Show Notes
John 16:14-15, Jesus says to the 11 on their way to the Garden of Gethsemane, “He [The Parakletos, the Holy Spirit] will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.”
“Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven,” said Jesus in Matthew 12. To blaspheme is to “speak against.” So, to blaspheme the Holy Spirit would be to say, “The Holy Spirit can’t or won’t do what He is called to do.” If it’s not forgiven, then it’s not allowed, right? If you’re not forgiven a debt, you have to pay it back. And so, apparently, one day every soul will have to agree with the Holy Spirit, glorify Christ, and inherit our Father’s kingdom. Until then, the Truth may burn.
John 16:16-24, “’A little while, and you will see me no longer; and again a little while, and you will see me’.... So, they were saying, ‘What does he mean by “a little while”?... Jesus said, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice. You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy. When a woman is giving birth, she has sorrow because her hour has come, but when she has delivered the baby, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world. 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. In that day you will ask nothing of me. Truly, truly, I say to you, whatever you ask of the Father in my name [Yeshua: “God is Salvation”], he will give it to you. Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full [literally “That the Joy of you may be having been filled”].
What is Joy? I find it to be rather hard to define. If I seek joy, I find it almost impossible to obtain. And once I think I have experienced joy, it’s already gone.
In his autobiography, Surprised by Joy, C.S. Lewis writes, “Joy is never in our power, but pleasure often is.” Joy is hard to define and impossible to grasp, so maybe we’re always surprised by joy because Joy is forever new.
But what is the fullness of Joy? Wouldn’t that be the joy of every creature ever made and the joy of God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit? How could we ever contain that much Joy? “Ask that your joy may be full,” says Jesus. He talks as if Joy is a vessel waiting to be filled, or perhaps we are that vessel — like an earthen vessel. But... “In this world you will have sorrow,” says Jesus. We all have sorrow. And you have a particular sorrow — a shape to all of your sorrows. Can you name it?
What is sorrow? Perhaps it’s like an empty cup. Perhaps Joy is the wine in our cup? Or maybe that’s despair; it’s possessing everything and being unable to enjoy anything. So, what’s joy? Maybe it’s drinking the cup? And yet that lasts for only a moment.
Everyone drinks water. But who in all the world has most enjoyed water? Wouldn’t that be the one who has been most thirsty? Perhaps joy is that moment at the edge of being thirsty and then full and, therefore, being unable to experience the joy of drinking. Maybe joy is the knowledge of absence and the experience of presence which can only happen in the “now.” Perhaps Joy is the knowledge of evil and the presence of the Good, who is eternal — the Way, the Truth, and the Life.
Joy is the moment you see the Light in the darkness; the moment Life is born in the midst of chaos, suffering, and despair; it’s the moment you hear a newborn baby take a breath, and cry.
Few times have I witnessed such sorrow as when my bride thought that she couldn’t have a baby; and perhaps, never have I seen a person in as much anguish as when she did.
It took us a year to get pregnant (no complaints on my end), but Susan began to worry, and that turned to sorrow…and then wrath (that’s what happens to sorrow that’s been bottled up.)
A friend of ours got pregnant out of wedlock.
More from The Sanctuary Downtown / Relentless Love
Here in Denver, at our local amusement park, we used to have a “Haunted House.” It was fully mechanized. One would ride through in a cart on rails. No monsters, just darkness, swirling things, and automated mannequins. It was really spooky as a child, but pretty boring for adults who had gained the knowledge of mechanical automation.
“The mere idea of you, the longing here for you. You'll never know how slow the moments go till I'm near to you. I see your face in every flower, your eyes in stars above. It's just the thought of you, the very thought of you, my love.” My wife and I have spent a lot of time on romantic vacations listening to those words sung by Billie Holiday or Nat King Cole.
Sometime around 1968, I learned about germs in school. They can be found in dirt and most of all, in the very pinnacle of depravity: poop. So, I began to wash my hands... a lot. I washed and washed, but I am a producer of human excreta, and so is everyone I know. So, it felt as if I was never finished. I was driven to cleanliness and then to the doctor, for my hands were red, raw, cracked and bleeding — open wounds susceptible to germs! I had been better off with no knowledge of “germs” and “not germs.” The doctor looked at my hands and said, “Stop (Shabat in Hebrew)! Stop washing your hands.” They hurt like hell, but it was hard as hell to stop.
John 18:38-40: “Pilate said to [Jesus], ‘What is truth?’ After he had said this, he went back outside to the Jews and told them, ‘I find no guilt in him. But you have a custom that I should release one man for you at the Passover. So do you want me to release to you the King of the Jews?’ They cried out again, ‘Not this man, but Barabbas!’ Now Barabbas was a robber [lestes: a taker].”