Hebrews 12
In these few verses we see various aspects of the race, as they are compared to the faithful life in Christ: the event itself, encouragement to run, encumbrances to running, an Example to follow, the end or goal of the race, and a final exhortation.
In verses 1–2 he begins the chapter with the image of a race in order to exhort his hearers to “run with perseverance,” laying aside impediments to endurance and keeping a focus on Jesus as the pacesetter. This metaphor of a race resumes briefly in verses 12–13, emphasizing especially the disciplined endurance required of a long-distance runner.
The one theme that runs through this chapter is endurance (Heb. 12:1 [“patience”], 2–3, 7; also see 10:32, 36 [“patience”]). The Jewish believers who received this letter were getting weary and wanted to give up; but the writer encouraged them to keep moving forward in their Christian lives, like runners on a track (see Phil. 3:12–14). He pointed out three divine resources that encourage a Christian to keep going when the situation is difficult.
The examples of faith in Hebrews 11 provide a solid basis for the exhortation, and the author gives three elements that may be understood as the means (or, perhaps, manner) of running the race well. We are to run (1) throwing off all that hinders and sin, (2) by means of perseverance, and, especially, (3) fixing our eyes on Jesus. The author understandably gives the last of these, the focus on Jesus, the greatest attention, since he has dedicated much of his book to building the hearers’ understanding of God’s Son. It is Jesus who provides the ultimate basis for a Christian’s perseverance.
Unfortunately, many people are not even in the race, and many Christians could hardly be described as running the race at all. Some are merely jogging, some are walking slowly, and some are sitting or even lying down. Yet the biblical standard for holy living is a race, not a morning constitutional. Race is the Greek agōn, from which we get agony. A race is not a thing of passive luxury, but is demanding, sometimes grueling and agonizing, and requires our utmost in self-discipline, determination, and perseverance.
We” links the writer to his readers. He is a competitor in the race as well as they and writes as one who is as much caught up in the contest as they are. The word “cloud” (nephos, only here in the NT) may be used of a mass of clouds in the sky (the more common nephelē means a single cloud). But it is also used from time to time of a throng of people, when it emphasizes the number. The witnesses are a vast host.
He speaks of the runners as “surrounded,” which makes it hard to think of them as looking to the “witnesses” and all the more so since they are exhorted to keep their eyes on Jesus (v. 2). Both ideas may be present. Perhaps we should think of something like a relay race where those who have finished their course and handed in their baton are watching and encouraging their successors.
The word “witness” (martys) certainly can carry the meaning “spectator,” as in 1 Timothy 6:12, and “surrounded” (perikeimenon) brings to mind the ancient amphitheater with its tiered rows of seats.
However, the author intends more from this image than to conjure the faithful of the ages as passive spectators. Rather, they are witnesses in the sense that they bear witness to the Christian community of God’s faithfulness and of the effectiveness of faith. God has given witness to them (“commended” in 11:2, 39 is from a related word, the verb martyreo), and they, as examples, bear witness to him before succeeding generations. In this way, the great cloud of faithful Christ-followers through history offer the community motivation in its current struggle to stay the course of commitment. As F. F. Bruce notes, “It is not so much they who look at us as we who look to them—for encouragement.”
The word “witnesses” does not mean “spectators.” Our English word “martyr” comes directly from the Greek word translated “witness.” These people are not witnessing what we are doing; rather, they are bearing witness to us that God can see us through. God bore witness to them (Heb. 11:2, 4–5, 39) and they are bearing witness now to us.
They are the heroes of the faith. It is not suggested here that these men and women now in heaven are watching us as we run the race, like people seated in a stadium.
Golfers, think what would happen to your concentration if Arnold Palmer joined your foursome! Or imagine the adrenaline if while shooting some hoops, Michael Jordan appeared saying, “Mind if I join you?” Every ounce of “wanna be” in our mortal bodies would suddenly be on the court! The presence of the pros, the Hall of Famers, is innately elevating.
I do not believe that the cloud of witnesses surrounding us is standing in the galleries of heaven watching as we perform. The idea here is not that we should be faithful lest they be disappointed, or that we should try to impress them like a sports team trying to impress the fans in the bleachers. These are witnesses to God, not of us. They are examples, not onlookers. They have proved by their testimony, their witness, that the life of faith is the only life to live.
This is a very crucial transition word offering an emphatic conclusion (cf. 1 Thess. 4:8) to the section which began in 10:19. witnesses. The deceased people of chap. 11 give witness to the value and blessing of living by faith. Motivation for running “the race” is not in the possibility of receiving praise from “observing” heavenly saints. Rather, the runner is inspired by the godly examples those saints set during their lives. The great crowd are not comprised of spectators but rather are ones whose past life of faith encourages others to live that way (cf. 11:2, 4, 5, 33, 39).
“Witnesses” can function as those watching a race (“cloud” was often applied figuratively to a crowd), but the particular witnesses here are those who testified for God or received his testimony that they were righteous (11:2, 4, 5, 39).
“Laying aside weights” (KJV) may refer to removing artificial weights used in training but not in races, but more likely it refers to the Greek custom of stripping off clothes to run unencumbered. The image would represent anything that would hinder his readers from winning their race (ancient writers sometimes used “weights” figuratively for vices); this encouragement is significant, for like Israel of old in the wilderness, they may be tempted to turn back.
2:10. That Christ had been made lower but then exalted shows him as the forerunner of the righteous who would inherit the coming world (1:14; 2:5). The term archēgos, translated “author” (NASB, NIV) or “captain” (KJV), means “pioneer” (NRSV), “leader” (cf. TEV) or “champion.” The term was used for both human and divine heroes, founders of schools or those who cut a path forward for their followers and whose exploits for humanity were rewarded by exaltation. “For whom … and through whom are all things” was a phrase Stoics used to describe the supreme God, but the idea fit Jewish thought about God and divine Wisdom and was widely used by Diaspora Jewish writers, including Paul (1 Cor 8:6). The Septuagint uses the author’s term for “perfect” for the consecration of a priest; some contemporary Jewish texts also speak of a righteous person’s life crowned with martyrdom as being “perfected” thereby.
the race marked out in their Christian lives,
In 1981 Bill entered the Pepsi Challenge 10,000-meter race in Omaha, Nebraska. Surgery ten years earlier for an aneurysm in the brain had left him paralyzed on his left side. Now, on that misty July morning, he stands with 1,200 lithe men and women at the starting line.
The gun sounds! The crowd surges forward. Bill throws his stiff left leg forward, pivots on it as his foot hits the ground. His slow plop—plop—plop rhythm seems to mock him as the pack races into the distance. Sweat rolls down his face, pain pierces his ankle, but he keeps going. Some of the runners complete the race in about thirty minutes, but two hours and twenty-nine minutes later Bill reaches the finish line. A man approaches from a small group of remaining bystanders. Though exhausted, Bill recognizes him from pictures in the newspaper. He is Bill Rodgers, the famous marathon runner, who then drapes his newly won medal around Bill’s neck. Bill Broadhurst’s finish was as glorious as that of the world’s greatest—though he finished last. Why? Because he ran with perseverance.
That is, as the Greek suggests, we must deliberately lift our eyes from other distracting things and focus with utter concentration on him—and continue doing so. This is fundamental to a life of faith and finishing the race!
In 2:10 Jesus is called the author of salvation. Here He is the author (archēgos) of faith. He is the pioneer or originator, the one who begins and takes the lead. Jesus is the author, the originator, of all faith. He originated Abel’s faith, and Enoch’s and Noah’s, as well as Abraham’s, David’s, Paul’s, and ours. The focus of faith is also the originator of faith.
An encumbrance (onkos) is simply a bulk or mass of something. It is not necessarily bad in itself. Often it is something perfectly innocent and harmless.
In most sports, especially where speed and endurance count, weighing in is a daily routine. It is one of the simplest, but most reliable, tests of being in shape. When an athlete goes over his weight limit, he is put on a stricter exercise and diet program until he is down to where he should be—or he is put on the bench or off the team.
We do not know exactly what sort of things the writer had in mind regarding spiritual encumbrances, and commentators venture a host of ideas. From the context of the letter as a whole, I believe the main encumbrance was Judaistic legalism, hanging on to the old religious ways. Most of those ways were not wrong in themselves. Some had been prescribed by God for the time of the Old Covenant.
Athletes carried nothing with them in a race (they even ran naked), and the writer is suggesting that the Christian should “travel light.” He is not referring to sin, for that follows in the next clause. Some things that are not wrong in themselves hinder us in putting forward our best effort. So the writer tells us to get rid of them.
And the writer orders a double divestment—first, of all hindrances, and second, of sin.
Donald Hagner comments:
As perfecter of faith, he brings it to its intended goal. Thus, whether one talks about faith as a possibility or as the experience of fulfillment, all depends upon Jesus. For this reason, Christians must keep looking away from this world to him. He is not only the basis, means, and fulfillment of faith, but in his life he also exemplifies the same principle of faith that we saw in the paragons of chapter 11.
In line with the sports imagery of verse 1, the word could refer to a runner stripping of burdensome clothing or losing excess bodily fat. For success one had to get rid of anything that would “hinder breathing or the free movement of the limbs.” So the Christ-follower must lay aside “everything that hinders” if the faith race is to be run triumphantly. More specifically, we are to get rid of the “entangling sin” (cf. NIV).
every weight. Different from the “sin” mentioned next, this refers to the main encumbrance weighing down the Hebrews which was the Levitical system with its stifling legalism. The athlete would strip away every piece of unnecessary clothing before competing in the race. The outward things emphasized by the Levitical system not only impede, they “ensnare.” sin. In this context, this focuses first on the particular sin of unbelief—refusing to turn away from the Levitical sacrifices to the perfect sacrifice, Jesus Christ (cf. John 16:8–11), as well as other sins cherished by the unbeliever.
Look at yourself! (v. 1b) Athletes used to wear training weights to help them prepare for the events. No athlete would actually participate wearing the weights because they would slow him down. (The modern analogy is a baseball player who swings a bat with a heavy metal collar on it before he steps to the plate.) Too much weight would tax one’s endurance.
What are the “weights” that we should remove so that we might win the race? Everything that hinders our progress. They might even be “good things” in the eyes of others. A winning athlete does not choose between the good and the bad; he chooses between the better and the best.
We should also get rid of “the sin that so easily entangles” (Heb. 12:1, NIV). While he does not name any specific sin, the writer was probably referring to the sin of unbelief. It was unbelief that kept Israel out of the Promised Land, and it is unbelief that hinders us from entering into our spiritual inheritance in Christ. The phrase “by faith” (or “through faith”) is used twenty-one times in Hebrews 11, indicating that it is faith in Christ that enables us to endure.
Look at Jesus Christ! (vv. 2–4) He is “the author [originator] and finisher of our faith.” It was in “looking to Him” that we were saved, for to look means “to trust.” When the dying Jews looked to the uplifted serpent, they were healed; and this is an illustration of our salvation through faith in Christ (Num. 21:4–9; John 3:14–16). “Looking unto Jesus” describes an attitude of faith and not just a single act.
A phenomenon of nature, repeated billions of times, provides an ongoing allegory of sin’s billion-fold pathology. Perhaps you have seen it yourself while lying on the grass by a sundew plant when a fly lights on one of its leaves to taste one of the glands that grow there. Instantly, three crimson-tipped, finger-like hairs bend over and touch the fly’s wings, holding it firm in a sticky grasp. The fly struggles mightily to get free, but the more it struggles, the more hopelessly it is coated with adhesive. Soon the fly relaxes, but to its fly-mind “things could be worse,” because it extends its tongue and feasts on the sundew’s sweetness while, it is held even more firmly by still more sticky tentacles. When the captive is entirely at the plant’s mercy, the edges of the leaf fold inward, forming a closed fist. Two hours later the fly is an empty sucked skin, and the hungry fist unfolds its delectable mouth for another easy entanglement. Nature has given us a terrifying allegory.
But the most sobering thing we see here is that “the sin which so easily entangles” us refers to the specific sin(s) each of us, individually, is most likely to commit—a “besetting sin” as it is termed in the older translations. We each have characteristic sins that more easily entangle us than others. Some sins that tempt and degrade others hold little appeal for us—and vice versa. Sensuality may be the Achilles’ heel for many men, but not all. Another who has gained victory over such sin may regularly down jealousy’s deadly nectar, not realizing it is rotting his soul. Dishonesty may never tempt some souls, for guile simply has no appeal to them, but just cross them and you will feel Satan’s temper!
What is called for here, I believe, is a conscious, systematic divestment of all sins and hindrances—a divestment that is regularly performed. Remember, all it takes is one sin or one hindrance to sabotage the runner’s soul!
The Christian has only one way to endure—by faith. The only time we sin, the only time we fail, is when we do not trust. That is why our protection against Satan’s temptations is “the shield of faith” (Eph. 6:16). As long as we are trusting God and doing what He wants us to do, Satan and sin have no power over us. They have no way of getting to us or of hindering us. When we run in the power of God’s Spirit, we run successfully.
We are to run the race of faith like they did, always trusting, never giving up, no matter what the obstacles or hardships or cost.
They knew how to run the race of faith. They opposed Pharaoh, they forsook the pleasures and prerogatives of his court, they passed through the Red Sea, shouted down the walls of Jericho, conquered kingdoms, shut the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, received back their dead by resurrection, were tortured, mocked, scourged, imprisoned, stoned, sawn in two, had to dress in animal skins, were made destitute—all for the sake of their faith.
captain. The term is also used in 12:2 and Acts 5:31. It could be translated “pioneer,” “leader,” or “originator.” Christ is the source (cf. “author” in 5:9, which has the meaning of cause), the initiator, and the leader in regard to salvation. He has led the way into heaven as our forerunner (6:20).
The term is lit. “perfecter,” having the idea of carrying through to perfect completion (cf. John 19:30).
We can experience the same satisfaction the Apostle Paul did as he neared the finish line:
I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing. (2 Timothy 4:7, 8)
What was it that enabled our Lord to endure the cross? Please keep in mind that, during His ministry on earth, our Lord did not use His divine powers for His own personal needs. Satan tempted Him to do this (Matt. 4:1–4), but Jesus refused. It was our Lord’s faith that enabled Him to endure. He kept the eye of faith on “the joy that was set before Him.” From Psalm 16:8–10, He knew that He would come out of the tomb alive. (Peter referred to this messianic psalm in his sermon at Pentecost, Acts 2:24–33.) In that psalm (16:11) David speaks about “fullness of joy” in the presence of the Father. Also, from Psalm 110:1, 4, Jesus knew that He would be exalted to heaven in glory. (Peter also quoted this psalm—Acts 2:34–36.) So “the joy that was set before Him” would include Jesus’ completing the Father’s will, His resurrection and exaltation, and His joy in presenting believers to the Father in glory (Jude 24).
Throughout this epistle, the writer emphasized the importance of the future hope. His readers were prone to look back and want to go back, but he encouraged them to follow Christ’s example and look ahead by faith. The heroes of faith named in the previous chapter lived for the future, and this enabled them to endure (Heb. 11:10, 14–16, 24–27). Like Peter, when we get our eyes of faith off the Saviour, we start to sink (Matt. 14:22–33).
Since Christ is the “author and finisher of our faith,” trusting Him releases His power in our lives. I could try to follow the example of some great athlete for years and still be a failure. But if, in my younger days, that athlete could have entered into my life and shared his know-how and ability with me, that would have made me a winner. Christ is both the exemplar and the enabler! As we see Him in the Word and yield to His Spirit, He increases our faith and enables us to run the race.
How and why could he do this? Because of “the joy set before him”—which was rooted in his coming super-exaltation when he “sat down at the right hand of the throne of God” (v. 2c). His exaltation, with all that it means for his people’s shalom and for the triumph of God’s purpose in the universe, was “the joy set before him” We can list some specific aspects of his joy. There was the joy of his “reunion,” as it were, with the Father. What an exalted thought—Heaven’s homecoming! Imagine the joy! David’s words suggest the idea: “You will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand” (Psalm 16:11). Then there was the joy of being crowned with honor and glory and having all things put under his feet (2:6–8; cf. Psalm 8:4–6). There was also the joy before him of bringing many sons to glory—making us part of his joy (2:10).
That Jesus “scorned” the shame of the cross means that he treated it as insignificant or of little consequence.
The author’s choice of words here is powerful. The cross was the lowest form of capital punishment in the Roman world, reserved for slaves and criminals and involving both torture and public humiliation. On the cross Jesus was treated as valueless, being mocked and ridiculed—in short, being “scorned” or “shamed.” He, however, turned the experience inside out, “scorning the scorn,” or in the author’s words here, “scorning the shame”; the cross was insignificant compared to the joy set before our Lord. The end result of its shame was his exaltation to the right hand of God (Ps. 110:1). Thus, Christians are encouraged to look beyond their present difficulties to God’s promised rewards.
But anti sometimes has a meaning like “for the sake of” (F. Buchsel sees this in Eph 5:31 etc., TDNT, 1:372). So with this understanding of the term the meaning is that Jesus went to the Cross because of the joy it would bring. He looked right through the Cross to the coming joy, the joy of bringing salvation to those he loves. The latter meaning is preferable. For this joy, then, Jesus “endured the cross” (or, perhaps, “endured a cross”).
The perfect tense in the verb “sat down” points to a permanent result. The work of atonement ended, Christ is at God’s right hand forevermore.
“Consider” (analogisasthe, used only here in the NT) is a word used in calculations. The readers are invited to “take account of” Jesus. He is described as one who “endured” (the perfect tense points to the abiding result).
Several commentators point out that the two verbs used at the end of this verse, “grow weary and lose heart,” are both used by Aristotle of runners who relax and collapse after they have passed the finishing post. The readers were still in the race. They must not give way prematurely. They must not allow themselves to faint and collapse through weariness. Once again there is the call to perseverance in the face of hardship.
In the ancient Isthmian games of Greece, a pedestal stood at the finish line, and on it hung a wreath—the winner’s prize. No one runs a race without some expectation of reward. The reward may be nothing more than a ribbon or a trophy or a wreath of leaves. It may be a prize worth a large amount of money. Sometimes the reward is fame and recognition. Sometimes it is a healthy body. Occasionally the race is run for the sheer exhilaration.
The Isthmian races and the race spoken of in Hebrews 12, however, were not run for exhilaration. This type of race is the agōn, the agony race, the marathon, the race that seems never to end. It is not a race you run simply for the pleasure of running. If you do not have something important to look forward to at the end of this race, you will likely not start it and will certainly not finish it.
Paul spoke of his converts as his “joy and crown” (Phil. 4:1) and his “hope or joy or crown of exultation” (1 Thess. 2:19). He had present joy because of future promise. Those he had won to the Lord were evidence that he had glorified God in his ministry. What gives us joy in this life is confidence of reward in the next.
We should be able to look forward to the day when our Lord says to us, “Well done, … enter into the joy of your master” (Matt. 25:21).