Jesus “Rejoiced” In The Spirit

At that very hour, Jesus rejoiced greatly in the Holy Spirit … Luke 10:21

    

     The word “rejoiced” in the above passage is truly an amazing word in the Greek. It opens up a window into the person of Jesus Christ which could leave you never looking at Him quite the same again. The Greek word for rejoiced is “agalliao”. The literal definition of the word is to “jump for joy, to exalt, to be exceedingly glad with exceeding joy, to rejoice greatly”. The word agalliao comes from another primary root word which means “to jump, to leap, to spring up”. Uh-Oh. Now what in the world are we going to do with our very pious and religious image of a dignified Jesus?      Can you picture this? The Lord got so excited in the Holy Ghost that He leapt up and began to jump for joy and to be not just glad, but exceedingly glad with GREAT joy! Rejoice is a word used in the Old Testament quite a bit too. Psalm 13:5b-6 says, “My heart shall rejoice in Thy salvation. I will sing to the Lord because He has dealt bountifully with me.” The Hebrew word here for rejoice corresponds to the Greek agalliao. The Hebrew definition for rejoice is “to spin around (under the influence of any violent emotion), to rejoice, be glad, be joyful”. Something awesome stirred Jesus very deeply in that passage in Luke 10. Something which so profoundly affected His emotions that He could not contain Himself. He had to leap up and spin around and leap and jump and rejoice and spin and spring up and leap and be joyful and exceedingly glad with great joy!

     By now some of you are saying, “Okay, we get it. Can we just move on now? Can we just sort of put that back up on the shelf? And maybe, at the back of the shelf?” I can’t help but smile. It’s funny how uncomfortable those religious spirits can make us, huh? But, oops. What are you going to do now? I’ve messed you up. Because Jesus has now broken out of your religious box? He dances in the Spirit! Oh yes, the verse in Luke 10 said very clearly that Jesus rejoiced greatly in the Holy Spirit!

     One of the pitfalls in the Westernized church is that we tend to forget that the Bible is not an American or European book. It was born out of and is colored by the culture of the Middle East. Jesus was a Jew. And His responses to the Holy Spirit and His Father flowed out of that rich heritage; generation after generation of people who knew God and walked with God. To the Hebrew mind, leaping up under the influence of a stirred emotion and responding exuberantly was not considered in poor taste. It was recognized and valued for what it was — passion. 

     Hallelujah! May God help us to develop to the place where we will not miss some of the most profound demonstrations of the Spirit of the Living God because of our own cultural prejudices and biases. I’m not saying that Jesus’ display of praise was strictly Jewish. But, what I am saying is that He would not have felt the pressure to avoid that type of passionate display, because His particular cultural influence gave Him a liberty we sometimes don’t have. Not that He would have given place to any kind of pressure or limitation anyway. But, we would. Now, at this point in my comments, if we were talking about anyone else but Jesus, the temptation would be to say, “But all of that emotion stirs up and gives occasion to the flesh. And the Bible says, “the flesh profits nothing.” But, as I pointed out before, refer back to our original verse in Luke 10. It says that Jesus rejoiced greatly in the Holy Spirit. Jesus never did anything in the flesh. And as He leapt up and began to spin about and jump for joy, yes His emotions were stirred and He was behaving passionately, but He was in the Spirit and operating by the Spirit!

     So, now what are we going to do with all of this, as it pertains to our own worship life and experience? How many of us clasp our hands to our heart and with all sincerity say “Oh, I just want to be like Jesus. I just want to live my life like Him.” Hmmmmm. Do you, now? I wonder. But let us go back to Luke 10 again. What was the context of that outburst of praise? What was it that stirred Jesus so deeply?

     The disciples had returned from a ministry journey upon which Jesus had sent them. They were really pumped up. They were big time excited because of the power of God that had been demonstrated through them, as they spoke the word of the Lord in obedience to Jesus’ commission to them. They were astounded. Even the demons obeyed them! And Jesus was excited too. The results that they reported to Him were exactly what He had purposed for them. And, He clarified the whole thing for them, as well, when He said that they should not rejoice about demons submitting to them, but that their names were recorded in heaven. He didn’t mean not to be excited about and appreciative of God’s power, but that He wanted them to know and realize where the power came from. That it came from the fact that they were known in heaven and that the power they were seeing flowed out of salvation.

     How greatly we undervalue our salvation. It is the very source of the river of God’s life from which flows everything else we long for. The Bible says Jesus came that we might have life and that more abundantly. He was driven to see His Father’s plan of redemption poured out on mankind and implemented. That day, as the disciples returned from their mission full of joy, He saw a glimpse of His Father’s plan. He saw the beginnings of what it was going to be like when His redemptive work was complete and salvation would begin to be poured out on the whole world. He saw the beginnings of a time when His children would be released to flow into all of the highways and byways and spread the reality of salvation and eternal life — the kingdom of God to all of mankind.

     The joy was so intense and so stirred from the depth of his soul, that He rose up to dance and rejoice and leap and jump and spin! Oh, that we too, could have even a small portion of this kind of devotion to the Father’s plan. Oh, that we could be so moved to a passionate exuberant response to the unction of the Spirit of God. Oh, that we really could be even a little like Jesus. Perhaps then, also like Him, we could have the kind of profound impact on our world that could even change the course of human life, as He did. People would be truly drawn to the Father as He drew them, through us. Let us appreciate our salvation. Let’s make the choice to REJOICE!


26 Responses to “Jesus “Rejoiced” In The Spirit”

  1. Chris Beatty says:

    He gave me this spinning praise. I spin like a whirlwind with so much power and joy unspeakable…wow, thanks for confirming this. ❤️☺️

    • admin says:

      What a blessing! I am convinced that when we yield our vessel to that kind of overwhelming rejoicing,that it causes His glory to be released, as we surrender to being a doer of the word of God. That joy and that glory is contagious and flows over on everyone around us. They too are then caught up into this wave of glory. It is truly joy unspeakable and FULL of glory! It is a part of the end time glorious church!! Hallelujah! Bless you, Chris!

    • Linda Meadors says:

      Happy New Year!
      This is so relevant to how I was drawn into a whirlwind of praise early one morning as I was in prayer; I leapt into a dance. I was so overcome by the Spirit of the Lord, not being a natural dancer, I realized that when the Spirit of the Lord moves, I just follow. Such an awe inspiring moment for me to have tasted of Him in this way! Wow, today I dance before Him freely! I rejoice in the Lord because I am well in my soul. Hallelujah! I even use “REJOICE” today as a salutation of the goodness & understanding of the exuberant experience that was brandished upon me! I shall never forget His presence to me. (1980’s.) That experience charted the course for my “life in the Spirit” & it is ever before me to give high praises to my God. My life is only enhanced & I’ve never been the same! I will rejoice & be exceedingly glad as Jesus demonstrated! Thank you Father for this profound teaching of how to surrender my will to your “Will” in the arena of praise/worship to you! I love ABBA! I will rejoice…
      Glory to God!❤️

  2. g says:

    Keep on working, great job!

  3. admin says:

    Thank you so much for your kind words. Even with my very busy schedule, I will try to do better sharing more often. God bless!

  4. susan a miller says:

    Loved the picture. Loved the message with the exception of the sentence “oh, that we could be even a little like Jesus “. 1John 4:17- “Herein is our love made perfect, that we having boldness in the day of judgement: BECAUSE as He is, so are we in this world.” We ARE already like Jesus- the reason the world has not seen the manifestation of the Sons Of God is because we haven’t ALLOWED the Holy Spirit to reveal the Truth of the New Covenant according to the Promise in us.

    • admin says:

      Thank you for your comment. I appreciate you drilling down on that point. Of course there is the reality of our being created in the image of God, spirit, soul and body (1st Thess. 5:23). In which God has prepared a salvation for each part of us. Our spirit is born again (saved) when we repent of our sin and confess Jesus as Lord. And as you well point out, spiritually, we are immediately seated with Him in heavenly places with all of the authority and benefits of our covenant readily available for us to appropriate and walk in.

      Then, God in His wisdom, allowed for a “process” for the salvation of our soul, referencing this process in 1st Corinthians 1:18 as “being saved”. But, that there should be no doubt about this life-long process of the saving of the soul, He says in James 1:21-22 (NASB)
      21 Therefore, putting aside all filthiness and all that remains of wickedness, in humility receive the word implanted, which is able to save your souls.
      22 But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves.
      The word “soul” there is “psuche” in the Greek and careful study reveals that psuche specifically refers to the part of us which is our “mind, will and emotions”. As is clearly evidenced by our everyday lives, none of us walk perfect, holy and free of sin, as Jesus did. So, God covers us with grace while He labors to plant the creative power of His word deep into our mind, will and emotions so that by that, our soul (psuche) can grow to be more progressively like Jesus day by day and our soul can walk out the process of “being saved”. By availing ourselves of this grace in which we daily embrace the word of God in “working out our salvation with fear and trembling” (Philippians 2:12), and being “doers” of His word, we avoid the trap of being drawn dangerously into deception.

      So alas, we are saved. We are being saved. And, we will be saved, which is the gift of our immortal glorified body, which will be given to us when we are with Him for all eternity in the Heavenly Kingdom. This salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time (1st Peter 1:5), is when our body will finally be saved and glorified. It will be a body just like the body of our Lord Jesus after He was raised from the dead.

      So, in his context perhaps you can better understand my reference to us becoming more like Jesus day by day, as I was referring to the behavior of our soul. For it is from the soul that come our thoughts, choices and behaviors. Surely the provision of God is there for us to walk upright and holy. But, the choice to cooperate with His grace is always ours. God bless you and thank you for sharing.

      Pastor Jacquie Kirkwood

      • Helen M Castevens says:

        Could you possibly share where the painting came from? It is stunning!

        • admin says:

          Hello,
          I just found it on the Internet. It has been so long ago now, I do not even remember where. I agree, though. It is amazing.
          Pastor Jacquie

  5. Yaran faith says:

    I am so great ful for this great insight, I have been reading Psalms 70 and I would like to get the complete biblical meaning of “be glad”

  6. Sushil Alexander says:

    Oh what a revelation of rejoice.Need more of His vision and joy.

    • admin says:

      Thank you so much for your comment. It is a great encouragement to all of us who have received this great revelation. We are empowered to be ever more aware of how to worship our King as the s scripture leads!

  7. Verah Julie baldwin says:

    So powerful!! Very clear…I’ve been seeking to find true definition of rejoicing… thank you for scriptural background this is… PRICELESS !!

    • admin says:

      Hallelujah! 🙂 It had the same impact on me when the Lord showed it to me in His word. Blessed my socks off! Thankful it has been a blessing to you, as well. And, thank you for visiting the website. May God’s richest blessings be yours! <3

  8. Joshua Egbagbe says:

    HalleluJah! Baruch HaShem! Shem Adonai!
    So clear and uncluttered!
    Zephaniah 3:17, that shows the Most High Himself Rejoicing over us with Joy, His saved Children is my all time favorite verse of scripture. Add to that Psalms 118:15, “The Voice of Rejoicing and Salvation is in the tabernacles of the Righteous: the right hand of the LORD, (YHWH); doeth valiantly”… And now, your beautiful revelational rendition of the Luke 10:21 incidence of Yeshua “Rejoicing in the Spirit…!”

    I am particularly glad at reading your exposition today, because we received from the Most High GOD, and His Spirit, since last year December, and have since declared “2019: Our Year of REJOICING!” HalleluJah!

    • admin says:

      Brother Joshua, the joy and enthusiasm in your post stirs my heart to arise and dance around my office with thankfulness! I so appreciate your comment. As this Revelation grows in the body of Christ, she too will arise in joy and be filled with the glory of God!

  9. Olusegun James says:

    Glory!!! Hallelujah. We Dance in the Spirit!!

    • admin says:

      There is such a release of joy and faith, when we dance before Him, as we are led of His Spirit! Thank you for your comment.

  10. Immanuel Judah says:

    This is so incredible, this confirms and explains so much happening here in Nigeria, especially in Northern Nigeria. God is causing many young people to dance in the Spirit, rejoicing for the Light of the Lord Jesus that is about to been risen on Nigeria and African!
    Thank you so very much! I am so blessed. I hope to share this with my Prophetic Community here on Campus!

    • admin says:

      Please share!! Our hope is that all who receive from His word will be inspired and empowered to do His word! Amen!

    • admin says:

      Praise God! I am in agreement with you in prayer for Nigeria. I have had the blessing of ministering in your nation in the Lagos area. God is pouring out His glory in this hour. Young people are BOLD and will be a powerful service to His Kingdom in this season! God bless!

      Pastor Jacquie

  11. JUDY LUCAS says:

    AMEN………Our church is finally getting the picture after teaching the Feasts of the Lord for a few years. I like Zeph 3:17 ….God will rejoice over you with singing. Imagine God dancing and singing!! Jesus did only what He saw His Father do.

  12. Patti says:

    Amen! Blessed by this writing. Thank you.

  13. Betty cerillo says:

    Thank you for this word!

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