"Looking away from all else to gaze upon Jesus the pioneer and completer of the faith; who for the joy that is being set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God." [Heb 12:2]
What is commonly translated in Hebrews 12, “for the joy that was set before Him,” is actually better translated, “for the joy that is being set before Him.” For the verb “set” is in the present tense, not past. The joy that is presently being set before Jesus was also being set before Him while He endured the cross, seeing as that object of His joy gave Him strength to endure. The joy that was set before Christ was and is, us, the bride of Christ. Just as it says of Jacob, “and Jacob served seven years for Rachel; and they seemed unto him but a few days, for the love he had to her,” [Gen 29:20] so too it could be said of Christ toward His beloved Bride, the Church. For true love, which produces “joy,” [Gal 5:22] and in which Jesus is ever-abounding, cannot be quenched no matter the hardship. As it is written, “many waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown it;” [Songs 8:7] and, “[Love] endureth [through] all things. Love never faileth…” [1 Cor 13:7-8] And this eternal nature of Christ’s love is proved dramatically to us through the cross. For even the rushing and violent waters of God’s wrath, which poured over Jesus’ soul and drowned Him in sorrow – which pains were inflicted upon Him for our sakes – yea, even such intensities were not strong enough to removed Jesus’ love for us, for He loves us still.
Praise be to Jesus for His indescribable gift; for His love which is surpassing a thousand eternities of knowledge, for His boundless and deep and everlasting love. For what love He must possess for us, as to be filled with such joy, such joy that would compel Him to endure the torments and agonies of the cross. Praise be to God a thousand times over, for again, nothing can “separate us from the love of Christ:” neither “tribulation, [nor] distress…[nor] things present, nor things to come,” nor anything at all, “shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” [Rom 8:35-39]
In Zephaniah we read,
“The LORD thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; He will run to support thee, He will rejoice over thee with joy; He will rest in His love, He will dance and leap for joy over thee with a shout for joy.” [Zeph 3:17]
See the great joy which Christ’s love for us produces in Him. What glories and graces await us in “the kingdom of the Son of [God’s] love[!]” [Col 1:13] What a blessed and living inheritance, incorruptible and indestructible, [1 Pe 1:3-4] that we long and yearn after! For Jesus was, and is, and shall ever be, filled with love and with joy for us.
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