JOY TO THE WORLD!
That is just one of the phrases we hear or sing every year at this time. It has become a "standard" Christmas song or carol that is sung this time of year from churches to sidewalks and even in the shopping malls. It may even rank up there as one of "the best" Christmas songs if, for no other reason, than simple familiarity.
This morning I got to thinking about the opening line to that familiar song...
"Joy to the world, the Lord is come!"
I have to admit, through my many years of walking this planet I have typically thought of that sentence along these lines:
"Hey, world, here's some great news - the Lord has arrived!" - like a shout of exclamation. And, certainly if you view the song in sheet music form, you can see that realized in the way the text is written - with an exclamation point following the first four words. In this way, "Joy to the world!" is a shout of exclamation... LISTEN UP! or THIS IS FANTASTIC! or something similar... as if the song is saying to us, "Wow, this is so cool, the Lord is come!" Of course that speaks of the arrival of Jesus as the baby in the manger.
And, while that is a nice sentiment, it occurs to me that the lyric may be inferring something else... at least it did for me this morning...
I suddenly considered the sentence in a new way...
"JOY (the Lord, has come) to the world!" Or, When God sent His Son, Jesus, to us, He was sending us His JOY! That line speaks of the ARRIVAL OF JOY to our hell-bent world.
Perhaps another way to consider that opening line is like this - and notice the placement of the second comma...
"Joy to the world, the Lord, is come!" In this manner, the sentence clearly states that Jesus is the Lord, or the Joy, that has been sent to our world! Rather than being a shout of exclamation it is more of a statement of intention. It speaks of a PERSON, not simply a PROCLAMATION.
It is the truth that Jesus, our JOY, has been sent to us as the promised, prophesized, gift!
So, as we sing that song this year, I encourage you to do a simple mind-flip with that opening line and consider that Jesus, THE JOY, has arrived, or been sent, to our World to bring about a new way of living! A truly Joy-filled life!
