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Jesus Emphasizes Joy In His Last Night With His Disciples

John 15:11 (ESV)

“These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.”

John 16:24

“Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.”

John 17:13

“But now I am coming to you, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves.”

Jesus’ final night with His disciples (John 13-17) is a somber moment for those who know what is about to happen. Jesus, however, does become morose. Instead, He uses this final opportunity with His disciples to instill hope and emphasize joy.

Jesus speaks to His disciples in chapters 13-16 about Who He is, what will happen to Him, where He is going, and what will happen to them. Throughout this conversation, He uses a phrase two times that seems counterintuitive. On the one hand, Jesus says He is leaving them, and on the other He says “that your joy may be full.” After His discussion with the disciples, He prays to the Father (ch. 17), where He uses this same phrase a third time. The repetition should not be missed, and it should inform us that Jesus’ desire for us is to have “full / fulfilled / complete” joy in our union with the triune God and others.

The interesting thing is how well John understood this. John was one of Jesus’ 12 disciples / apostles, and he is credited with writing the Gospel of John, 1, 2, & 3 John, and Revelation. He was the last living apostle, living into the last decade of the First Century. Many decades after this final night with Jesus, John wrote the following in 2 John 12: Though I have much to write to you, I would rather not use paper and ink. Instead, I hope to come to you and talk face to face, so that our joy may be complete (ESV).

Did you catch that? So that our joy may be complete. It is the same phrase Jesus used in His final night with His disciples. It is even the same underlying verb that Jesus used.

The verb used in this phrase is πληρόω (plēroō). It is commonly used throughout the New Testament, and it conveys the idea of finishing, completing, fulfilling, or filling something.¹ But the definition of the word is just one piece of the significant data behind it; the other important piece (and perhaps even more important) is the grammatical construction.

The verb tense here in 2 John 12 is the Perfect Tense. This tense describes a completed action (usually in the past) that has on-going effects into the present and future. Jesus also used the Perfect Tense in two of His three uses in John 13-17.² So, Jesus’ use of this word in John’s Gospel indicates that the events He’s describing in chs. 13-17 are for the purpose of fulfilling our joy. Jesus’ betrayal, trial, death, burial, resurrection, and ascension are all complete events (from our perspective), but they have effects that ripple through time. These effects enabled the disciples to experience fulfilled joy, and they do the same for us.

We see these effects exhibited in John’s life. 2 John is so short (only 13 verses!) because he wanted to communicate what was on his heart in a way that fulfilled / completed his and his recipients’ joy. He understood that followers of Jesus are to live lives that emphasize joy, both with God and others. He understood that living one’s life in the present with joy is to live in the rippling effects of Jesus’ completed work.

May we do the same. May we understand the ability to live our present moments with joy because of the work of Christ. I will continue to meditate on this concept, asking God and reflecting on how my life can testify to the work of Christ by having fulfilled joy. I would encourage you to do the same. In doing so, our lives might just become greater examples of what the Christian life is all about.

Footnotes

1. Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament, s.v. “πληρόω,” paragraph 7751. ↩︎
2. vv. 16:24 and 17:13 ↩︎