The Cross for the Joy

There’s a line in the hymn, “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross”, that summarizes a seeming paradox in our celebration of Christ’s death and resurrection.

Did e’er such joy and sorrow meet

Or thorns compose so rich a crown?

Joy and sorrow are both significant in a Christian’s remembrance of what Christ suffered and won on his or her behalf. We sorrow at His anguish, at the physical, emotional, and spiritual pain He endured on the cross, but we rejoice in the victory of the empty tomb.

This is fitting, perhaps, because sorrow and joy were also part of Christ’s experience during the events we remember this Resurrection weekend. Hebrews 12:2 says,

“Looking unto Jesus the Author and Finisher of our faith; Who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

For the joy that was set before Him—the joy of what His suffering would accomplish, Christ endured the cross. He looked past the pain to souls set free from sin and reconciled to God, Satan defeated once and for all, the glory of having fulfilled God the Father’s will—all this and probably much more than we could even guess.

The cross was hard, excruciatingly so, yet Christ endured it willingly, not as a hopeless martyr, but with a certain victory in sight. And while we see His sorrow and pain quite clearly, and we know that He suffered unimaginably, yet we are also told that He endured for the joy set before Him.

The joy of the Bible isn’t just some manic, frantic happiness that comes and goes depending on how things are going at the moment. It is sturdier than that.

Biblical joy is unshakable trust, saturated with hope and rising on the current of our faith as we let the Holy Spirit flow through us. It is the certainty that, whatever we may face, we are promised it will be for our good. (Romans 8:28) It is a deep and enduring gladness at the remembrance of the place prepared for us in the presence of the Lord. (John 14, Revelation 21-22)

Biblical joy can coexist with suffering. We can look up to God in grateful faith even as the tears of sadness or hurt trickle from our eyes. Our joy is not dependent upon circumstances, but upon our unchanging, unchangeable God.

Isaiah 50:6-7 gives us a glimpse at Christ’s focus as He headed into the crucifixion:

“I gave My back to the smiters, and My cheeks to them that plucked off the hair: I hid not My face from shame and spitting. For the Lord God will help Me; therefore shall I not be confounded: therefore have I set My face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be ashamed.”

He suffered, but knew it would not be in vain. He tasted death, but knew it was but the foretaste of eternal life for the human race. He bore the shame, but despised it, knowing that He would exalted above all. (Hebrews 12:2, Philippians 2)

Such is Christ’s example, recorded for us:

“For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow His steps.” (1 Peter 2:21)

Dear Reader, what is there in your life that dampens your joy in the Lord? Remember Christ’s stedfast commitment to the coming joy in the midst of His sorrow and pain. Fix your eyes and your heart today on the joy set before you. The Holy Spirit is there to help you plumb the immeasurable depths of the “joy of the Lord” that is your strength. (Nehemiah 8:10)

“These things have I spoken unto you, that My joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.” 

John 15:11