Hebrews 12:1-13

(Hebrews 12:1-13)

Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, 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. For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds. Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin. And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons. Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live? For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness. Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby. Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees; And make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way; but let it rather be healed.

 

In the words of chapter 11, we have identified what kind of life the advanced leaders of faith lived. Some who lived by faith were taken to heaven without seeing death, others made the ark of salvation, and became the beginning of new humanity, and some became the ancestors of faith. Others were severely tortured, not only mocked and scourged, but also subjected to bondage and imprisonment, and stoned, sawed, and stabbed and killed. They suffered on earth just because they lived by faith, but the Bible says that they were given the better, God's provision, eternal life.

Chapter 12 tells us that the believers must live the same way the advanced believers lived.『Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us』 This means that the Old Testament beliefs lived like this, and they became witnesses to us. The reason they could be witnesses was because they lived by faith. It is said that the Witnesses who lived by faith surround us like clouds.

However, the journey of faith is described as a race of faith. The Greek word "agon", translated as match racing, is a word for fighting. It's a desperate struggle to get what you want, a metaphor for what you can't get by still. In other words, the way of faith must be a struggle. You can only be a witness when you live like that.

So what are they fighting? Advances of faith fought and fought to get rid of all heavy and vulnerable sins. To keep their faith, they showed a race of faith in their lives. And they urge the people of faith who live now to race in faith. Christians are those who race by faith.『 Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain. And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible. 』

How can we win the race of faith? We can see how.『 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. 』

The way to win the race of faith is to look to Jesus. The saint is living the life of Jesus. The saint, like Jesus, faces reality with one eye and sees past and future with one eye, living in the chain of grace. Jesus did not mind the pain and shame of the cross for the joy that is before him, eternal life. If the Saints lived looking at Jesus, they would not mind the pain and shame they suffer on earth for the joy that is before them, eternal life. But if not, the Bible says that the Saints are disciplined.

『 And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him 』

 

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