Spurgeon: March PM
* 03/24/PM
"In that hour Jesus rejoiced in spirit."
--Luke 10:21
The Saviour was "a man of sorrows," but every thoughtful mind
has discovered the fact that down deep in His innermost soul He
carried an inexhaustible treasury of refined and heavenly joy.
Of all the human race, there was never a man who had a deeper,
purer, or more abiding peace than our Lord Jesus Christ. "He was
anointed with the oil of gladness above His fellows." His vast
benevolence must, from the very nature of things, have afforded
Him the deepest possible delight, for benevolence is joy. There
were a few remarkable seasons when this joy manifested itself.
"At that hour Jesus rejoiced in spirit, and said, I thank thee,
O Father, Lord of heaven and earth." Christ had His songs,
though it was night with Him; though His face was marred, and
His countenance had lost the lustre of earthly happiness, yet
sometimes it was lit up with a matchless splendour of
unparalleled satisfaction, as He thought upon the recompense of
the reward, and in the midst of the congregation sang His praise
unto God. In this, the Lord Jesus is a blessed picture of His
church on earth. At this hour the church expects to walk in
sympathy with her Lord along a thorny road; through much
tribulation she is forcing her way to the crown. To bear the
cross is her office, and to be scorned and counted an alien by
her mother's children is her lot; and yet the church has a deep
well of joy, of which none can drink but her own children. There
are stores of wine, and oil, and corn, hidden in the midst of
our Jerusalem, upon which the saints of God are evermore
sustained and nurtured; and sometimes, as in our Saviour's case,
we have our seasons of intense delight, for "There is a river,
the streams whereof shall make glad the city of our God." Exiles
though we be, we rejoice in our King; yea, in Him we exceedingly
rejoice, while in His name we set up our banners.