Christ's Joy

“I am coming to You now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of My joy within them.” (John 17:13)

That verse is taken from Jesus’ high priestly prayer recorded in John 17. That prayer is one of my favorite passages of Scripture for many reasons, one of them being the reference to Christ’s joy. His desire was for that little ragtag band of disciples to have the full measure of His joy within them. Really, isn’t that just about incomprehensible? After all, He was God in the flesh. But He desired for them to have His joy, and for it to be complete.
Now that leads me to this question: What is Christ’s joy? I’ve been mulling this over for a few days now, because what I’ve found to be the answer is an even more amazing thing. Hebrews 12:2 says:

“Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

As Christ set His eyes toward Jerusalem, He knew what awaited Him there. He also knew that He was going to the Father, and how that must have filled His heart with joy. But I don’t think that’s the joy that the Hebrew author is speaking about. Christ didn’t need to endure the cross to get to the Father. He could have just said no, and taken a more direct and less painful route. So what is this joy? What was accomplished by Christ’s death on the cross? Redemption for a lost mankind. Redemption for me. Because of that single act,

“The Lord will write in the register of the peoples:
‘This one was born in Zion.’” (Psalm 87:6)

My salvation, my birth in Zion, a home prepared for me, grace to live abundantly….Christ has done all this for me (and for you as well). But not only has He done it, it is His joy! His delight is that I am His.

How can I wrap my mind around that?