The joy of God
Then all the tax collectors and the sinners drew near to Him to hear Him (Luke 15:1).
A young girl who lost her parents was taken into care in a Christian orphanage in the countryside. They cared for her well, but it was a strict home, and the girl was very lonely and unhappy there. One day she decided she would run away. She found herself beside the gate of a field. An old donkey strolled towards her and nestled its head against her shoulder. The young girl stroked its face and said to her new friend, “You must be a Christian; you have such a long face!”
It is difficult to think of a more joyful chapter than Luke 15. And it originates from the heart of the Lord Jesus. We should never forget that the Lord Jesus became the Man of sorrows for our redemption. He is not the Man of sorrows now. He is our risen glorious Lord and Head. And during His suffering ministry, He brought the joy of healing, forgiveness and salvation to so many broken lives. It was during that ministry that He spoke of the joy of God.
In Luke 15, the Lord describes His joy as the Good Shepherd finding the lost sheep. This parable was not just a picture. It was the Lord’s experience when He encountered Legion, Zacchaeus and the repentant dying thief. He describes the Holy Spirit’s joy in the simple story of a woman with a lamp searching for a valuable lost coin. Down the centuries, the Holy Spirit has searched in this dark world with the Word of God, to find valuable souls and rejoice in their salvation. And finally, the Lord Jesus describes the joy of God the Father’s heart as His love embraces us, covers us in the righteousness of Christ and brings us into the family of God.
But what prompted this overwhelming expression of the joy of God? It was when those in the most profound spiritual need drew near to Jesus to hear Him. Why would those who were so far from God want to come so close? The Lord Jesus was the most approachable Person. No matter how deeply people felt their unworthiness, they wanted to be near Jesus. The Lord did not need, like the High Priest in Exodus 28, to have a signet upon His head saying, “Holiness to the Lord” (vers 36). He was holy. And when Jesus was on earth, God was not in the cloud, or on a mountain top or behind a thick curtain in an imposing temple, He was here in all the power and beauty of holiness. But His holy presence did not drive away unholy people. It drew them near. They did not come out of curiosity; they came like Mary to hear His words of grace. They listened as the Lord told them of the joy God would have when they opened their hearts to His love and forgiveness. I wonder how many tax collectors and sinners who were led to Christ that day later became part of the early Church?
Moses’ face shone after being in the presence of God. Stephen had a face like the face of an angel when he witnessed to his people. God wants our faces to shine too.
“But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord” (2 Corinthians 3:18).
“For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (2 Corinthians 4:6).
