During Ezra’s day, the Israelites were read the Law of Moses after a long period of rebellion against God. Nehemia joined Ezra in the public reading and encouragement to the people. When they heard the Law, their hearts were broken and they began to weep. Nehemiah encouraged them, telling them not to weep because God is a gracious God. He said to them, “Go your way. Eat the fat and drink sweet wine and send portions to anyone who has nothing ready, for this day is holy to our Lord. And do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength” (Nehemiah 8:10 ESV).
The word for joy shares the same root as the word for grace. Joy is something that comes from the divine, not because of material or physical success. Put another way, joy comes from God’s grace. That is its genesis. It is a fruit of the Spirit. When the angels appeared to the shepherds to announce Jesus’ birth, one of them said, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people” (Luke 2:10). This clearly was a mesasge of salvation–God’s grace that was availalbe to all people!
When Jesus told his disciples that he is the vine and they are the branches, he reminded them that anyone who keeps Jesus’ commandments would abide in his love. And “whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:5). He told them all of this, not to scare them, but for a very different reason: “These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full” (vs. 11). That’s incredible! The joy of the Lord is our strength and Jesus plainly said that if we abide in him and he in us, his joy will be in us and our joy will be full! Christ gives us his joy and his strength! This really is good news.