May 1, 2022
Scripture Reading: John 17:12-19
In this wonderful prayer for His disciples, Jesus requests four things from the Father. The first is that the Father would keep those whom He had given to His Son (Jn 17:11). The second request is that Jesus' disciples would experience Jesus' joy. "But now I am coming to you, and these things I speak in the world, that they [the disciples] might have my joy fulfilled in themselves" (Jn 17:13; cf. Jn 15:11).
We start with the reality that God is a God who has pleasure in Himself. He has pleasure in His Son (Mt 3:17; 17:5), who is the perfect reflection of Himself (Heb 1:3). The Father and the Son have infinite love for each other (Jn 14:31; 17:24,26).
God is a God who has pleasure in Himself and in all He does (Psa 115:1; 136:5; Isa 46:10). It is stunning to think that He wants to share His joy with us, much like He desires to share His love and His life with us.
The means of our experiencing God's joy are, among other things, prayer and taking in His word. "Ask and you will receive, that your joy may be full" (Jn 16:24). "These things I have spoken to you that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full" (Jn 15:11). Jesus wants us to experience His joy. Can we imagine anything more pleasurable, in all the world, than the pleasure of knowing the joy that Jesus knows?