Week Three - Joy

“The Spirit of the Lord is on me…

to give them a crown of beauty instead of ashes

and festive oil instead of mourning.”

With a little more than one week until Christmas, we turn our attention to the theme of Joy for the third week of Advent. God promised His people that though they experienced sadness and disappointment, He would send someone to replace their shameful ashes with a crown of glory, and turn their tears into a joyful celebration. Jesus’s first sermon in Luke 4 is from this passage in Isaiah. After reading the prophecy, he tells his hearers that what they were waiting for was fulfilled by him that day. He was the one sent by God to bring joy in all the places where there had been sadness.

When Jesus was about to die, his disciples were worried because he told them he was going away. But Jesus promised to send his Spirit to be with them, to comfort them by being with them in a way that Jesus couldn’t if he stayed with them. When Jesus was taken up into heaven, the disciples were told that he would return to them in the same way. Christians ever since have been waiting expectantly to welcome Jesus back with joy.