John 15:11 — These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.

This is one of those little verses that my eyes sometimes float over, but which — when the Holy Spirit chooses — draw themselves forcibly to my attention. This morning “joy” jumped out … perhaps because some of my devotions have been a little dark recently.
The general dictionary definition of joy is “a feeling of great pleasure or happiness” but although “Biblical joy” includes pleasure and happiness, it carries an extra weight. We are never commanded to “be happy in all things” or to “count it all pleasure” … joy carries, it seems, a different quality.
So here we have Jesus at the last supper, knowing what awaits Him. His discourse at that supper is remarkable. It is full of love and care for the spiritual and emotional wellbeing of His disciples. He promises the Holy Spirit and instructs them about their future behavior.
Here, perhaps halfway through, the Master draws breath and tells the disciples “I’m telling you these things so my joy may remain in you.” Jesus has taken joy from the relationship He has built with the disciples. He takes a natural human pleasure in the warm solid affection they have for Him. His promises and guidance will ensure that it continues, that they will not lose faith.
As well as His own joy, Jesus is concerned for that of His loving friends. He wants their joy to be full — or, as the Greek really has it, “complete, filled up to the brim”. He wants them to be full of joy — the same joy that He felt serving and obeying His Father. He knows what’s coming, and that the crucifixion will plunge them into depression and despair. He is preparing for them the tools they will need to survive.
Jesus’s joy did not come — could not come — from the situation in which He found Himself. The heart of His joy was the knowledge of a His position — His place as the Son of His Father.
The joy that Jesus promised His disciples was not, either, the joy of their situation. The joy He promised was the joy of their place in His Kingdom filled with the Holy Spirit, the Helper He would send.
What a friend Jesus was. His great concern at this critical moment of His life was not to seek support in His coming ordeal, but to provide support for His disciples in the difficult times ahead.
I know that the Jesus of two thousand years ago is the same as the Jesus of today. I know that in all the critical times in my life my position in His family means that He will always be my support … and my joy is secure.