10 Minute Read
Prepare Your Heart
To the best of your ability, get rid of all distractions. Take a few minutes to breathe deeply and quiet yourself in the Lord’s presence. Then, ask the Lord to speak to you in this time. Let Him know that you will listen and make whatever adjustments He will reveal to you.
Read God’s Word
A Verse for Today
Slowly and reflectively read the following verse(s) and listen to what God will say to you through His written Word. Consider writing down any insights He reveals to you.
Hebrews 12:1-2 (CSB): “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, 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.”
Reflecting on God’s Word
The verses I have chosen for today are so wonderful that I would like to simply chop them into smaller segments and briefly explain them. I hope this encourages you to follow Jesus as you desire to become more like Him.
Hebrews 12:1 (CSB): “Therefore, since we also have such a large cloud of witnesses surrounding us, …”
Who is this massive group of witnesses that is “surrounding us?”
Some well-intentioned Christians say, “This can’t be the people in Heaven because if our loved ones in Heaven could still see us, it would break their hearts, and it wouldn’t be ‘Heaven.'”
I disagree with this argument theologically. When we, who are currently saved and credited with Jesus’ righteousness, arrive in Heaven, we will be made fully righteous. Our sin nature will be gone, and we will be perfectly holy, incapable of sin. So, those saints in Heaven view things on earth quite a bit differently than we would. In fact, if you read chapters like Revelation 4-5, 7, 11, 14-15, and 19, you will hear the saints in Heaven celebrating what God is doing on earth.
So, I believe that it is quite possible for redeemed saints in Heaven to observe what God is doing on earth. But I don’t believe that those saints are who the writer of Hebrews is referring to in Hebrews 12:1.
It would seem that the cloud of witnesses in Hebrews 12:1 refers back to the previous chapter. It seems that the writer of Hebrews is essentially saying, “I wrote Hebrews 11 to highlight God’s gift of grace to Old Testament men and women who were able to trust in Him, even when there seemed to be no hope or remedy. Those people demonstrated that, by God’s grace, you can live a life of faith for Jesus, too! Their lives stand as a witness to the fact that it is possible, by God’s grace, to live for Him. And it is so worth it!”
Hebrews 12:1 (CSB): “… let us lay aside every hindrance and the sin that so easily ensnares us…”
The athletes in the first century would strip down before running the race. They would get rid of their cloaks and robes (a hindrance that could trip them up).
This is an illustration for us. If we are to live a life of faith for Jesus that can be applauded in eternity, we need to get rid of anything that would hinder us from living for Him (excess entertainment, temporal pursuits that take up too much of our time, etc.). Further, we need to get rid of any sin that could also trip us up. Wherever we might be disobedient to the Lord, we need to kill that personal sin and live wholeheartedly for Him!
Whatever hinders us from wholeheartedly chasing Christlikeness needs to go!
Hebrews 12:1 (CSB): “… Let us run with endurance the race that lies before us,”
Our life is our race. We cross the finish line when we breathe our last breath. And we only have one life to live for Him. And it is only on this side of eternity that we have the choice to sin or to love Him and serve Him. So, we need to pray for endurance to run our race without giving up.
Hebrews 12:2 (CSB): “keeping our eyes on Jesus, …”
Whenever I ran 5Ks and half-marathons, I would give it my all. There were always times during those races when my brain was trying to stop the madness. I was out of breath, my heart rate was in the 190s, and everything in me wanted to stop. But I learned that I could keep running if I found an object to run toward. I would tell myself things like, “I see a stop sign a half mile in front of me. I will NOT STOP before I get to it. Then, when I get to it, I will locate some other object further down the course that I will determine to run toward and not stop until I get there.” On other occasions, I would find a runner who was running at my pace or a little faster. I would keep my eyes locked on them and try not to stop, but to keep following them at their pace.
For the Christian, we are told where we are to lock our eyes. We are to fix our eyes on Jesus! He is the one we are becoming like. He ran His race, it is recorded in the Gospels, and if we want to become more like Him, we will keep our eyes on Him and run toward Him with endurance.
Hebrews 12:2 (CSB): “… the pioneer and perfecter of our faith…”
In 2010, I went on a trip to Ecuador. We landed in Quito and then were transported by bus 5 hours south to Shell on the edge of the Amazon jungle. When I was invited to take a ride on a single-engine aircraft 50 miles into the jungle, I was elated. As we flew over the Amazon, I was awestruck. I had never, ever seen a jungle so vast and dense. Imagine if, instead of taking a plane, we hiked into that jungle. I would have needed a guide. In fact, the guide would need a machete as he hacked away at the brush to blaze a trail for me to follow.
That’s the language in Hebrews 12:2. Jesus is the one who blazed the trail. He is the one who has shown us how to live the life God desires for us as He hacked away (“our pioneer”) at the things that would keep us from living lives of obedience (He defeated Satan, sin, death, gave us His Holy Spirit, etc.). Further, He is the “perfector,” meaning He stands at the end of the trail, calling us to follow Him.
Hebrews 12:2 (CSB): “… For the joy that lay before him, he endured the cross, …”
When we are going through difficult times, we need to find something ahead of us that keeps us going. If life is hard today and we are convinced it’s never going to get better, that is a recipe for depression. So, we need to find something desirable in the future that keeps our chin up as we go through dark valleys.
What did Jesus look to as He endured the cross? “The joy that lay before Him!” Jesus was looking forward to Heaven! He was able to endure the physical and spiritual torture of the cross because He knew that it would not last forever. Soon enough, He would be reunited with His Father in Heaven.
As we go through difficult times, we should also fill our minds with thoughts of the joy of Heaven that awaits us.
Hebrews 12:2 (CSB): “… despising the shame, …”
Shame is as old as the Garden of Eden. When Adam and Eve sinned, they immediately felt their guilt. But we are told that they covered themselves and hid. Those are clear signs that they were dealing with shame. They felt guilty and didn’t want God or others to see them in that guilt.
Was the cross easy for Jesus? Of course not! He wore our sin and bore its corresponding shame. But how did He think about the shame? In contemporary Christian culture, where the 11th commandment is said to be, “Thou shalt be nice,” so many have come to believe that all “harsh” emotions are bad.
We are told that Jesus “despised the shame.” He had utter contempt for the shame and guilt of bearing our sin before a holy God. I think we need to hate personal sin, the shame and guilt that come with it, and the consequences of our sins. Sin is nothing to be toyed with. It will destroy us. So, we are right to hold sin and anything in friendly partnership with it with utter contempt.
Hebrews 12:2 (CSB): “… and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”
After Jesus endured the cross and rose from the dead, securing salvation for all who would trust in Him, He “sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”
He sat down because His job was completed.
We are also told that He sat down at the right hand of God. The Hebrews held that the right hand and right arm demonstrated strength. So, this phrase tells us that Jesus, who humbled Himself by taking on frail humanity, resumed His position of infinite strength when He reentered Heaven after His work of redemption was complete.
Finally, we are told that He “sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” He not only has infinite power, but He has infinite authority as He resides on Heaven’s throne. In fact, this is how we understand the phrases that are so often used in the New Testament: “kingdom of Heaven” and “kingdom of God.” Jesus is the King who rules from Heaven’s throne, and all believers submit to His authority (we obey and serve Him) and rest in His power.
I didn’t intend for this article to be as long as this, but I hope it was beneficial.
Spend Time in Prayer
- Ask God to help you see your life as a race, making every moment count for Jesus.
- Ask God to help you keep your eyes on Jesus, desire to follow Him, and become like Him with every passing day.
Going Deeper
If you want to dig a little deeper into Hebrews 12:1-2, consider reading the following GotQuestions article:
“What does it mean to ‘run the race set before us’ (Hebrews 12:1)?”
Sharing
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Matt Ellis is the pastor of White Hall Baptist Church in Richmond, Kentucky (whitehallbaptistchurch.org)
Matt’s Musings 