Hebrews 12:2 - 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 is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Looking unto Jesus, and there's our third condition. The first condition in Verse 1, seeing we are compassed about with witnesses. That's a Present Participle. While having all these witnesses all around us!
Secondly, the second condition: After having laid aside, after doing that, we're supposed to do something. Main verb: we should run with patience the race that is being set before us. And then the third condition is looking unto Jesus. Looking is a Present Participle which shows continuous action, continuously looking unto Jesus.
We go back at the beginning, and we have these witnesses all around us, with God's faithfulness and faith in their lives. And then the second condition says, after having laid aside every weight, and the sin which so easily entangles, or besets us.
If you see yourself out on the track or out in the park getting ready for your cross-country race, you know that when the race starts, you don't want a lot of heavy clothing on. You don't want to be carrying your backpack. In running track, or a marathon, you're wearing clothes that are very tight. And some people run with very little clothing on.
But the whole purpose of it is so that there's no resistance, and they can run the fastest race that they can without the wind or resistance coming against them. And what the writer of Hebrews is doing for us is, first of all, we have this cloud of witnesses all around us, they're all through the stands, all around this huge stadium that we're going to run a marathon in. They've already run it. So, it's not like we're going to have an excuse. We look up, and it's a reminder that they've already done this.
In Verse 2, when it says looking unto Jesus, he then gives the identity of Jesus, who is the author and finisher of our faith. Notice the word "our" in your bible is in italics. It's not in the Greek text. It's the word "the." It's another one of those instances where they said Jesus is the author and finisher of the faith.
"Well, we can't have that. It's got to be our faith!" No, He's the author and finisher. He starts faith. He's the author of it. It comes from Him. And He brings it to its completion.
Then the inspiration of Jesus:
Who for the joy that was set before Him, He endured the cross, having despised the shame, that is, He wasn't going to let the shame of the cross stop Him from going to the cross. The influence of Jesus: And is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.
So, the Lord is our inspiration. If you didn't notice as we read through, Jesus for the joy that was set before Him. That was over against the cross on the other side. Remember I mentioned before that in Greek, the word joy doesn't mean a happy feeling. It means satisfaction.
Jesus looked at the cross, He saw what His death on the cross would do, and so His joy, His satisfaction was in completing that task, to be on the other side, complete salvation for us on the cross. He endured the cross for the joy that was set before Him. And He was looking off unto joy while He endured the cross. That's why we look unto Jesus while we're running the race. And He is now set down at the right of the throne of God.
"Well, we can't have that. It's got to be our faith!" No, He's the author and finisher. He starts faith. He's the author of it. It comes from Him. And He brings it to its completion.
He tells me don't get weighted down with the things of this earthly life to where it's all this baggage that you're trying to carry while you're running the race, except you're not running anymore, you're barely crawling because of all this weightiness from this earthly life that we have acquired and taken on ourselves. But the focus should be on Jesus. And if we can understand that principle, we can understand all these things in this life that we have trouble with.
If my focus is Jesus, then whatever else is going on, I probably wouldn't even notice. The bible teaches that we only have the capacity to focus and be occupied on one thing at a time. I can believe on Jesus with my heart, but in this earthly life with my mind, be caught up in all kinds of mental distractions that are occupying the attention of my mind.
I can still be a believer. But you see, the Lord not only wants our heart, He wants our minds. He wants us to be looking at Jesus. And He promises us in Matthew Chapter 6 to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all the other things that you need will be added.
You don't have to strive for them. You don't have to go out in this earthly life and stop the race, stop looking to Jesus, and go out and acquire things. That's baggage. And then when you try to get back on the track again, you fall off because you're so weighted down with the things of this earthly life.
Now while I'm running the race, and I'm letting myself get distracted by circumstances around me, I'm not going to do very well. It's the focus. The focus is on Jesus. It's pretty simple! The Lord made it simple. It's not easy, it's simple. We are simple people. We don't know where front and back is when it comes to spiritual things. We have no idea what we're doing. We're just sheep. And even when the Lord gives us direction, we go the opposite way. We're not very spiritually smart. And that's putting it nicely.
As I said earlier, these are pieces of the track, pieces of the course that are put down in front of us while we're running. And we really can't tell, other than the first or second piece that's put down in front of us where this thing is going to go. We can't predict it. But while we're running, He continually places the racecourse in front of us. And that racecourse is called agony. That's what the word race is, agony.
And then the performance of the course:
This is the third condition. We should run with having witnesses all around us. That's Chapter 11. We should run the course after putting aside all the weightiness, all the things of this earthly life that weigh us down to where we can no longer run.
And thirdly: Looking unto Jesus. And again, the word looking is a Present Participle which means continuously looking unto Jesus. Jesus is the finish line. Everyone that has run track, or has run in a race, or has watched it on television, you know that the people who are participating in the race, they have their faces straight forward.
They're not looking up into the stands waiving to their family. They are not looking down at their shoes while they are running to see if they're running correctly. Their eye is fixed on the finish line. And that's what he's saying, run the race with your mind's eye fixed on Jesus.
You see, when I got saved, that wasn't the end of the race. That was the beginning of the race. I'm not racing to acquire my salvation. I'm racing because I know Christ. And this is the life that He has for me. And He tells me that I've got all these witnesses who have done it before me, so there's no excuse.
But secondly, we can't run or even walk the race that's being set before us, with a lot of baggage. And I think you know what I mean by baggage? We acquire a lot of baggage in our lives. There are things that weigh us down.
There is sin which so easily entangles us, which is an athletic term, and without getting into too much of the technical part of it, it's an athletic term that means you keep running because if you stand still, then all of sudden things are going to close in on you, and you might not have the chance to get away.
And sin is like that. We have to keep moving. We can't wait for sin to find us. We have to stay on the course and not acquire from the world a lot of baggage. And there are a lot of Christians that are just weighed down with so many obligations, and so many things, and so many possessions, and all these things that we have to keep up, and guess who gets the short end of the stick?
It's the Lord, because we don't have time. We don't have time for Him! Well, we've got this cloud of witnesses all around us. And we're told that before we run this race, we are to put off every weight, and the sin which so easily entangles us.
And then what we are to do: We should run with patience. I think it's interesting that Paul was another one who mentioned he runs. He encouraged Christians to walk, walk in the Christian life. But Paul didn't walk, he ran. Here, the writer of Hebrews is encouraging us to run the race. We have trouble walking. Now he wants us to run. Good grief!
We should run with patience. Endurance (HUPOMENO) means to remain under. And if you've walked with the Lord enough, you know, and I know, that there are times that you just don't want to remain under because "it's too hard," or "too difficult," and we want to quit. We should run with endurance the race that is continuously being placed before us.
Hebrews 12:2 - 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 is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Looking unto Jesus, and there's our third condition. The first condition in Verse 1, seeing we are compassed about with witnesses. That's a Present Participle. While having all these witnesses all around us!
Secondly, the second condition: After having laid aside, after doing that, we're supposed to do something. Main verb: we should run with patience the race that is being set before us. And then the third condition is looking unto Jesus. Looking is a Present Participle which shows continuous action, continuously looking unto Jesus.
We go back at the beginning, and we have these witnesses all around us, with God's faithfulness and faith in their lives. And then the second condition says, after having laid aside every weight, and the sin which so easily entangles, or besets us.
If you see yourself out on the track or out in the park getting ready for your cross-country race, you know that when the race starts, you don't want a lot of heavy clothing on. You don't want to be carrying your backpack. In running track, or a marathon, you're wearing clothes that are very tight. And some people run with very little clothing on.
But the whole purpose of it is so that there's no resistance, and they can run the fastest race that they can without the wind or resistance coming against them. And what the writer of Hebrews is doing for us is, first of all, we have this cloud of witnesses all around us, they're all through the stands, all around this huge stadium that we're going to run a marathon in. They've already run it. So, it's not like we're going to have an excuse. We look up, and it's a reminder that they've already done this.
Hebrews 12:2 Continued:
In Verse 2, when it says looking unto Jesus, he then gives the identity of Jesus, who is the author and finisher of our faith. Notice the word "our" in your bible is in italics. It's not in the Greek text. It's the word "the." It's another one of those instances where they said Jesus is the author and finisher of the faith.
"Well, we can't have that. It's got to be our faith!" No, He's the author and finisher. He starts faith. He's the author of it. It comes from Him. And He brings it to its completion.
Then the inspiration of Jesus:
Who for the joy that was set before Him, He endured the cross, having despised the shame, that is, He wasn't going to let the shame of the cross stop Him from going to the cross. The influence of Jesus: And is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.
So, the Lord is our inspiration. If you didn't notice as we read through, Jesus for the joy that was set before Him. That was over against the cross on the other side. Remember I mentioned before that in Greek, the word joy doesn't mean a happy feeling. It means satisfaction.
Jesus looked at the cross, He saw what His death on the cross would do, and so His joy, His satisfaction was in completing that task, to be on the other side, complete salvation for us on the cross. He endured the cross for the joy that was set before Him. And He was looking off unto joy while He endured the cross. That's why we look unto Jesus while we're running the race. And He is now set down at the right of the throne of God.
and Very well put together!
God bless you Brother.
Thanks, and blessings to you also!
Yes, yes, yes!!!
"Well, we can't have that. It's got to be our faith!" No, He's the author and finisher. He starts faith. He's the author of it. It comes from Him. And He brings it to its completion.
You made it very clear. Praise the Lord!
Thank you for your kind comment. Yes, the Lord is good and worthy of praise. Amen!
Hebrews 12:2 Continued:
He tells me don't get weighted down with the things of this earthly life to where it's all this baggage that you're trying to carry while you're running the race, except you're not running anymore, you're barely crawling because of all this weightiness from this earthly life that we have acquired and taken on ourselves. But the focus should be on Jesus. And if we can understand that principle, we can understand all these things in this life that we have trouble with.
If my focus is Jesus, then whatever else is going on, I probably wouldn't even notice. The bible teaches that we only have the capacity to focus and be occupied on one thing at a time. I can believe on Jesus with my heart, but in this earthly life with my mind, be caught up in all kinds of mental distractions that are occupying the attention of my mind.
I can still be a believer. But you see, the Lord not only wants our heart, He wants our minds. He wants us to be looking at Jesus. And He promises us in Matthew Chapter 6 to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all the other things that you need will be added.
You don't have to strive for them. You don't have to go out in this earthly life and stop the race, stop looking to Jesus, and go out and acquire things. That's baggage. And then when you try to get back on the track again, you fall off because you're so weighted down with the things of this earthly life.
Now while I'm running the race, and I'm letting myself get distracted by circumstances around me, I'm not going to do very well. It's the focus. The focus is on Jesus. It's pretty simple! The Lord made it simple. It's not easy, it's simple. We are simple people. We don't know where front and back is when it comes to spiritual things. We have no idea what we're doing. We're just sheep. And even when the Lord gives us direction, we go the opposite way. We're not very spiritually smart. And that's putting it nicely.
Hebrews 12:2 Continued:
As I said earlier, these are pieces of the track, pieces of the course that are put down in front of us while we're running. And we really can't tell, other than the first or second piece that's put down in front of us where this thing is going to go. We can't predict it. But while we're running, He continually places the racecourse in front of us. And that racecourse is called agony. That's what the word race is, agony.
And then the performance of the course:
This is the third condition. We should run with having witnesses all around us. That's Chapter 11. We should run the course after putting aside all the weightiness, all the things of this earthly life that weigh us down to where we can no longer run.
And thirdly: Looking unto Jesus. And again, the word looking is a Present Participle which means continuously looking unto Jesus. Jesus is the finish line. Everyone that has run track, or has run in a race, or has watched it on television, you know that the people who are participating in the race, they have their faces straight forward.
They're not looking up into the stands waiving to their family. They are not looking down at their shoes while they are running to see if they're running correctly. Their eye is fixed on the finish line. And that's what he's saying, run the race with your mind's eye fixed on Jesus.
You see, when I got saved, that wasn't the end of the race. That was the beginning of the race. I'm not racing to acquire my salvation. I'm racing because I know Christ. And this is the life that He has for me. And He tells me that I've got all these witnesses who have done it before me, so there's no excuse.
Hebrews 12:2 Continued:
But secondly, we can't run or even walk the race that's being set before us, with a lot of baggage. And I think you know what I mean by baggage? We acquire a lot of baggage in our lives. There are things that weigh us down.
There is sin which so easily entangles us, which is an athletic term, and without getting into too much of the technical part of it, it's an athletic term that means you keep running because if you stand still, then all of sudden things are going to close in on you, and you might not have the chance to get away.
And sin is like that. We have to keep moving. We can't wait for sin to find us. We have to stay on the course and not acquire from the world a lot of baggage. And there are a lot of Christians that are just weighed down with so many obligations, and so many things, and so many possessions, and all these things that we have to keep up, and guess who gets the short end of the stick?
It's the Lord, because we don't have time. We don't have time for Him! Well, we've got this cloud of witnesses all around us. And we're told that before we run this race, we are to put off every weight, and the sin which so easily entangles us.
And then what we are to do: We should run with patience. I think it's interesting that Paul was another one who mentioned he runs. He encouraged Christians to walk, walk in the Christian life. But Paul didn't walk, he ran. Here, the writer of Hebrews is encouraging us to run the race. We have trouble walking. Now he wants us to run. Good grief!
We should run with patience. Endurance (HUPOMENO) means to remain under. And if you've walked with the Lord enough, you know, and I know, that there are times that you just don't want to remain under because "it's too hard," or "too difficult," and we want to quit. We should run with endurance the race that is continuously being placed before us.
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