Ezra 6:22 And kept the feast of unleavened bread seven days with joy; for the Lord had made them joyful, and turned the heart of the king of Assyria unto them, to strengthen their hands in the work of the house of God, the God of Israel.
After the Jews had returned to Jerusalem from exile, Ezra had gotten them cleansed and ready to celebrate the Feast of Unleavened Bread and the Passover. There are several notable celebrations of Passover in the OT after years of neglect. This is one of them, and apparently the Jews did so ever since, after the Return.
This celebratory occasion was the cause of great joy for the Returnees. It is noteworthy that Ezra records that “the Lord had made them joyful.” This is the promise for us also: “The Lord makes us joyful.” The Feast is both a remembrance of what God has done for us in the past and a promise of what He will do for us in the future. They remember the Exodus Salvation and anticipate the coming of the Lamb of God, the promised Messiah. It is the same for us when we celebrate the Lord’s Supper: we remember what God has done for us in Christ’s death and resurrection and look forward to the Feast to come at the Marriage Supper with the Lamb in His Kingdom.
This is a weekly cause of great joy for us believers. We look back and we look forward and it all comes together in the present. This is cause for great joy. The Lord makes us joyful.
And nothing can take that joy and peace from us. This is the promise to us when we believe in Jesus and celebrate what He did, who we are, and where we are going. We don’t have to put on a smile and act like we are happy, because we really are. We are filled with deep and lasting joy because it is the Lord who makes us joyful. So God promises, and so we are.