“So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you”
What are you going to look at? What are you going to pay attention to? Because the world will throw sorrow after sorrow at you. The world will show you how it is going to hell in a hand basket. If you want to wring your hands over things, if you want to be sorrowful, or angry, or fearful, you’ll have no problem whipping up those emotions in yourself. Simply look at the things in the world that you know will get you all agitated.
That’s how we operate now. Think about the coming week – you know there’s going to be several things that get people all angry and loud (for a few hours), and then on to the next thing. Rage and fear and sorrow. Yet over and against that, Jesus speaks of joy. How is there to be joy when we are surrounded by so much rage-fear-sorrow inducing junk?
Because Jesus sees you. Jesus first spoke these words to the disciples on Maundy Thursday, and He was telling them bluntly how Good Friday was going to be lousy for them. They would be filled with sorrow (and fear and anger) – but He told them there would be joy. Joy that would come when Christ Jesus would see them. And that’s what happened with the resurrection – Jesus sees them and they rejoice.
And there was still fear in the world. Still hardship. But Jesus sees them, and they rejoice. Likewise – Jesus sees you. You are baptized, you are part of His own body – you even receive His Body and Blood in His Supper. Jesus sees you, makes you a temple of His Holy Spirit. And when you see this – when your eyes are upon Christ Jesus and His love for you, there is joy. Joy that no one can take away.
Of course, we often look elsewhere. We often run after the things of sorrow. We run down the same fear inducing tracks foolishly and stupidly. We try to view the world in terms of struggle and hatred instead of seeing all thing through Christ. Yet Jesus returns to us again and again in His Word, in His Church. He would see us again and give us joy. Let us fix our eyes upon Jesus, the Author and Perfector of our faith.
