²⁴ “Until now you have asked for nothing in My name; ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be made full.

Promise of answered prayer was not new to the disciples. Neither was the promise of joy. As early as John the Baptist, joy was presented as something sourced in that which is outside of a person. John found great joy in the fact that, “He must increase, and I must decrease,” and illustrated this with how the friend of the bridegroom rejoices for the bridegroom. The joy Jesus speaks about in the Upper Room is set over against the anguish and grief the disciples were anticipating; it was a joy that would reorient their lives, move their center point to a place outside of themselves, and center on Jesus.

Their loss and grief, which they anticipated in the loss of Jesus’ presence with them, was centered on themselves, and therefore was self-centered. Yes, joy is a something that is experienced personally, but there is a huge difference in the center, the ground (as philosophers might put it) of their joy. Jesus all along has been calling His followers to abandon themselves and a worldview that puts them at the center, and replace it with Christ as the center. As Paul would later put it, “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me” (Gal 2:20). The disciples where not yet there, but Jesus was preparing them for it.

Thus, the joy Jesus spoke of was incomprehensible at the time of the Upper Room, but they would soon discover what He meant by it. This would be a joy like the peace that passes all understanding—in other words, it far exceeds our wildest expectations. But, it is a joy that can only be found in a life centered on Jesus Christ – that is what discipleship is all about. That is what asking the Father in Jesus’ name is all about—asking with Christ at the center of our lives.

Our problem today is that we so easily satisfy ourselves with superficial joys that last only for a moment. Whooping it up over our sports team that wins a championship, or discovering an inheritance from a distant relative, being rewarded at work with a promotion or a raise – all make life enjoyable, but don’t last very long, or don’t stand up when life becomes difficult. Forbes’ annual list of the richest people in the world is littered with broken relationships, debilitating illness and ruined lives. Money and affluence aren’t enough to bring a lasting joy. Every Christian must come to the question sooner or later, Is Jesus enough? Is He my joy and my song?

Lord, to use the words of the two inquirers in Jerusalem (John 12:21), “We wish to see Jesus,” and to see Him and embrace Him in our daily lives.