in His revelation. He knows we need it for strength.
We see this same message in Nehemiah 8:9-12. "9 Then Nehemiah the governor, Ezra the priest and teacher of the Law, and the Levites who were instructing the people said to them all, “This day is holy to the Lord your God. Do not mourn or weep.” For all the people had been weeping as they listened to the words of the Law. 10Nehemiah said, “Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared. This day is holy to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”11 The Levites calmed all the people, saying, “Be still, for this is a holy day. Do not grieve.”12 Then all the people went away to eat and drink, to send portions of food and to celebrate with great joy, because they now understood the words that had been made known to them." Here again, the Word of God gave them the joy they needed to overcome with strength. This is why wise believers will always follow Jesus in making joy a priority.
This joy of the Lord that we read of in the Old Testament was the joy Jesus had in full. He even went to the cross in joy because He knew what would follow. The text says He went to the cross and then sat down at the right hand of God. Joy is the power to look beyond the cross and every other negative experience with the hope of eternal joy at God's right hand. Spurgeon says with such eloquence, " The joy of the Lord in the spirit springs also from an assurance that all the future, whatever it may be, is guaranteed by divine goodness, that being children of God, the love of God towards us is not of a mutable character but abides and remains unchangeable. The believer feels an entire satisfaction in leaving himself in the hands of eternal and immutable love. However happy I may be today, if I am in doubt concerning tomorrow, there is a worm at the root of my peace; although the past may now be sweet in retrospect, and the present fair in enjoyment, yet if the future be grim with fear, my joy is but shallow. If my salvation be still a matter of hazard and jeopardy, unmingled joy is not mine, and deep peace is still out of my reach. But when I know that he whom I have rested in hath power and grace enough to complete that which he hath begun in me, and for me; when I see the work of Christ to be no half-way redemption, but a complete and eternal salvation; when I perceive that the promises are established upon an unchangeable basis, and are yea and amen in Christ Jesus, ratified by oath and sealed by blood, then my soul hath perfect contentment. It is true, that looking forward there may be seen long avenues of tribulation, but the glory is at the end of them; battles may be foreseen, and woe unto the man who does not expect them, but the eye of faith perceives the crown of victory. Deep waters are mapped upon our journey, but faith can see Jehovah fording these rivers with us, and she anticipates the day when we shall ascend the banks of the hither shore and enter into Jehovah's rest. When we have received these priceless truths into our souls we are satisfied with favor and full of the goodness of the Lord."
The bottom line is this-the hope of eternal heavenly joy gives us power to overcome all of the negatives and trials of this life. It enabled Jesus to even bare the cross in joy. This is why Jesus taught His disciples to look forward to being with Him in the mansions of heaven. This gave them the joy of hope that empowered them to face all the enemies of faith. The joy of heaven has a great impact on the joy of time. Paul said it in Romans 12:12, "Be joyful in hope." Hope based on the promises of Jesus gives all believers the power to be overcomers, and that is because hope gives us the same joy Jesus had in overcoming the cross. Hebrews 3:6 says, "But Christ is faithful as the Son over God’s house. And we are his house, if indeed we hold firmly to our confidence and the hope in which we glory." We glory in our hope because it gives us the joy, we need to be victorious in the battles of life. Jesus said in John 16:22, "Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy." Joy was a priority with Jesus in sustaining Hs disciples in their down times. He is the Great Physician, and He knows that joy is the best medicine to heal and overcome the negatives of life.
I like reading passages like we see in Acts 13:50-52 "50 But the Jewish leaders incited the God-fearing women of high standing and the leading men of the city. They stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas and expelled them from their region. 51 So they shook the dust off their feet as a warning to them and went to Iconium. 52 And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit." It looks like a terrible situation to be kicked out of the city and persecuted, but they rose above all this negativity with a spirit of joy. The joy of the Lord was their strength, and in that strength, they pressed on to serve Christ. Make joy your priority and you can keep marching for Jesus no matter the forces of opposition. Now we see why Paul was urging believers to rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say rejoice. He was agreeing with Jesus and making joy a priority.
Pastor Bruce Goettsche spoke on our text with these words, "Of all the things Jesus could have asked, He asked that they might be joyful. He could have said He hoped they would be serious or studious, or militant or a political powerhouse. But instead, He wants His people to be joyful. He wants us to be characterized by laughter rather than soberness. He desires that our focus be the resurrection, not the crucifixion. He knows that people are drawn to the joyful rather than the sad. Which are you? We need to pray every day that we will be an answer to the prayer of Jesus by being a person of joy. How often have we sung, "When we all get to heaven, what a day of rejoicing that will be." It is true, but what folly it is to fail to see that Jesus wants us to have this rejoicing every day in time. He wants our joy to be full and complete now, just like His joy as He faced the cross. Jesus wants His people to be joyful now. He does not want a people who are downhearted, sad and gloomy, but a people overflowing with the fruit of the Spirit in joy.
In this context Jesus prayed not that the Father take them out of the world, but that they be protected from the evil in the world. He wants them to be with Him in the eternal joy of heaven, but His prayer is that they be full of joy in this fallen world. The evil one has a host of ways to try and rob us of our joy in Jesus. We can only succeed in defeating him by awareness of the will of Jesus that we be full of His joy. In all circumstances we need to ask what is the will of Jesus" Then listen to this prayer of His that we be full of His joy. It was a priority with Jesus, and it needs to be a priority with us. Jesus pleased His heavenly Father by fulfilling His will with joy, and He expects us to do the same. If we live in a negative state of mind where joy is lacking, we are living outside of the will of the Father and the Son. Believers are often asking, what is the will of God? The answer is quite simple, be joyful. Make joy a priority in your life at all times. Even in the Old Testament we see this truth grasped by one-
Though the fig tree should not blossom,
And there be no fruit on the vine,
Though the yield of the olive should fail,
And the fields produce no food,
Though the flock should be cut off from the fold,
And there be no cattle in the stalls,
Yet I will exult in the Lord,
I will rejoice in the God of my salvation (3:17-18).
