Growing up in my Catholic Italian family in Birmingham Alabama, Christmas meant fasting from meat on Christmas Eve; going to midnight mass, even as a young child; and feasting on delicious Italian sausage, eggs and homemade bread at my grandparent’s house afterward. How could you not be joyful? I loved the Christmas songs that brought us out of the penitential season of Advent into the glory of a decorated church with blazing lit candles filling the sanctuary, a large manger scene set up to one side, and the choir singing, at full blast, the familiar yuletide songs.
My memories of celebrating Christmas were particularly focused on the songs of this season so full with JOY. Such glorious anthems went right to my heart. I loved singing them, especially on that night. My favorite was, and still is, “Joy to the World.” When I read up on the origin of this Christmas hymn from the 18th century, I learned that I was not alone in liking it – it was the most published Christmas hymn in North America in the 20th century!
Based on Psalms 98:4 and 96:11-12, the words of this hymn are attributed to Isaac Watts, and the melody, to none other than George Frideric Handel, most famous for his Messiah, which is often sung at Christmas!
For us believers, the joy of Christmas is based on the coming of God in the flesh, of a Jewish baby born of a virgin Mary. “Im-manu-el”: with us—God! How amazing is this? In the recognition of this miracle of grace what can we poor mortals do but fall on our faces, rejoice and cry out praises to our God? Isaiah wrote: “I will give them joy in my house of prayer” (56:7).
In this year of Covid-19, responding with joy is not easy. Just as the virus began to rage across our country, I lost my dear husband Bruce and an adopted daughter in Jerusalem, Linda. Biblical joy is not what our consumer culture calls “happiness.” It is based on our total reliance and intimate knowledge of the character of our Almighty God and Father. Even in the midst of great loss, we believers can have joy! What a miracle of grace.
As I searched the scriptures for “joy” I found hundreds of references in both the Old and New Testaments. The Word of God is filled with JOY! The biblical writers used lots of different words to express this joy, which passes understanding, in response to God’s mighty acts of deliverance for His people. No matter which Hebrew or Greek word the inspired writers chose to use for joy, all were exceedingly superlative!
When Mary, pregnant with Jesus, visited her older cousin Elizabeth, whose son John the Baptist was soon to be born, Elizabeth cried out, “As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy” (Luke 1:44). The Greek word here means “jumped for joy, welcome, and exceedingly joyful.” After Jesus was born in Bethlehem and the kings from the east came searching for him as they followed the star, Matthew records that when the star “stopped over the place where the child was . . . they were overjoyed” (2:9,10).
The most common Hebrew word in the Old Testament for joy is simcha. This is a celebratory word meaning “glad, joyful, merry, rejoicing exceedingly, mirth, pleasure.” It is a word they used to greet one another at the times of celebrating the feasts of the Lord in the Jewish calendar. Most importantly, it is the word used in worship before the Almighty God of heaven and earth. For example, when King David brought the Ark of God into Jerusalem, David wrote a psalm of praise that contains these words: “Splendor and majesty are before him; strength and joy in his dwelling place” and “the trees of the forest will sing, they will sing for joy before the LORD” (1 Chronicles 16:27, 33). The Word of God challenges me to bring great exceeding joy into my worship of the Lord.
But the greatest and most profound mystery of joy that I find in the scripture is this one found in Hebrews 12:2: “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.” Jesus had joy because of the faithfulness of his Father to vindicate him by raising him from the dead. But he also had joy because he had been promised a Bride by his Father – that’s us, his redeemed Bride, that he thought of as he went to the cross! How can we not be exceedingly joyful in our worship of him?
As I prepare to welcome him with JOY this Christmas, I remember the cross and the price Jesus paid to set me free from sin – and look forward to his coming again to claim his Bride. Because of his love and obedience such joy unspeakable awaits us. May our JOY overflow now and forever as we worship him who alone is worthy!
Tags: advent, joy, joy to the world
