One
of the most hopeful, gracious, hard to believe, expectations for the believer
in Jesus Christ is that we will one day hear him say to us something like this:
“Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a
little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.”[1]Let’s
unpack a few thoughts from this wonderful revelation so that our faith in
future joy will give us growth in our present experience of joy.
The central
part of this glorious gift is the expression, “enter into the joy of your master.” This
tells me a number of very significant things.
First,
this all revolves around someone identified as “your master.” In the parable Jesus was teaching, the figure who
says these words to his servants was identified as, “His master.” One of the ways we are to think of our relationship
to Jesus Christ is that he is our master, our Lord, our King.
Second,
since the key, joy-giving figure is master, the people represented by the other
participants are referred to as servants. When we consider Jesus as our master,
the Lord of the kingdom in which we live, then all our business is about him.
Life is about him. We have come into his kingdom, to do his will.
If
we put this into parallel thoughts from the rest of Scripture, we could also
think of ourselves as sheep in relation to our shepherd, disciples in
relationship to our Lord, saints in relation to our Savior, the redeemed in
relation to our Redeemer, the secure in relation to our Rock, and the protected
ones in relation to our Fortress. If we have the relationship, we have the
promise.
Third,
the thing the master wants for his servants is that they would share in his
joy. He has rescued us out of our sin because our sin held us under the
condemnation of death. He has transferred us into his kingdom so that he, the
God of hope, can fill us with “all joy
and peace” through our faith in Jesus our Master.[2] He gives us teachings like this parable that assure us that we have
the certain hope of eternal joy waiting for us in eternity. This also fulfills
the proverb that, “The hope of the
righteous brings joy.”[3] Jesus’ parable assures us that our hope includes sharing our master’s
joy.
In
this present lifetime, Jesus’ disciples have reason for joy, while accepting
that it will be offset by a world full of sorrows. We can presently, “rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and
filled with glory,”[4] while accepting that we will be “grieved
by various trials.”[5] Paul could describe himself as, “sorrowful,
yet always rejoicing.”[6] He could tell us to, “Rejoice
in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice,”[7]while telling us that he had, “great
sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart,”[8] because so few of the Jewish people were receiving God’s gift of
salvation.
Part
of the, “Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a
little;” is that Jesus’ servants faithfully endure suffering in this
lifetime while we participate as peacemakers in the growth of the kingdom of heaven.
We have “Christ in you, the hope of glory,”[9] so we know the world will persecute us as
it persecuted him.[10]
However, we also know that the hope of glory includes entering into the joy of
our Master when the momentary sufferings of this lifetime are over.[11]
One reason Jesus can tell his servants
that we will enter into his joy is that he has already told us, “in your presence there is fullness of joy;
at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.”[12]
He uses his parable to remind us that those who show their faith by their
faithfulness will most certainly enter into his fullness of joy. As a side
note, the book of Revelation says the same thing, just in a much longer
narrative.
While we wait for that day of
hope-filled joy to arrive, read your Bible. Why? Because Jesus said, “These things I have spoken to you, that my
joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.”[13]
If our joy becomes full of his joy by hearing and practicing what Jesus has
spoken,[14]
we might as well listen up every day and give our joy the best head start on
fullness we possibly can.
© 2014 Monte Vigh ~ Box 517,
Merritt, BC, V1K 1B8 ~ in2freedom@gmail.com
Unless otherwise noted,
Scriptures are from the English Standard Version (The Holy Bible, English
Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good
News Publishers.)
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