Hebrews 12:1-6 (02/29/2024)

Hebrews 12:1–6 NKJV

1 Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls. 4 You have not yet resisted to bloodshed, striving against sin. 5 And you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as to sons: “My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord, Nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him; 6 For whom the Lord loves He chastens, And scourges every son whom He receives.”

v. i-ii

Hebrews 12:1–2 NKJV

1 Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Hebrews 11:39-40, the last two verses from Monday, are very important to interpret these two verses correctly.

Hebrews 11:39–40 NKJV

39 And all these, having obtained a good testimony through faith, did not receive the promise, 40 God having provided something better for us, that they should not be made perfect apart from us.

These first two verses are not telling us to run the race because we’ve received the promise; they’re telling us to run the race because we haven’t received it (yet).

This is why the text begins with “Therefore we also”, and by now you might’ve realized that I like to point out these transition words, which seem to lack importance, but are crucial in supplying us with context. In fact, you might’ve heard this verse before without knowing its context.

We are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses. But what does this mean? If you ask a Roman Catholic Christian, or an Eastern Orthodox Christian, they might say that it refers to the saints who are praying for/with us. And I don’t think that’s too far-fetched, but the interpretation that I lean towards, is that it refers to the saints of church history, without any mention of their prayers.

What did a cloud mean in the Old Testament? In the Exodus, God went in front of Israel as a pillar of fire by night. But by day, He went as a cloud in front of them. In the same way, I think Christ and His church have gone ahead of us while we are still traveling the earth. Christ’s church has stood strong for 2 millenia, and it attests to the truth that Jesus told St. Peter: “And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.” Nothing has been able to strike it down, and I believe that it will stay that way. Moving on...

All of the instructions that we see in v. i-ii are motivated by this cloud of witnesses: “Therefore we also, since we are surrounded…let us...”

So I consider this to be the best way to honor the saints: by following these instructions.

We need to lay aside any weight: In this analogy of a race, the role that a weight plays is nothing more than to slow down the runner. You’ll run slower with a weighted vest than with no extra weight. The weight makes it harder to reach the finish line, to reach Christ, so the best way to run the race is by dropping anything that deters you from Him. How extreme must this be? It depends on how much it’s holding you away from Jesus. In all seriousness, if TikTok is keeping you for 2 hours a day that you could’ve spent 5 minutes of by reading the Bible, I think it needs to be either deleted, or simply limited by screen time settings.

We need to lay aside sin: we need to avoid it by all means necessary, because what it does is, to quote the text, it “so easily ensnares us”. Sin is deceptive: you could think of it as just one sin, but it ensnares you. Once you’ve done one, you’re going to do another, until you are sinking in the quicksand of it. Think of it like quicksand that so easily ensnares us, and won’t allow us to move. That’s an easy way to never finish the race. So lay it aside.

We need to run with endurance in the race that is set before us: Look at all the components of this instruction. First, we need to run. Running is a full-effort activity, as the tennis kids know and as I was reminded of yesterday. So, we are called to run a full-effort Christianity. Second, we need to run with endurance. This means that no matter how fast you’re going, you’re not just going full-effort, you’re going full-time. You can’t just be Christian in church and during lunch, then cycle out into sinfulness and say you’ll “come back later”. We are called to run a full-effort Christianity and a full-time Christianity. Third, we need to run with endurance the race that is set before us. We’re not doing someone else’s Christian life, and our parents aren’t doing it for us. We each have our individual race that we have to focus on before we look at someone else’s falls. If we are to look at someone else’s falls, it should be to lift them back up (see v. xii, which we’ll cover next time). This is why we have to show up to our own race. It’s not something we can just forget about for just one day, or skip for just that day. We have a race set before us, that we must be ready to run. So, we are called to run a full-effort, full-time, and full-focus Christianity.

And this focus is Jesus, which is the final instruction that we are called to learn from the saints in. The way I see it, I venerate the saints by looking to Jesus. This means that I center my eyes on Jesus, not on my phone screen. I center my eyes on Jesus, not whatever sinful thing we may be pressured to look at because “everyone else does it anyways”. I center my eyes on Jesus, not on my appearance, how I see myself. I center my eyes on Jesus, not on how other people look at me. I center my eyes on Jesus and I don’t look away, because only He is worthy.

His worthiness is also a centerpiece of v. ii. What attributes of Jesus are given here to show his worthiness? Obviously, it will not be an exhaustive list, because that wouldn’t fit anywhere. But here are five:

The author of our faith: Our faith would be pointless if directed at anyone else than Jesus. Psalms 16:4 says, according to the English Standard Version or ESV translation: “The sorrows of those who run after another god shall multiply…” Meanwhile, Jesus is the reason why we are Christian: because He is the Christ, the prophesied Messiah. The NKJV translators also saw “originator” as an alternate translation for “author”, which points to the fact that He’s the center of our faith.

The finisher of our faith: He executed the act that made our faith effective. When He gave His life on the cross, He said, “Τετελεσται”, “It is finished”. This interesting word was stamped on paid bills and debt certificates in the first century, attested by Plato, among other writers. Some have said this word means “PAID IN FULL”, a more likely translation is “IT HAS BEEN PAID”. He paid the price for our sins, He finished the job. He has bought our salvation with His own blood, and this is why we can look to Him and to His love.

He endured the cross: He dealt with the immeasurable pain of crucifixion. And not only that, but taking all the wrath of God for our sins at the same time. Crucifixion is a horrible way to die, but God’s wrath is a consuming fire (as we’ll see in the last verse of Hebrews 12, v. xxix). Being God Himself, He humiliated Himself to a painful human life and death. And we see why He did this: “for the joy set before Him.” He also ran the human race, and is our example in doing so. This joy was the joy of being able to take humanity back to Him, back to the restored and perfected order of creation that He intended from the beginning. Giving us salvation was a joyous moment for Christ, who loves us that much, that He “endured such hostility from sinners” (v. iii).

He despised the shame: He put shame itself to shame. Taking so much of that shame upon Himself--even willing to die on a tree when the Mosaic law said that whoever hung on a tree was cursed by God—He took away our shame. Galatians 3:13 says:

Galatians 3:13 NKJV

13 Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”),

How could we not look to Jesus seeing how much He has done for us, taking the price for our sins?

He has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God: We saw this in the first few verses of Hebrews, and we’ve seen it more than once in Hebrews. But it shows that He is so holy and worthy of the throne that we must look to Him.

v. iii-iv

Hebrews 12:3–4 NKJV

3 For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls. 4 You have not yet resisted to bloodshed, striving against sin.

The Hebrew church is encouraged again by these verses. We’ve seen in the past how the author has comforted the church by telling them that they have gone through persecution before, and also that he has gone through persecution before. Now, he mentions that Christ underwent that, too. He “endured such hostility from sinners against Himself”. The creation raised its fist against the Creator, and the sinner rejected the Savior, but He endured. In our trials, we must consider Christ: what is our pain compared to His? Our pain is certainly real, but it is not only understood by Jesus, but superseded by His suffering.

We have not yet resisted to bloodshed. This means that we haven’t died for our faith, or in our faith, yet. This race is not finished until we reach Heaven, and in it, we are “striving against sin.” Jesus resisted to bloodshed, yet without sin.

Despite any real pain that we might experience, looking to Christ is the solution.

v. v-vi

Hebrews 12:5–6 NKJV

5 And you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as to sons: “My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord, Nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him; 6 For whom the Lord loves He chastens, And scourges every son whom He receives.”

Many of you have immigrant parents, and the reason why I bring that up is that you probably know what happened to you when you were younger and misbehaved. Maybe a spanking, maybe a belt, maybe a flip-flop, but it was never with the intention to cause us pain. It was so that we could learn.

And here, the author tells us that sometimes, God needs to give us a spiritual chancletazo. God considers us His sons, and as such He loves us. This is why He does not leave His children in sin; He disciplines them. In fact, the word “chastening” in v. v can also be translated as “discipline”, per the NKJV translator’s footnotes. And the focus of his quotation of the Proverbs is about our response to such discipline. Nothing we do is going to stop that discipline; whether we like it or not, we need it, so we get it.

But what is our response? Do we get mad at God for it? “Do not despise the chasttening of the Lord, Nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him;” While it may hurt, we cannot be discouraged by it. It actually is proof that God loves us: whom He “loves He chastens, And scourges every son whom He receives.” With God, it’s not one or the other: He will give us both.

But what we have to remember, is that the spiritual spanking is a reflection of His love.

His love is the only true love.

*pray for Chris’ b-day*