Full Measure of My Joy

December 29, 2022

John 17:13 - I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them.

From yesterday’s verse from John talking about the Word becoming Flesh and Jesus being born, to today’s scripture as Jesus talks with His disciples during the Last Supper, right before heading to the Garden of Gethsemane.  Over and over again you see passages in the Bible where the disciples just don’t get it, they don’t fully understand what Jesus is talking about. They have sort of a delayed understanding. They don’t get it until after His death and resurrection. 

I say these things while I am still in the world… He knows that His earthly work is almost over but the work of the disciples is just beginning. He is praying over them before He sends them out into the world and He wants them to take His joy with them. They don’t understand that He’s leaving. They think they still need Jesus with them in order for their faith to grow. But Jesus is explaining to them that their faith will grow even more WHEN they are faced with difficulty because Jesus will be waiting for them on the other side. 

Three times while they are in the Upper Room, He talks about wanting them to have joy, and not just any joy, but He wants them to have the same joy that He experienced with His Father when He faced difficult times here on earth. 

And that’s what He wants us to have, His joy, as we go through our trials in this world, and we will definitely have trials, He wants us to remember that during difficulties is when our faith grows even more. We can’t control the challenges we face, but learning to overcome them will help us grow in perseverance, stamina and in our faith.