The disciples indeed had their joy in Christ while He was down here, but when they saw Him ascend, He drew their spirit after Him. As the compass needle always points to the north, so love directs itself to its object. We are to set our minds on things above where Christ sits at the right hand of God, and where together with Him we are partakers of the heavenly calling.
When the Lord passed forty days on the earth after His resurrection, the disciples may have been agitated and unsettled not knowing what He would do, but when He led them out to Bethany and they saw Him ascending to where He now is—to the presence of the Father—the scene of their joy was plainly in heaven. Knowing what had occurred, they "returned to Jerusalem with great joy." What was the secret of their joy? Was it in anything on earth? No indeed, and so it is now with each one of us.
The path where our Savior has gone,
Has led up to His Father and God,
To the place where He’s now on the throne,
And His strength shall be ours on the road.