Under a Cloud of Witnesses

Under a Cloud of Witnesses

Hebrews, one of the greatest books of the Bible and written by an unknown to us author. The people of the first century church surely knew who wrote this masterpiece of a sermon letter but we will have to wait until heaven to find out for sure. We are down to the last two chapters of the book as we have gone through it verse by verse. I hope that you have learned something from doing this. I have tried to emphasize different things about this letter so that they may stand out in your mind.

Last week we finished chapter 11, the Faith Chapter, where we find the most complete definition of faith in the Bible in verse 1. , Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. 2 For by it the elders obtained a good testimony. NKJV In the rest of the chapter, we saw different examples of the faith that those before us have demonstrated to us. We started in the beginning of time with Abel, Enoch and Noah. Then we moved to the Patriarchs of the faith and the fathers of the Jewish nation, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Next we read of the faith of the great prophet Moses as he brought the nation of Israel out of bondage from Egypt. The author gives us a quick glance at Joshua and the harlot Rahab and finished just mentioning the likes of David, Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah and Samuel. He alludes to so many more that to name them would take too much time. SO we end Chapter 11 knowing that there were a great many who displayed great faith in promises that they never saw fulfilled.

So why spend so much time telling us about them? Why tell us about all the people and the great faith that they had? For the answer to that, we need only go to , But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. NKJV We read of faith because we need to have faith because without it, we will not please God. The author tells us all of this to bring us to where we are today, starting Chapter 12.

, 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. NKJV

Chapter 12 starts out with the word, therefore. This means that we have to take into consideration what we have just read because it is the reason we are reading what we have now. Because of all these who have come before us, because of their faith, because of their testimony of trust in things not seen, it affects us. Because there are so many that have held to their faith in promises not seen...this is likened to the ancient games in an amphitheater or coliseum. Surrounded by this great cloud of witnesses...does this mean that we are actually being watched by these people? Are those who have gone on before us staring at us in our everyday lives and even worse, seeing our missteps?

We cannot take it to mean that we are under the watchful eye of the patriarchs, Moses, King David and the likes. To understand what is being represented here, we must go back to the beginning of Chapter 11. , Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. 2 For by it the elders obtained a good testimony. NKJV "For by it, the elders obtained a good testimony." The Greek word for testimony here means that they became witnesses, witnesses of faith. A witness is someone who can testify to something that they know to be fact. To testify is to give evidence of what you are a witness to. This word comes from the root word that is the same word used here in 12:1 and rendered witnesses. We are encompassed by these who are testimonies of faith. This figuratively means that we are a part of this great thing, not that they are watching us from above.

We are a part of this great testimony of faith. We are hanging on to promises that we have not yet seen also, just as the elders were. The author here brings this entire statement into an analogy of the ancient games. It is though we are surrounded by this great mass of those who have gone before us. Those who have played the game and now it is our turn. This is likened to those that run a race of endurance. They put everything off that will hinder their performance so that they may win the price for which they run. The prize is not along the way but is at the end of the race. It comes not in the middle, but at the finish line. No runner carries extra weight with them. They strip down to the bare essentials. The lightest shoes, the thinnest garments, whatever they might do to gain an edge to get to the finish line. Runners have been known to shave their bodies in order to cut down on wind resistance.

We are to lay aside, cast off or put down whatever we have that can hinder us in keeping the faith unto the end. We are told to cast off the sin that we can so easily entrap ourselves with. This alludes to the runner maybe wearing a garment that would trip them up as they ran. Put off all the weights of the world. Barnes explains it thus, In one it may be pride; in another vanity; in another worldliness; in another a violent and almost ungovernable temper; in another a corrupt imagination; in another a heavy, leaden, insensible heart; in another some improper and unholy attachment. Whatever it may be, we are exhorted to lay it aside, and this general direction may be applied to anything which prevents our making the highest possible attainment in the divine life. - Barnes' Notes

We get rid of what entangles us, what weighs us down and run with endurance, with patience the race that is now set before us. We are not in a sprint to the finish line of faith. We are in a marathon. Many will start out but not all will finish. Many will try but a lot will fail. Very disheartening isn't it? But the author gives us an edge. For those of us who will listen, we are told the secret to success in this great race. First we need to understand that the race is not against each other, but against ourselves. The object of the race is not to beat anyone but instead, it is to finish. We are told to get rid of the heavy stuff, don't let anything trip us up and then we have the main thing that will get us where we need to go..."Look unto Jesus." Jesus is at the finish line. Don't look back, don't dwell on the past, don't worry about what could have been but instead, press forward, and keep looking to the end, to where we are going and forget about where we have been.

So why is it so important for us to have this bit of encouragement? Well, how many of you know that there are plenty of people, even Christians, who carry the weight of the world with them? They can't let go of the past. They are hung up on what could have been. They are tripped by what they used to be. They live in the past and won't look to the future. They are burdened by guilt and shame. They trudge through life with unforgiveness of both others and themselves. We tend to hang onto the identity of a dead person; our old selves. Then we begin to question what we believe in.

We have to get past who we were and focus on who we are. Our identity is not in this body but in a reborn spirit. My body didn't get saved thirty years ago, my spirit did. My body is just as fallen as it ever was. It will not go on to eternity and I don't want it to!! It is corrupt, it is mortal, it is diseased and it is broken. But my spirit is alive, it is perfected in Christ, it is incorruptible and it is immortal. , have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. NKJV

Look unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. The word here translated author means "chief leader," captain, prince or the first inventor of a thing. It brings the idea of the one who makes a beginning of something. The word finisher translates a completer, a consummater, one who completes or perfects something in every way. So Jesus is the starter and the finisher of our faith. He is the beginning and the end.

This probably couldn't be explained any better than Barnes says it. He is at the head of all those who have furnished an example of confidence in God, for he was himself the most illustrious instance of it. The expression, then, does not mean properly that he produces faith in us, or that we believe because he causes us to believe-whatever may be the truth about that-but that he stands at the head as the most eminent example that can be referred to on the subject of faith. We are exhorted to look to him, as if at the Grecian games there was one who stood before the racer who had previously carried away every palm of victory; who had always been triumphant, and with whom there was no one who could be compared. The word "finisher" - corresponds in meaning with the word "author." It means that he is the completer as well as the beginner; the last as well as the first. - Barnes' Notes

In all of this, Jesus was the finisher in that there is no other that compares to Him in His faith. Yes, Jesus had faith. He had faith in the Father when He was here as a man. He trusted in the Father to direct Him and lead Him. Jesus as a man was the perfect example for any of us. Jesus walked in perfect faith in the Father while He was here on earth. Jesus came to fulfill the will of the Father here, not His own and to do that, He had to trust what the Father said and have faith in what He told Him to do. , “Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done.” NKJV

Jesus had complete, perfected faith in the plan that the Father had (remember that He left His Omniscience at the door). He crawled to the cross as a man, trusting fully by faith in the will of the Father and it says that He did this "for the joy that was set before Him." He endured the pain, the suffering, the humiliation, the degradation, the shame and even the death that came with being on the cross...as a man.

For the joy set before Him, He endured all of that. What joy? The joy of fulfilling the will of God. The joy of redeeming what God loves...us. For that, He was willing to bear all the sorrow, all the shame, all the pain and all the sin that was placed upon Him on the cross. Sin that belonged to us, and not Him. He even endured separation from the Father for the first time in eternity. He did all that and it earned Him a place at the right hand of the Father.

Well, He's God, so why is that a big deal. It's a big deal because the Son gave up so much to pay that price for us. It wasn't just the pain and suffering, but He changed, forever. He is in heaven today in a glorified body, just like the one that we will get. And He will remain in that state forever. He put aside the entirety of who He was before; omniscience, omnipotence, omnipresence. He used to move to the earth as the pre-incarnate Christ but now and forever, He is dependent as we are on communion with the Father and doing His will. He still waits for the Father to give Him the command to return for His bride, the Church. Will we EVER know how mush it cost, to see our sin upon that cross?