Matthew 28, Luke 24, John 20 When Have You Experienced Pure Joy?

When have you experienced pure joy?

I asked this questions to my Sunday School class.  One answered that he felt joy when his children and grandchildren hugged him--every time.  Another related watching her grown children and grandchildren interact with each.  Yet another shared the time when she was sealed to her parents.  Every answer dealt with love and family.

Among the most sacred, joyful experiences of my life were the occasions I gave birth.  The veil was thin as the magnificent spirits left the arms of our Heavenly Father and came to mine.  Our Father's love accompanied those precious souls many days afterwards.

Birth is so sacred and full of joy that the Savior himself likened it to his impending atonement, death, and resurrection, John 16:19-22.  After the pain and the travail, joy comes.  And when the Savior was resurrected, he brought joy that can never be taken away.  We can only give it away if we choose.

The resurrection is the culmination of the glorious plan of salvation.  It is the joy that comes after the suffering.  "Why seek ye the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen (Luke 24:5-6).  As Howard W. Hunter stated, "These words contain all the hope, assurance, and belief necessary to sustain us in our challenging and sometimes grief filled lives" (Ensign, May 1986, 15-16).

Oh how great the goodness of God.  How beautiful the joy of the resurrection!

Christ brings "joy that no man taketh from you."