My wife and I sometimes debate as to which of us loves the other the most, and we
each make the claim that “I love you more.” The other responds, “No, I love you more.”
It is one of those debates that can never have a winner because there is no love
measuring device by which we can measure our love to see which is the greatest. It is also
impossible to measure joy and happiness. No one can say I am happier than someone
else, for without a way of measurement it is a meaningless statement. However, if the God
who made us, and who knows all things, says that someone is happier and more joyful
than others, then we have a basis for the claim that a person can be the most joyful and
happy person there is. That is what verse 9 of Hebrews chapter one tells us about Jesus.
It says, “You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore God, your God, has set you
above your companions by anointing you with the oil of joy."
The anointing with the oil of joy is translated by Moffat as. “with the oil of rejoicing
beyond thy comrades.” TCNT has it, “with the festal oil more abundantly than thy
peers.” Today's English Version renders it: "The kingdom that God has given you will last
forever and ever. You rule over your people with justice; you love what is right and hate
what is evil. That is why God, your God, has chosen you and has poured out more
happiness on you than on any other king."
The greatest joy comes to those who are in fullest agreement with the nature and
purpose of God, and that means those who love what is good and hate what is evil. All
people do both to some degree, for if you read the statements of crime leaders you learn
that they want their children to grow up and be legitimate and not criminals. Everyone
loves good and hates evil to some degree, but only one person in history loved and hated
in perfect agreement with God, and that was Jesus Christ. He was the happiest man in
history, and the happiest being in all the universe, because he had the very joy of God.
Is God actually happy? Does He have a heart filled with joy? It seems like He might be
sad most of the time because of the sin and rebellion of man, and the mess they constantly
make of His beautiful world, but the fact is, God is a God of joy. One of the great texts of
Nehemiah is in 8:10 where we read, “..for the joy of the Lord is your strength.” It is
God’s joy that makes it possible for Him to put up with a fallen world, and this joy was
the joy that gave Jesus the strength to go all the way to the cross and to the depths of hell
for lost sinners. Heb. 12:2 says, “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of
our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat
down at the right hand of the throne of God.” Without the joy of the Father Jesus could
not have had the strength to go through with the plan of salvation. He needed joy and the
power it provides to fulfill His purpose for time and eternity.
Webster's Dictionary defines joy as - pleasure caused by the EXPECTATION of good.
Jesus expected to see billions of redeemed sinners in glory, and enjoying pleasures forever at
God’s right hand with Him in the Father’s house, and it was this expectation that filled Him
with joy. No one in history has ever been able to expect such success from what they do. No
other sacrifice in history has ever come close to doing so much for so many. He purchased
by His blood that which is of infinite value. It is beyond measure what will be because of His
sacrifice, and that is why it is beyond measure to determine the greatness of His joy. It can
only be describes as a joy equal with the joy of the Father whose will He accomplished by
going to the cross.
The Nehemiah text is talking about the strength that the joy of the Lord can give to men,
and so Jesus, who was the greatest of men, could have this strength in far greater measure.
Spurgeon in a sermon on the text shows just what power is available to all believers in the joy
of the Lord. He writes, “Let us endeavor to analyze that special and peculiar pleasure which
is here called "The joy of the Lord." It springs from God, and has God for its object. The
believer who is in a spiritually healthy state rejoices mainly in God himself; he is happy
because there is a God, and because God is in his person and character what he is. All the
attributes of God become well-springs of joy to the thoughtful, contemplative believer; for
such a man says within his soul, "All these attributes of my God are mine: his power, my
protection; his wisdom, my guidance; his faithfulness, my foundation; his grace, my
salvation." He is a God who cannot lie, faithful and true to his promise; he is all love, and at
the same time infinitely just, supremely holy. Why, the contemplation of God to one who
knows that this God is his God for ever and ever, is enough to make the eyes overflow with
tears, because of the deep, mysterious, unutterable bliss which fills the heart.” One can only
ask: How much more would knowing God as Jesus did, fill His heart with joy beyond
measure?
The point I am making is that even those of us who are redeemed sinners can experience
great joy, and if that be so, how much more could Jesus, who was sinless, experience the
fullness of God’s joy? We read such texts as Isaiah 51:11, "Therefore the Redeemed of the
Lord shall return and come with singing into Zion: and EVERLASTING JOY shall be upon
their head; they shall obtain gladness and JOY and sorrow and mourning shall flee away." I
John 1:5 says, "And these things write we unto you, that your JOY may be full (having ALL
it can contain, abounding.)"....OVERFLOWING!!! I Peter 1:8 says, "Whom you have not
seen, you love; in whom though you see him not, yet believing you rejoice with JOY
unspeakable and full of glory." What can be said of the saints can obviously be said in the
highest degree of the Savior who made them saints. The logical conclusion is that Jesus was
and is the happiest and most joyful person in the universe. His oil well was a joy well, and by
the power of that joy He became the Savior of the world. The most precious oil on this planet
was the oil of gladness by which the Father anointed His Son.
This truth has some powerful implications for all believers. It makes it clear that with a
Heavenly Father of joy, a Savior of joy, and the Holy Spirit, whose fruit is joy, we have an
obligation to be a people of joy. How great students of the Bible could ever conclude that it
was a duty to be only solemn in church is beyond me. There was a time when laughing in
church would be a sin. It was borderline even to smile. This is totally out of harmony with the
nature of God. If we are to be like Jesus, then we are to be people of joy, and that means
faces, bodies and voices that communicate that joy. The Old Testament is often thought to be
the harsh part of the Bible, but the fact is, there are 27 different Hebrew words for some
aspect of joy. The Jewish Encyclopedia states that no language has a many words for joy and
rejoicing as Hebrew. Joy is the very goal of life in the Old Testament. We read in Psalm
16:11 "Thou dost show me the path of life; in thy presence there is fullness of joy, in thy
right hand are pleasures forevermore.” Even in the Old Testament the saints could taste in
time of what was to be the total meal in eternity. An unknown poet wrote,
The joy of the Lord is our strength for life's burdens,
And gives to each duty a heavenly zest;
It will set to sweet music the task of the toiler;
And soften the couch of the laborer's rest.
Yes, the joy of the Lord is our strength for life's trials,
And lifts the crushed heart above sorrow and care,
Like the nightingale's song, it can sing in the darkness,
And rejoice when the fig tree is withered and bare.
The joy of the Lord is our strength for temptation,
And counts it the testing of patience and grace;
It marches to battle with shouts of salvation,
And rides o'er its foes in the chariots of praise.
Charles Woodard makes a statement about the joy of the Lord that will give balance in
our understanding lest we think that joy is all emotion. He writes,
“What is the joy of the Lord? Is it finger snapping, hand clapping, foot stomping? I think
not. Is it singing Jazzy choruses and yelling hallelujah? I think not. Is it guitar-picking and
dancing the charismatic two-step? I think not. "Joy" is an inward emotion that may or may
not have an outward manifestation. The joy of Jesus, or that Jesus had, was in keeping the
Father's commandments: "If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I
have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in His love." (John 15:10) Then Jesus said:
"These things (above) have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your
joy might be full." (John 15:11) The joy of the Lord is His joy abiding in us! We may be full
of His joy by keeping His commandments.” This balance is necessary, for we do not see
Jesus doing a lot of dancing before the Lord, as David did. We do not see Him clapping and
shouting praises. The worship practices of Jesus are hidden, and all we know is that He spent
a lot of time in private prayer, but His joy is seen most clearly by the life He lived in
obedience to His Father in heaven. His greatest joy was to do the will of His Father.
It is, however, a great mistake to take this to mean that Jesus did not have the usual
emotions that accompany joyfulness. All too often Jesus is portrayed as if His whole life was
lived with the same negative emotions He had to endure the last days and hours of His life on
earth. He was a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief at that time, and that dark period
of His history has been imposed on all of His history. This is clearly folly when you look at
what the Gospels reveal about Jesus.
Jesus made it clear that He did not want His disciples to be like the gloomy Pharisees who
would look like death warmed over because they were fasting. They were looking for credit
for their being miserable. Jesus said His disciples were to wash their faces when they were
fasting and to look as radiant as possible, for they were to be lights in the world and not
clouds. Joyfulness was an obligation on the part of those who followed Him. Henry Van
Dyke, who wrote the words to Joyful Joyful We Adore Thee, wrote also,
Joy is a duty-so with golden lore
The Hebrew Rabbis taught in days of yore,
And happy human hearts heard in their speech,
Almost the highest wisdom man can reach.
But one bright peak still rises from above
And there the master stands whose name is love,
Saying to those whom heavy tasks employ,
Life is divine when duty is a joy.
When Christians fail to do this duty you have scenes like the one described by Erma
Bombeck when she was in church. A small child turned around and smiled at everyone. The
child's mother slapped him and said, "Stop that grinning! You're in church!" Erma wrote,
"I wanted to grab this child . . . and tell him about my God. The happy God. The smiling
God." We might see a little of this attitude in the disciples when they tried to push the
children away from Jesus, but we do not see in it Jesus, for He said let them come to me, for
of such is the kingdom of God. He loved children and they loved to come to Him. He exuded
joy and friendliness and that is why people of all ages wanted to be near Him. He had His
times when He was down and frustrated, especially with His disciples slow pace in spiritual
growth. He had to lament, “How long do I have to put up with you?” They often debated
who of them was the greatest, and Jesus had to rebuke them for their pride. The Pharisees
made Him angry with the way they made religion a burden rather than a blessing as God
intended. He had His share of negative emotions, but in His public life He attracted all
people because He had the spirit of joy is great measure. He was filled with the Spirit, and
joy was one of the fruits of being so filled. Eccles. 3:4 reminds us there is a time to weep and
a time to laugh, and Jesus had the balanced life that He expects all of His followers to have.
Can you imagine Jesus not laughing along with Mary and Martha when Lazarus came
walking out of that tomb alive. They had been weeping for days at his loss, and now they have
him back again. They would be overwhelmed with joy. It is in that context that we read in
John 11 that Jesus was so moved by their tears when He arrived that he wept. Can we
conceive that He would be moved by their tears to weep and not be moved by their joy to
join them in praise and laughter at the great miracle of resurrection. Jesus would not be
truly human if He did not laugh and rejoice at such a time. He would be lacking basic human
emotions, and this is not possible in the only perfect man to ever live since Adam. Multiply
this over and over in all of the situations Jesus was in month after month as He healed people
of their diseases. The people would be delirious with joy to see again, and walk again, and be
able to go back from the life of a leper to live with their family again. Imagine all of the joy in
the crowds day after day, and then try to imagine the author of all this joy not cracking a
smile. It is nothing short of sacrilegious to think that Jesus was some sort of freak who could
not join in the joyful celebrations all around Him. No one has ever lived who had more
reason to be filled with joy and laughter at the marvelous love and grace of God to fallen
people.
Leslie Weatherhead wrote, “I want us to see that Jesus Christ was and is the most radiant
personality in history.” He goes on to help us see this by describing some of the situations in
the life of Jesus that can only be explained by seeing His sense of humor. It is a long quote,
but even this does not cover all of the humor of Jesus. Elton Trueblood has a whole book
called The Humor Of Christ, in which he covers thirty jokes of Jesus. Weatherhead covers
some of the obvious ones. He writes, “Probably we shall have to emphasize almost to the
point of exaggeration the gayer sides of Christ's character before we can correct the picture
of Him which is in most people's minds. Many people, for instance, are still quite shocked at
the thought that Jesus ever made jokes or was deliberately 'humorous. Yet how else can one
interpret some of His sayings? He tells a story of a man grumbling at the speck in his
brother's eye when a great ' plank ' -for this is the meaning of the word translated ' beam '-is
sticking out of his own. He pictures a Pharisee drinking. It may have been soup. He does not
say. But he carefully strains out a gnat, and gulps down a whole camel. Whether the
Pharisees laughed at that I don't know, but I am sure the little boys sitting round his feet and
playing on the edge of the crowd did.
“Does a man light a lamp, He asks in one of His addresses, and put it under the bed ? Do
you think that question could have been asked seriously ? Take the story of the friend at
midnight asking for three loaves. The response is a sleepy ' Go away! I am with my children
in bed.' I believe that is an obvious touch of humor. Then, you remember, the friend goes
on pestering him till at last the man rises, ' not because the other is his friend, but because of
his importunity, and gives him whatsoever he desires.' In other words, he does not want to be
troubled, but the other makes such a noise that at last the father says that if only he will stop
making that noise, which may wake the baby at any moment, he will give him the whole
house. Jesus paints another picture of Pharisees invited to a feast. One of them excuses
himself on the ground that he has bought two oxen, another that he has bought a field,
another that he has married a wife. Fancy a corpulent old Pharisee missing a free meal
because he had to try his oxen or look at a muddy field, or, we should say, hold his wife's
hand! Surely there is the ring of real humor in His voice and a sparkle in His eyes!
“ I think also that the radiant humor of Jesus probably explains many passages that he
sound harsh. Unfortunately we cannot recapture the flash in His eye, or the tone of voice on
which the character of many of His replies depends. For instance, you will remember the
story of the Syro-phoenician woman who comes to Him, and to whom He says a thing that
sounds cruel and hard, even rude: ' I was not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of
Israel. . . . It is not meet to take the children's food and cast it to the dogs.' What an awful
thing to say! But you cannot see His eyes. You know He was joking from the woman's
answer. She would never have dared to answer a rabbi as she did unless she had seen in His
eyes that He was only teasing her. 'No,' she said, ' but even the puppies (she uses a different
word from His word for dogs) eat the crumbs under the table.' And then He did what she
had asked Him to do. Sometimes, when I hear these matchless stories read in church by some
solemn, pompous person, I imagine Peter and John sitting together in the back pew, and the
former nudging the latter and saying, ' He wouldn't read it like that if he had been there, and
heard Jesus say it."
There are many hints about the joyful nature of Jesus in the Gospels that we tend to
ignore because of the history of art that pictures Jesus as so sad. His enemies called Him a
winebibber and a glutton, and a friend of publicans and sinners. This was due to the fact that
Jesus was often at celebrations like weddings and banquets. Often it was with people who
were not the most respectful. And seldom did He fast, or expect His followers to do so. He
was a party lover because that is where He could get to know people. The Pharisees saw all of
His fun loving times as a disgrace for a religious teacher and they called Him the worst of
names by saying He was a winebibber and glutton. Dr. Glover called this, “the most precious
bit of slander that ever slipped from slimy lips.” He said this because it reveals just how
radiant and attractive Jesus was to all kinds of people. He was fun to be with, and the life of
any party. This picture of Jesus is becoming more and more acceptable, and there are
numerous paintings of Jesus which show Him laughing and with a big smile. This was once
very unacceptable because people let the culture and the times dictate how they see Jesus
rather than the Word of God.
Spurgeon points out that it was not just the death of Jesus that caused God to anoint
Him with the oil of joy, for it was also for His perfect life. He wrote, “On account of our
Lord's perfect life he is now rewarded with superior joy. Others there are to whom grace
has given a sacred fellowship with him, but by their universal consent and his own merit,
he is prince among them, the gladdest of all because the cause of all their gladness. At
Oriental feasts oil was poured on the heads of distinguished and very welcome guests;
God himself anoints the man Christ Jesus, as he sits at the heavenly feasts, anoints him as
a reward for his work, with higher and fuller joy than any else can know; thus is the Son
of man honored and rewarded for all his pains.” Jesus feasted joyfully on earth without
sin, and the result is He will feast forever in heaven where sin is no more, and where joy
and laughter will be endless. Their will be many companions sharing the eternal feast, but
Jesus will always have a greater measure of joy than any angel or man, for it was His
obedience to the Father that made all this joy possible. His anointing with the oil of joy is
an eternal anointing, and none will ever be more joyous and happy than Jesus. Spurgeon
writes again, “The Man of Sorrows is the fountain of all joy to others, and is the
possessor of all the joys of heaven and earth, by virtue of his triumphs. He has
experienced joys in proportion to his sorrows; as he once waded through deep waters of
grief he has now climbed to the highest mountains of happiness. For the joy that was set
before him he endured the cross despising the shame, and now having sat down at his
Father's right-hand he enjoys pleasures for evermore.”
It is easier for people to accept the eternal joy of Jesus, but they seldom think of the
many reasons Jesus had for being the most joyous man who ever lived while He was on
the earth in the flesh. It is always cause for joy when we are doing a good job, and when
we are complimented for it. God spoke to Jesus at His baptism just before He was going
into the desert to face His greatest temptation, and He said to Jesus that He was well
pleased with Him. Jesus heard His “Well done, good and faithful servant.” This was a
great source of His joy. God was ever with Him, and giving Him full assurance of His
favor. When we are doing what gives God pleasure, we are filled with pleasure ourselves,
and Jesus was always doing what pleased God. He grew in favor with both God and man
it says in Luke 2:52. He was a spiritual and a social success, and that leads any person to
joy. He never failed to please God, even though not all men were pleased with Him, and
that is why He was and is the happiest man who ever lived.
Can you imagine the joy of Jesus after His ordeal with Satan in the wilderness. The
angels came to minister to Him, and that had to be a scene of joy beyond what most can
ever experience. Jesus had faced the worst enemy of God and man and He came through
the fire without a singed hair. He had won over the most powerful force for evil in the
universe. I saw how people celebrated when we won World War II. I was just a young
boy, and I was down town in Sioux Falls, South Dakota when all of a sudden whistles
started to blow. People stopped there cars in the street and got out to dance on the road
and hug strangers. Paper was flying out of window in the upper stories of the buildings. It
was a wild celebration, for victory had been won over an enemy. Such joy is rare to see,
and I have never seen it again like that, but I can imagine the depth of joy Jesus felt after
winning the greatest victory possible. Jesus had every reason to be the happiest man in
the universe.
Spurgeon waxes eloquent in his defense of the happy Jesus by suggesting it would be
impossible for a normal man to not be filled with joy in doing all of the good that Jesus
did in His daily ministry. He writes, “Do you think, brethren, our Savior lived in this
world, doing so much good, without receiving some joy in his acts of mercy? To teach, to
labor, and to make men holy, must give joy to a benevolent mind. It could not be
otherwise than pleasant to a good man to do good. If God delighteth in mercy, surely his
express image must do the same. To restore the dead to their sorrowing relations, was
this no satisfaction? Did the widow's grateful eye in the gates of Nain kindle no joy
flashes in his heart? Bid the thankfulness of Mary and Martha inspire no comfort in the
Life-giver? Think you that it was not gladsome work to feed the famishing multitudes?
Who could look upon the feasting thousands without rejoicing? To heal the leper, to
restore the lame, to give eyes to the blind and ears to the deaf, who could do all this and
not be happy in distributing the boons? Surely, brethren, there were some hosannas in
Jesu's ears, and though he could always bear the cry of "Crucify him! Crucify him!" yet
he must have felt the wondrous joy of doing good, which is one of the delights entailed on
all self-sacrificing lovers of others.” He concluded that a man who lives in full obedience
to the will of God all of his life must be a man full of joy. He writes, “Indeed, my
brethren, there is more than enough of evidence to prove that a rich anointing of
gladness rested on the head of the Man of Sorrows.”
It is important that we see this side of Jesus, for those who did not, but saw Him only
as stern and somber, developed the kind of atmosphere that appealed to none but
pessimists about human nature. Jesus had the perfect human nature and it was one that
delighted in all that God had made. He loved people and nature and all of life, and this is
the example of the kind of Lord we want to exalt as our example. If He did not enjoy life,
but just endured it, then He is a poor guide for us. But if He loved life and enjoyed each
day of it, then He becomes the image of God that we want to imitate, and the one that will
appeal to all people. Sad and depressed looking people do not attract others. I never
heard anyone say, “I love to spend time with so and so because they are always
complaining about life and sad over everything. They are never for anything and excited
about the future, but always against anything and see the future as being worse than the
miserable present.” If you know anyone like this, send them a get well card quickly. You
can count on it that Jesus never received such a card, for He was a happy person. In fact,
none was ever happier, for He was the happiest person who ever lived, and the happiest
person in the universe. His was THE GREATEST JOY.
