Heb 12:1-3 | KingComments | STEP | . In this letter you have already had many persons brought to your attention. In chapter 1 it was the angels, in chapter 3 Moses and Aaron. Also Joshua and Levi were mentioned. They were excellent people. But each time the writer sets them aside by then focusing attention on Him Who is so much more than the angels and Moses and Aaron and those others. It is also like that with the many persons in the previous chapter that he here calls “so great a cloud of witnesses”. In the following verses this cloud disappears from the view to make room for “Jesus”, Who transcends everyone and everything. Stars shine, till the sun rises. The believers from the Old Testament are stars that in great faith, though also in weakness and in part, have trusted in God. The Son is the sun. He has perfectly and continuously trusted in God. With Him there is no reference to a certain work of faith, an exceptional deed out of which His confidence of faith appears. His whole life was altogether confidence of faith. You are surrounded by that great cloud of witnesses that you saw in the previous chapter. The previous chapter closed with the message that they had not received the promise yet and that they were still not made perfect. That goes for you too. Therefore their example is presented to you as an exhortation to imitate them. It is as if they are calling you from the Scriptures to continue the path of faith unabated and unhindered and not let anything distract you from the goal. But it is not so much about them watching how you do that, but rather about their giving their testimony to you.. Their witness is the inspired report of the various lives in the Scripture and points to God’s faithfulness in whatever and wherever they trusted Him. That cloud of witnesses around you makes the writer call you to be freed from each hindrance. Lay aside every encumbrance [or: throw off each burden] and sin as useless and harmful weight. If you fix your eye on Jesus, it will be easy, but if you don’t fix your eye on Him it will be impossible. Looking at Jesus determines what a ‘burden’ is. With ‘burden’ the point is the daily and often good things of the earthly life that a walker may enjoy, but the runner cannot. Those are not the difficulties of life, for you cannot lay those aside, but you can indeed prevent that they keep you occupied in such a way that you have no room to see anything else. A burden concerns the earthly things which you freely take, but which you can also freely lay aside. You are allowed to enjoy earthly things, for the Lord has given them. You are allowed to enjoy good food and good health with a heartfelt gratitude to the Lord. You may also start to see those things in themselves and invest a lot of time, money and energy to get or keep them. If that’s the case with you, then I hope that you acknowledge that and lay that attitude aside. Start to view those things again in the proper perspective. In this context I sometimes hear someone ask the question: ‘What evil is in it?’ But I think that the question should be: ‘Is it a weight, a burden, something that pulls you down, or is it a wing, something that lifts you up?’ Laying aside sin is different. Sin is anything you do independence of God. Here you read that sin so easily entangles you. To be entangled means that you are wrapped by something. In the picture we have here you can imagine your legs being wrapped by something that hinders you to walk or even causes you to fall. If for example, a sinful thought comes up, then you have to deal with that immediately by ‘laying it aside’. In case you keep on going with that thought, then that has the result that you lose sight of God and His plan with your life, which means that your race has ended. In the race the point is perseverance. The point is that you should not become sluggish or weak during the race. To prevent that you should pay close attention to the goal. . The point is that in your mind your goal should be Jesus all the time. The writer exhorts us to fix your eye on Him alone. ‘Fixing on’ here literally means ‘to look away’, which implies to abandon all other things and fix your eyes on one object alone. The name ‘Jesus’ reminds us of Him Who in humiliation on earth also has run the race, but Who has achieved the goal already. He has endured all difficulties and has overcome by submitting Himself to the path that the Father had determined for Him. He is the Author, the Chief. He leads you on the path of faith until you achieve the final goal, the perfect salvation. He is the great example in the race. He transcends all things. He is also the Perfecter, the Completer, the Accomplisher. He guides the believer along the path of faith to perfection. He passed the whole way in perfection and He entered the glory. Through His example and His strength He brings the believers to the glory. The Lord Jesus also had a glorious goal in mind when He went His way here. He was looking forward to the joy of the heavenly glory at the right hand of God. He persevered on that way. He endured the cross persistently. This doesn’t point to the work of atonement on the cross, but to the reproach and shame that are the part of the believer from the side of the world. It is the same as what He desired of someone who wanted to be His disciple: “Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple” ( ). He has set the perfect example in His life regarding this. The Lord didn’t despise the cross. He “endured” it; He accepted it as the will of His Father. He indeed “despised” the shame that men put on Him – although He was certainly not insensitive to what men did to Him. Now He is in glory He doesn’t have to go a path of trust anymore. He has sat down, once for all. There will come an end to the path of faith for you too. His place is “at the right hand of the throne of God”. He is entitled to that because of His perfect life on earth. There is also the thought that after the suffering the kingdom, the throne, comes. He is already connected to the throne. Him is given all power in heaven and on earth. He shortly will openly accept His kingdom. . Consider Him. You can look at Him in His life on earth, for therein He is your example and your Leader. You can also look at Him in heaven, for there He is your target and the Perfecter. The calling ‘consider’ means that you consider by comparison. Therefore “consider Him” means that you consider how He endured the hostility by sinners and that you, who are now in a comparable situation, may be encouraged by that to keep on going yourself. The expression “sinners” shows that in fact the whole sinful human race is meant, summarized in the Jewish and Gentile leaders. The Lord had nothing to do with sin Himself, but He had everything to do with sinners who surrounded Him and who tried to hinder Him in His walk. In that way these believers also had to do with families and friends who continually wanted to exert their influence on them to make them return to the old. Incessant “hostility” is hard to endure. The incessancy of it makes you tired. This puts you in danger of giving up the fight. . ‘But’, the writer seems to say, ‘let’s be honest: You have not, like He did, lost your life yet to glorify God and to serve Him.’ The Hebrews not only haven’t lost their life yet, but they have not even shed one drop of blood yet for the sake of the Name of the Lord Jesus, as the Lord Jesus and a lot of men and women of faith did in former times ( ). With “striving against sin” is not meant that you should fight against the sin that dwells in you. The believer is not called for that fight. For that fight the Scripture doesn’t give instructions. On the contrary, the Scripture says that you should consider yourself to be dead for the sin that dwells in you ( ). Therefore it is not about the fight against the sin that is in you , but about the fight against the sin around you. This fight is connected to the hostility against Him that the Lord Jesus had to endure from sinners. He absolutely had shed blood in resisting this hostility. They were not that far yet, however. They were in danger of giving in to the pressure; He surely did not. In the Scripture you find other forms of fight: 1. You read about the fight between the law that is given to man in the flesh, and the new life ( ). That fight happens in the believer as long as he remains under the yoke of the law. 2. Another fight that happens in the believer is that of the Spirit against the flesh ( ). 3. There is also the struggle in the heavenly places against the spiritual forces of wickedness ( ). It is a good thing to consider and be aware of these different forms of fight, for it will help you to be able to deal with a certain fight. Then you will not allow to fight a fight that should not be there at all. That will keep you from the deceit of the enemy, so that you may continue your path of faith striving and triumphantly. Now read Hebrews 12:1-4 again. Reflection: What is your daily practice of fixing your eyes on Jesus?

‏ Hebrews 12:1-3

The Author and Perfecter of Faith

Heb 12:1. In this letter you have already had many persons brought to your attention. In chapter 1 it was the angels, in chapter 3 Moses and Aaron. Also Joshua and Levi were mentioned. They were excellent people. But each time the writer sets them aside by then focusing attention on Him Who is so much more than the angels and Moses and Aaron and those others.

It is also like that with the many persons in the previous chapter that he here calls “so great a cloud of witnesses”. In the following verses this cloud disappears from the view to make room for “Jesus”, Who transcends everyone and everything. Stars shine, till the sun rises. The believers from the Old Testament are stars that in great faith, though also in weakness and in part, have trusted in God. The Son is the sun. He has perfectly and continuously trusted in God. With Him there is no reference to a certain work of faith, an exceptional deed out of which His confidence of faith appears. His whole life was altogether confidence of faith.

You are surrounded by that great cloud of witnesses that you saw in the previous chapter. The previous chapter closed with the message that they had not received the promise yet and that they were still not made perfect. That goes for you too. Therefore their example is presented to you as an exhortation to imitate them. It is as if they are calling you from the Scriptures to continue the path of faith unabated and unhindered and not let anything distract you from the goal. But it is not so much about them watching how you do that, but rather about their giving their testimony to you.. Their witness is the inspired report of the various lives in the Scripture and points to God’s faithfulness in whatever and wherever they trusted Him.

That cloud of witnesses around you makes the writer call you to be freed from each hindrance. Lay aside every encumbrance [or: throw off each burden] and sin as useless and harmful weight. If you fix your eye on Jesus, it will be easy, but if you don’t fix your eye on Him it will be impossible. Looking at Jesus determines what a ‘burden’ is. With ‘burden’ the point is the daily and often good things of the earthly life that a walker may enjoy, but the runner cannot. Those are not the difficulties of life, for you cannot lay those aside, but you can indeed prevent that they keep you occupied in such a way that you have no room to see anything else. A burden concerns the earthly things which you freely take, but which you can also freely lay aside.

You are allowed to enjoy earthly things, for the Lord has given them. You are allowed to enjoy good food and good health with a heartfelt gratitude to the Lord. You may also start to see those things in themselves and invest a lot of time, money and energy to get or keep them. If that’s the case with you, then I hope that you acknowledge that and lay that attitude aside. Start to view those things again in the proper perspective. In this context I sometimes hear someone ask the question: ‘What evil is in it?’ But I think that the question should be: ‘Is it a weight, a burden, something that pulls you down, or is it a wing, something that lifts you up?’

Laying aside sin is different. Sin is anything you do independence of God. Here you read that sin so easily entangles you. To be entangled means that you are wrapped by something. In the picture we have here you can imagine your legs being wrapped by something that hinders you to walk or even causes you to fall. If for example, a sinful thought comes up, then you have to deal with that immediately by ‘laying it aside’. In case you keep on going with that thought, then that has the result that you lose sight of God and His plan with your life, which means that your race has ended. In the race the point is perseverance. The point is that you should not become sluggish or weak during the race. To prevent that you should pay close attention to the goal.

Heb 12:2. The point is that in your mind your goal should be Jesus all the time. The writer exhorts us to fix your eye on Him alone. ‘Fixing on’ here literally means ‘to look away’, which implies to abandon all other things and fix your eyes on one object alone. The name ‘Jesus’ reminds us of Him Who in humiliation on earth also has run the race, but Who has achieved the goal already. He has endured all difficulties and has overcome by submitting Himself to the path that the Father had determined for Him. He is the Author, the Chief. He leads you on the path of faith until you achieve the final goal, the perfect salvation. He is the great example in the race. He transcends all things. He is also the Perfecter, the Completer, the Accomplisher. He guides the believer along the path of faith to perfection.

He passed the whole way in perfection and He entered the glory. Through His example and His strength He brings the believers to the glory. The Lord Jesus also had a glorious goal in mind when He went His way here. He was looking forward to the joy of the heavenly glory at the right hand of God. He persevered on that way. He endured the cross persistently. This doesn’t point to the work of atonement on the cross, but to the reproach and shame that are the part of the believer from the side of the world. It is the same as what He desired of someone who wanted to be His disciple: “Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple” (Lk 14:27). He has set the perfect example in His life regarding this.

The Lord didn’t despise the cross. He “endured” it; He accepted it as the will of His Father. He indeed “despised” the shame that men put on Him – although He was certainly not insensitive to what men did to Him. Now He is in glory He doesn’t have to go a path of trust anymore. He has sat down, once for all. There will come an end to the path of faith for you too.

His place is “at the right hand of the throne of God”. He is entitled to that because of His perfect life on earth. There is also the thought that after the suffering the kingdom, the throne, comes. He is already connected to the throne. Him is given all power in heaven and on earth. He shortly will openly accept His kingdom.

Heb 12:3. Consider Him. You can look at Him in His life on earth, for therein He is your example and your Leader. You can also look at Him in heaven, for there He is your target and the Perfecter. The calling ‘consider’ means that you consider by comparison. Therefore “consider Him” means that you consider how He endured the hostility by sinners and that you, who are now in a comparable situation, may be encouraged by that to keep on going yourself.

The expression “sinners” shows that in fact the whole sinful human race is meant, summarized in the Jewish and Gentile leaders. The Lord had nothing to do with sin Himself, but He had everything to do with sinners who surrounded Him and who tried to hinder Him in His walk. In that way these believers also had to do with families and friends who continually wanted to exert their influence on them to make them return to the old. Incessant “hostility” is hard to endure. The incessancy of it makes you tired. This puts you in danger of giving up the fight.

Heb 12:4. ‘But’, the writer seems to say, ‘let’s be honest: You have not, like He did, lost your life yet to glorify God and to serve Him.’ The Hebrews not only haven’t lost their life yet, but they have not even shed one drop of blood yet for the sake of the Name of the Lord Jesus, as the Lord Jesus and a lot of men and women of faith did in former times (Heb 11:35b-37).

With “striving against sin” is not meant that you should fight against the sin that dwells in you. The believer is not called for that fight. For that fight the Scripture doesn’t give instructions. On the contrary, the Scripture says that you should consider yourself to be dead for the sin that dwells in you (Rom 6:11).

Therefore it is not about the fight against the sin that is in you, but about the fight against the sin around you. This fight is connected to the hostility against Him that the Lord Jesus had to endure from sinners. He absolutely had shed blood in resisting this hostility. They were not that far yet, however. They were in danger of giving in to the pressure; He surely did not.

In the Scripture you find other forms of fight:

1. You read about the fight between the law that is given to man in the flesh, and the new life (Rom 7:23). That fight happens in the believer as long as he remains under the yoke of the law.

2. Another fight that happens in the believer is that of the Spirit against the flesh (Gal 5:17).

3. There is also the struggle in the heavenly places against the spiritual forces of wickedness (Eph 6:10-18).

It is a good thing to consider and be aware of these different forms of fight, for it will help you to be able to deal with a certain fight. Then you will not allow to fight a fight that should not be there at all. That will keep you from the deceit of the enemy, so that you may continue your path of faith striving and triumphantly.

Now read Hebrews 12:1-4 again.

Reflection: What is your daily practice of fixing your eyes on Jesus?