Was Jesus Happy?

            I saw an article recently with the headline “Was Jesus Happy?”  It was a report about a study conducted by researchers at the University of Virginia.  The study compared the views of Jesus held by American Christians with those held by Korean Christians.  It found that, as a rule, American Christians tend to think that Jesus was happier, while he was on earth, than Korean Christians do.

            It got me thinking about it.  Was Jesus happy, while he was on earth?  Certainly he wasn’t happy all the time.  Arguing with the Pharisees can’t have been a lot of fun.  Dealing with the disciples must have been really frustrating sometimes; I suspect there were times when he wanted to bang their heads together when he’d explain something over and over and they just Could. Not. Get it.  And, obviously, getting nailed to a cross was not something that anyone would enjoy.

            When you think about it, the gospels don’t really seem to record many times when Jesus was happy.  Most Christians are familiar with the times when Jesus wept.  I’m not sure the gospels mention any times when Jesus laughed or even smiled.  So, maybe Jesus really wasn’t very happy at all while he was on earth.

            When we think about this, though, I think we need to make a distinction between things like fun and enjoyment and happiness.  Fun and enjoyment tend to be momentary things.  They’re things that we experience for a little while, but then are gone.  That does not mean they’re worthless.  In fact, they’re very necessary.  Still, if we measure our lives in terms of fun, we’re likely to be disappointed, because at some point, the fun times always come to an end.

            Happiness is different.  Happiness means being content.  Happiness means being satisfied.  We can feel happiness more strongly sometimes than at other times, of course, but it tends not to be just a momentary feeling.  The reason for that is that happiness is an attitude.  Happiness is not dependent on the immediate circumstances, the way fun is, because happiness comes from the inside.  It’s a feeling of satisfaction.  It’s a feeling that we are where we are supposed to be and we’re doing what we’re supposed to do.  When we have that feeling, we can be happy, even if the immediate circumstances are not particularly pleasant.

            So, was Jesus happy?  I think he was.  He may not have had a lot of fun, but I think he was happy.  He was happy because he knew that he was where God the Father wanted him to be, and he was doing what God the Father wanted him to do.  That feeling gave him contentment and satisfaction.  It’s a feeling that allowed him to obey God the Father all the way, even to the cross.

            There’s nothing wrong with having fun.  We all need to have fun sometimes.  My prayer, though, is that all of us can find happiness, regardless of our circumstances.  I think that’s something God wants for all of us.