From “I Want to Live These Days With You”, a book of Daily Devotions from Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Translated by O. C. Dean Jr.
“Joy to the world!” Anyone to whom this sound is foreign, or who hears in it nothing but weak enthusiasm, has not really heard the gospel.
For the sake of humankind Jesus Christ became a human being in a stable in Bethlehem: Rejoice, O Christendom!
For sinners Jesus Christ became a companion of tax collectors and prostitutes: Rejoice, O Christendom! For the condemned, Jesus Christ was condemned to a cross on Golgotha: Rejoice, O Christendom! For all of us, Jesus Christ was resurrected to life: Rejoice, O Christendom!
Jesus Christ came from God and going to God – this is not a new world of problems, of questions and answers. That is, this is not a new moral law, not new burden added to the burdens that people already carry. It actually means, above all, God’s joy in the world, God’s joy ignited in a humanity that hungers for joy.
All over the world today people are asking: Where is the path to joy? The church of Christ answers loudly: Jesus is our joy! (1 Peter 1:7-9) Joy to the world!
