6
... continued ~
We read of the birth of the Lord in Luke’s
gospel: “And suddenly there was with the
angel a multitude of the heavenly host
praising God, and saying, ‘Glory to God in
the highest, and on earth peace, good will
toward men;” (2:13-14). Natural birth brings
joy when the baby is born. The trauma that
has been experienced is forgotten when the
baby is held by its mother. To Mary that was
a natural event, but the whole scenario was
not. God was his Father meaning there was
great joy in heaven at his birth and the
crucial stage of God’s plan of salvation (vv
30-31). “And, lo, the angel of the Lord came
upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone
about them: and they were sore afraid. And
the angel said unto them, ‘Fear not: for,
behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy,
which shall be to all people’” (vv 9-10).
The angel of the Lord brought these things.
Not just joy but great joy. I do not think that
we can depict heaven as being without
emotion, witness Luke 15:7-10 where we
read that there is great joy in heaven over
one sinner that repents. Later in Matthew’s
record we read of the Father saying from
heaven: “This is my beloved son” (3:17). So
joy was experienced both on earth and in
heaven at the birth of our Lord. He grew from
childhood to manhood preparing himself for
the work which his Father wanted him to do.
He knew that this was God’s will and he knew
that at the climax of this process he would
die. At all times our Lord’s attitude was to do
God’s will and we know there were countless
times when Jesus engaged in prayer to his
Father.
We proceed to the terrible events in the
Garden of Gethsemane. The strain which
Jesus was under showed in his words and
actions: “And he went a little farther, and
fell on the ground and prayed, saying, ‘O my
Father, let this cup pass from me: neverthe-
less not as I will, but as thou wilt’ … And he
went away again the second time, and
prayed, saying, ‘O my Father, if this cup may
not pass away from me, except I drink it, thy
will be done’. … And he went away again,
and prayed the third time, saying the same
words.” And when the mob came guided by
Judas, and Peter resisted with the sword that
he carried, “Thinkest thou that I cannot pray
to my Father, and he shall presently give me
more than twelve legions of angels?”
(Matthew 26). So why did Jesus not ask for
this help? “Thy will be done,” certainly, and
this was always paramount in Jesus’ mind.
But there was another reason that can be
effective for ourselves when the flesh strug-
gles against the spirit: “For the joy set
before him” (Hebrews 12:1,2). Bro John
Carter in his book, ‘The Letter to the
Hebrews’, has this to say: “(For the Jews) it
was a shameful thing to be spat upon and
derided and beaten and then, worst of all, to
be crucified. But he endured the shame of it
all; and he did it by faith in the promise of
God by which he saw the joy before him; and
encouraged by this prospect he was sustained
and triumphed. He now knows that joy then
contemplated: for at the Father’s right hand
are pleasures for evermore” (p 161).
Our Lord was crucified but rose to life again
on the third day. Matthew records the actions
of the two Marys going to the sepulchre to
see the body of Jesus. An angel appears and
informs them that he is risen and that they
should go and tell the disciples. What did
they do? They had all been close to their
Lord, following him and living with him and
they must have been overwhelmed with joy
to know that their Master was alive again,
and that in due course they would all be with
him again prior to his departure to heaven.
This was forty days after his resurrection.
Acts 1:1-8 gives us details of the final
moments Jesus had with his friends and
disciples.
Let us recapitulate briefly on the life of Jesus
before reading that all-important verse 9.
From an early age he knew his destiny and
was well aware of God’s plan of salvation.
He knew that he was the key part of that
plan. As his life developed, it was one of
complete obedience to his Father (John
Joy in the Scriptures