For Our Great Joy

“And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with fear.And the angel said to them, "Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.” (Luke 2:8-10)

These familiar words are part of the opening narrative of Luke’s Gospel about the birth of Jesus. At the first advent of Christ the good news message was “Great Joy”. Here the preaching of the good news by the angel has a specific object. Essentially what the angel was proclaiming is this: “I announce to you good news! Here it is …Great Joy is here! This is the long awaited time of great Joy! Your long expected and prophesied Joy has come!” Why? What has happened that great Joy has arrived? Well, the Angel doesn’t say so much what has happened as much as WHO has happened…“For born to you today is a savior who is Christ the Lord, in the city of David.” (Luke 2:11).

Yet, not long afterward Matthew would tell us that King Herod upon learning of the birth of Jesus, out of jealousy and rage would massacre thousands of boys aged two and under. Our Savior was born in the midst of massacre. Where is the joy? We look at recent events and ask, where is the joy?

Now, here are the very last words of the same gospel…

“While he blessed them, he parted from them and was carried up into heaven.

And they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy,

and were continually in the temple blessing God.”

(Luke 24:50-53)

Luke’s gospel begins and ends with Great Joy! And so everything in between is written there for our Great Joy if indeed we believe what has been passed down to us by Dr. Luke. This is what our lives are to be about, what our families and churches are to be about: Great Joy in Jesus. The ultimate goal of humanity is to give glory to God. Worship is what we were created for. It is our joy to give honor to God.

Let us be sure we are always in the business of making every day an opportunity to rejoice greatly in the Lord because of all He has done for us and is for us in Christ. The fabric of our society is disintegrating. People in America are shooting children and teachers en masse. Jesus entered into such a world. The world he entered has not changed much in 2000 years. And yet we must believe the angel's message that when Jesus came there was Great Joy. Jesus ascended into heaven and there was Great Joy. And now as we celebrate Jesus' first Advent in a violent horrific world, we still anticipate His second Advent - and let us do so with Great Joy that we might find the strength of the Lord to endure the violent times of our depraved generation. - jts