It is the season of joy. This is just one of the many descriptions of Christmas. It is an accurate description of Christmas for reasons I'll explain in just a moment. But before we get there, let's ponder what joy is. Joy is an emotion, an emotion of great happiness that wells up in your heart.

Life contains events that bring great happiness. No doubt you have experienced this at some point. Maybe it was your wedding day. Maybe it was the birth of your child or grandchild. The joy of Christmas can be compared to the joy you experience at such moments. Christmas is an event that brings great happiness. Or to maybe say it more accurately, the Lord increases your joy through the Christmas event.

This is the way the prophet Isaiah speaks in 9:3. He says that the Lord has increased the joy of his people. And then Isaiah goes on to say of the people of God, "They rejoice before you as people rejoice at the harvest, as men rejoice when dividing the plunder." Their joy before the Lord is compared to the great happiness experienced during certain life events.

But why is there this great happiness that can be compared to the joy of children being born or people getting married? Why is the Christmas season reason for you to rejoice before the Lord? Because of what the Lord has done for you through Jesus Christ! In the verses immediately following Isaiah 9:3 the prophet provides three reasons for your joy.

The first reason for your joy is that through Jesus Christ the Lord our God shattered the yoke that lay upon us because of our enemies. In Isaiah 9:4 the prophet compares the victory of Christ on the cross to the day of Midian's defeat. He does so because the victory of Christ belongs to the Lord alone. So rejoice before the Lord because Christ has shattered the yoke of sin and death! He has increased your joy.

The second reason for your joy is that the final victory of Christ over all our enemies has been guaranteed. In Isaiah 9:5 the prophet draws a picture of the end of all war.

He declares, "Every warrior's boot used in battle and every garment rolled in blood will be destined for burning, will be fuel for the fire." Everyone who has experienced war knows that with the end of war there is great joy. This was certainly the experience of many in Europe when the Allied armies defeated the German army. As the Allied troops rolled through villages the townspeople came out to greet them with shouts of joy.

Because we anticipate experiencing great joy over the end of all spiritual warfare we can already now, in the words of Lord's Day 22, feel in our heart the beginning of eternal joy! Rejoice before the Lord for he has increased your joy.

The third reason for your joy brings us to words that are often repeated during the Christmas season, "For to us a child is born, to us a son is given" (9:6). The joy of Christmas is not just like the joy we experience at the birth of a child. It is the very same joy. For to us a child is born. For to us a son is given.

His birth brings us such great joy because of what he grows up to become. He grows up to become our everlasting King:

And the government will be upon his shoulders ... of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end.

What follows the end of war in the kingdom of God? What happens once all the garments rolled in blood are burned in the fire? There is everlasting peace. This is what the child born to us will do for us as our everlasting King. As the Prince of Peace he will bring about everlasting peace! Rejoice before the Lord for he has increased your joy.

He has increased your joy by giving you his son. To you a child is born. This child grew up to shatter the yoke of sin that lay heavy on your shoulders. This child grew up to ascend to the right hand of God from where he will bring about the end of war and usher in everlasting peace. For these reasons the celebration of his birth is indeed a season of joy. May you have a joyous Christmas!