The Joy of The Cross

1 Therefore, since we also have such a large cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us lay aside every hindrance and the sin that so easily ensnares us. Let us run with endurance the race that lies before us, 2 keeping our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith. For the joy that lay before him, he endured the cross, despising the shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 For consider him who endured such hostility from sinners against himself, so that you won’t grow weary and give up. 4 In struggling against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. 5 And you have forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons: My son, do not take the Lord’s discipline lightly or lose heart when you are reproved by him, 6 for the Lord disciplines the one he loves and punishes every son he receives.

They author of Hebrews sees a high probability of persecution coming down on the lives of the reader as he writes this passage. As one who loves the readers he wants them to be fit and ready for the trauma that is coming. He doesn’t wish to indulge them in sympathy but to stir them to stand as did those who have gone before.

This passage reads as if the setting is a great stadium of spiritual athletics, the holy Olympics. The stands are filled with the great athletes of the past who have run their races and completed their events and are now eager to encourage the new contestants. This is the cloud of witnesses surrounding us.

Abel is there, having offered a sacrifice in the attitude of faith which pleased God. There was no self-trust in his sacrifice.

Noah is sitting beside him; having heard the command of God to do that which was ridiculous in the eyes of his neighbors, he obeyed in the simple faith that God knew what he was talking about. That mindset of the spiritual athlete is so critical to success.

Abraham is there with Sarah, his wife. The promise given to them was totally unreasonable by human understanding of physiology, but when God persisted in His promise, they believed Him. That great old saint left the land of his fathers and went out to a land whose location he did not even know, and he did not demand of God an explanation or map. He trusted Him. That is the attitude of the spiritual champion.

Close by was Enoch, whose simple life was one of walking with God. Some folks are not known for their awesome feats, but just for the quality of their personal lives. That is the quality that marks the athlete of the Spirit.

Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph were in the author’s mind as athletes who had looked to the tape at the finish of their race and were so confident of its reality that they blessed their children in the light of God’s promise.

Moses caught everyone’s attention. His massive frame and intense eyes gave him that charismatic countenance that draws the breath of others in seeing it.

Now it comes the moment of our race.

It is time to prepare, warm up get them legs in a state of readiness. Lay aside every burden it says. or Lay aside every weight.

The Preacher’s Commentary Series, Volume 33: Hebrews Let Us Run with Endurance

The Greek word for “weight” can mean body bulk, excess weight. For spiritual athletes that can be a case of too many irons in the fire, too many dissipating interests, too many branches of good things that suck the vital energy from the very best.

The Preacher’s Commentary Series, Volume 33: Hebrews Let Us Run with Endurance

The word may also mean a spirit of overconfidence and arrogance. Many a great team with championship potential has taken the field in an attitude of haughtiness only to receive a drubbing at lesser hands. The idea that a certain contest is a “pushover, a breather, an easy day” anesthetizes a team into complacency. That is the making of an upset! When we let down our concentration on the basics of the Christian life and become distracted, we are in for a sudden and shocking surprise. Many a great saint has been caught off guard by a sloppy attitude toward relationships, disciplines of preparation, or commitment to excellence, only to find the situation lost and the opportunity gone.

Lay it aside you cannot bear that extra weight and win.

Lay aside the sins that keeps us bound up. How easily we are ensnared by sin, that self-centered orientation that adds weight to the spiritual athlete.

Put it off and keep your eyes on the protector of our faith that is Jesus. The one who is showing us how to run this race, as disciples we are following his lead he has shown us how to run this race through to the end. Jesus in the Author and Finisher of our faith. The Designer of this race ment to be followed.

Run the race that has been set down before us. As the joy of the cross was laid before him

Joy of the Cross?

What does the Joy of the Cross mean to you?

The Joy set before him that is the cross.

I don’t know about you but I would have a hard time, do have a hard time thinking about the cross as a joy. It was an instrument of death. Designed throughout many ages, cultures and shapes to inflict pain and death. Why in the world would it say the joy that comes before him. Jesus even prayed let this cup pass me. He didn’t want’ to go through the cross. So what does it mean. Joy of the Cross.

for the joy set before him” that he endured the cross.

The word “joy” in Greek has a definite article, which means that it wasn’t just joy in general, but it was a specific joy. THE JOY.

Jesus had His eyes of faith fixed on the empty throne at the right hand of the Father that was reserved for Him once His victory was complete. Upon that throne, all enemies would be His footstool, and He would commence the next part of His high priestly ministry to intercede for everyone who would ever come to Him in time of need (see Hebrews 4:16).

The Joy is the finish line or the prize at the end of the race.

Jesus had His eyes, His heart, His mind — His whole being — fixed on that highly exalted place.

When sin and hell were defeated and Jesus was resurrected, that was the seat of authority He ascended into Heaven to occupy. And ever since that time, from that highly exalted position, Jesus has been serving as Lord of the Church and as the High Priest and Intercessor for every believer.

That is one of the reasons we celebrate Easter.

When we keep the goal in front of you it gets us through the difficult times.

For Jesus joy is knowing all that would be accomplished through the cross. The glory of God, The joy of the Father, The triumph of the Son over the defeat of sin, evil, death, Satan, and Hell. Redemption and salvation and adoption, Restoration and glorification of all God’s adopted children.

The Joy of the cross was a life that fulfilled its purpose.

Next Steps

As we look forward to we remember the Joy of the cross. We also push forward training ourselves for a life well lived following Christ as His disciple.

What does training as a disciple of Christ look like for you?

Bibliography

Evans, Louis H., Jr, and Lloyd J. Ogilvie. Hebrews. Vol. 33 of The Preacher’s Commentary Series. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Inc, 1985.