Except for around Christmastime, we don't often hear the word "joy" being used -- and when we do, most people often interchange it for "happiness". In fact, when looking up the word "joy" on www.dictionary.com, the first definition for the word "joy" as a noun comes up with the following:
- the emotion of great delight or happiness caused by something exceptionally good or satisfying; keen pleasure; elation
But is "joy" the same as "happiness"? Perhaps an even better question would be, "Can a person experience joy without experiencing happiness?" I think the answer is, "Yes"...and a perfect example of that would be Jesus Himself.
Look at the what Scripture says in Hebrews 12:2 -- "...looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross..." It was because of the joy that He knew from intimate fellowship with His Father that He willingly subjected Himself to the shame and brutality of the cross. But while He was experiencing joy, He most certainly wasn't experiencing happiness.
Think of how Scripture records Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane on the night of His arrest, just prior to His crucifixion -- "...and He began to be sorrowful and deeply distressed." (Matthew 26:37b, NKJV); and "And being in agony, He prayed more earnestly. Then His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground." (Luke 22:44, NKJV) Medical experts have documented a physical condition called hematodrosis, in which the body is under such great stress that the capillaries that feed the sweat glands burst, allowing small amounts of blood to mix with the sweat. Jesus was not experiencing "happiness" the night before His crucifixion, but He was experiencing "joy".
Or consider Jesus on the cross, as the sins of the entire world -- past, present and future -- were laid upon His shoulders. At that moment, Jesus became sin for us, and God could not look upon His Son. The Bible records for us what impact that had on Jesus in Mark 15:34 (NKJV) -- "And at the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, 'Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?' which is translated, 'My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?'" That was a time of tremendous sorrow and brokenness for our Savior. He wasn't "happy" then either, but He was experiencing God's abiding joy.
Happiness is almost always linked to what a person is experiencing right now. Joy, however, comes from a focus on what is to come, not on what is happening right now. It's more than a feeling or an emotion. It's that inner "fuel" that allows you to say, "What I'm going through right now isn't fun, enjoyable, happy, etc. BUT, it's worth it because I know what the outcome will be."
For Jesus, He knew firsthand what it meant to have constant fellowship with His Father, and it was His desire for all of mankind to have that same intimate relationship with His Father as well. But He also knew that, because of mankind's sinfulness, there was no possible way for us to have an eternal relationship with God on our own. Nothing we could ever do on our own could ever erase sin from our lives. Jesus knew the only way that could happen was for God to transfer our sin to Him -- to allow our debt to become Jesus' responsibility to pay -- which was only made possible through Jesus' death on the cross. And so, what both drove Jesus to the cross and kept Him there was the incredible love He has for each of us and the joy of knowing that -- because of what He would accomplish through the cross -- you and I would have the opportunity to truly have fellowship with His Father just like He enjoyed daily.
Was the cross a happy experience for Jesus? No, it wasn't...but it was an experience driven by true joy, a joy that is available to every person who places their faith and trust in Jesus Christ.
