6th week in Easter Time, Friday – 27th May 2020 — Gospel: Jn 16,20-23
No One Will Take Your Joy Away
Jesus promises so great a joy to his followers that absolutely nothing will be able to take it away. The joy of the hypocrite is but for a moment, and the joy of the chief priests, Scribes, and Pharisees, was a short lived one, on account of Christ’s death. The joy of Jesus being risen from the dead filled the apostles so much, that they went forth boldly preaching in the name of Christ. The joy of the disciples was durable; because they believed that their risen Lord would never die any more. The blessing of grace manifested in redemption, pardon, righteousness, and atonement would remain forever as the foundation of solid joy. Such a joy, no stranger could intermeddle with it; neither man nor devil could take it away, not by all the reproaches or persecutions that would follow them. Though a believer’s joy may be damped by sin, and Satan, and the world, it may not always happen because the joy always remains in Christ. The believer partakes in an everlasting joy of Christ. At the same time, Jesus tells us that when our joy finally culminates, we will no longer question him about anything. There will no longer be room for doubt. Our hearts will be so overflowing with his joy that we will lack nothing. The ache of our thirst will be quenched. The longing of our hearts will be filled.
