JESUS: A Man of Sorrow and of JOY

        Have you had your JOY JUICE today?  Even in times of sorrow, we can experience joy!

            The reason Jesus can comfort us in our times of sorrow is because He suffered and knew sorrow, himself. Isaiah 53:3 says: “He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and familiar with suffering.”  But let’s not stop there! Jesus was a man of sorrows, but He was, also, a man of JOY!

            In Kay Warren’s book Choose JOY, she makes a crucial point: “In Jesus’s role, he was a man of sorrows.  But in his essence—his unchanging nature—he was man of joy.  In fact, the Bible tells us, ‘The Son of man came, enjoying life.’ (Luke 7:34) The Son of Man didn’t come bent over in pain.  He didn’t arrive with a scowl on his face, a killjoy who couldn’t survive without his box of tissues.  He came,  eating and drinking and loving life.”

            “Jesus was a vibrant, compassionate man, a man of both sorrow and joy who could enter fully into life with all its brokenness.  If he was a man of sorrows AND could experience joy, maybe (we) can too.”

            This brings hope to our hearts—that even Jesus, the divine Son of God, experienced heartache and sorrow—yet, He was joyful. “But He’s God,” someone may point out.  YES!  That’s exactly right.  And because He IS God, He is able to share His joy with you and me!

            Let’s choose JOY in Jesus!