Looking to Jesus (Hebrews 12:1-2)

The imagery of running is often used in the Bible to depict aspects of the Christian life. Sometimes, the imagery is taken from everyday life and at other times, as here, it is taken from athletic events or games that were common throughout the Roman Empire. The unknown author of Hebrews obviously thought that it was a picture that his readers needed to hear and use as they lived in their complicated and, at times, perilous situations.

The illustration

We can see at least four details from a sports event that are used by the author. First, there are those that he refers to as a ‘cloud of witnesses’. The word ‘cloud’ indicates that there were many witnesses. Some of the witnesses are mentioned in Hebrews 11, and as the author indicates he could have mentioned many more. It was the practice at these games for runners who had finished their race to go to a stand or separated area and cheer on those who were still running. Their presence indicated that they witnessed to the fact that the race, even when difficult, could be run, and run well; their response also indicated a degree of sympathy with those still running in the race. So the people in Hebrews 11 testify to us and all believers today that the spiritual race can be run successfully, even by imperfect people. This means that when we read Hebrews 11, we are meant to deduce from their progress that we can also make progress.

The second detail is the obvious fact that a runner should not be carrying anything while he runs. If we saw a man standing at the starting line with a bag of coal on his back we could safely assume that he would not do well in the subsequent race. The equivalent of such a bag is anything that hinders us from running well, and that can include what we could describe as good things. At all times, the question about anything is, ‘Will this ----- help me run my race or hinder me in my running of it?’ The author also mentions the issue of personal sin, and while sin is wide-ranging I would suggest that the author has in mind the sins to which we are prone, all of which are connected to unbelief. His demand is all the more graphic when we recall that the athletes in the ancient games ran naked. He tells his reader to get rid of everything that hinders their own race to glory.

The third detail is that the race in mind is not a sprint, but a long-distance one, perhaps like a steeplechase with obstacles to the runner’s progress. There has to be endurance or persistence, a determination to keep on going whatever comes along. I suspect everyone who completes in a long race does at some stage during it consider giving up because the demands are too great. The book of Hebrews tells us that the readers were in danger of giving up the faith, but if they did that, they would not win the prize that Jesus will give to those who finish the race.

The fourth detail is that the course along which they run was not chosen by the runners themselves. It would be a disastrous race if every runner decided to mark out his own path, with each heading in a different direction. Instead, the readers had to realise that God had marked out the race that they were to run. They might have imagined that the Lord should have made it easier for them, but he didn’t. Nothing new about that, just ask the witnesses. The Lord has chosen where we should run the race that is set before us.

The example

It is notable that the author here does not say that his readers should imitate the example of all the heroic men and women mentioned in Hebrews 11, although he does tell his readers in chapter 13 that they should imitate their past leaders. I suppose the reasons for not doing so here is that the heroes in chapter 11 did not run on our behalf and even if they ran a very good race they are unable to help us run ours. Instead we have to consider Jesus in certain ways.

First, the author says that Jesus, according to our version, is ‘the founder and perfector of our faith’. Those who translated the phrase have also interpreted it and they have made it say something about our faith rather than about Jesus’ faith. The word ‘our’ is not in the original text. Of course, the translators could be right because what they say is doctrinally correct – Jesus is the one who begins and completes the faith that is people have. But sometimes we can see a true doctrine in a verse when that is not what the verse is about.

Perhaps the author wanted his readers to consider the faith of Jesus because he did live by faith. In Psalm 22, we are told that his faith was there when he was an infant. He lived his life by faith and there never was an occasion when his faith was not what it should be. He was different from every person mentioned in Hebrews 11. Of course, his faith developed as he became more informed about the race that he had to run. Apart from the incident in the temple when he was twelve years old, we don’t know any of the details of his life before he was thirty. But we can be assured that he went up to Jerusalem by faith when he was twelve and he went home and submitted himself to Joseph and Mary by faith.

In the accounts of his three years of public ministry, we see many examples of him living by faith. He revealed his faith when he slept in the boat on the stormy sea, when he distributed the bread and fish to the five thousand, when he was in Gethsemane, and when he was dying on the cross. In fact, everywhere we see him in the Gospels, he is marked by faith. One way that points clearly to his faith is his prayer life. Before his baptism, he prayed about it; before he chose his apostles, he prayed about them; on the Mount of Transfiguration he prayed about it; and on all occasions his prayers of faith were heard.

The word that is translated ‘founder’ has the idea of ‘forerunner’ or ‘pioneer’. Jesus was not the first to exercise faith, but he was the first and the only one to have a perfect faith. He also had to exercise faith in locations where it had never been exercised before, especially on the cross. He was the real pioneer, and he still is. And he completed in perfection whatever he did by faith, even in Gethsemane when he faced the indescribable. In a real sense, Jesus shows us what faith is and should be, but which we can never attain to in this life because we are sinners. Yet it is good for all of us to consider the One who is perfect.

As we can see from verse 2, the author highlights how Jesus’ faith functioned when he was running his race and reached Calvary. Calvary was an endurance test in the strongest possible way. How did his faith function there? Two details are mentioned. First, Jesus thought of what lay ahead after the cross, here described as ‘the joy that was set before him’. Sometimes, we try and list what was in the joy, such as him being glorified, or being with his people, or him creating the new heavens and new earth, but it looks as if what the author is saying is that for Jesus there was only joy ahead, that the whole endless experience after the sufferings of the cross will be one of unspeakable joy. What a contrast, we might say, between his wonderful ongoing experience and the short-lasting, temporary pleasure that an athlete has when winning a medal!

Second, Jesus despised the shame of the cross. On the cross, he was a public spectacle of ridicule. Although he was treated with contempt, he treated with disdain the worst that sinners could do to him. However low they placed him in their attempts to demean him, they could not prevent him getting to the joy that was waiting for him. No doubt, those words spoke to the Hebrew Christians who were in danger of being ashamed of Christ. And they speak to us whenever we are tempted to be ashamed of him. Like Jesus we are to think of the joy that is ahead, and that enables us to assess accurately the derision that we might face for following him.

The author also mentions the unique reward that was given to the Saviour. We may not spot the connection between the cross and being seated on God’s throne, but it is a reference to the work of Jesus as a priest, which has been a major theme of the Book of Hebrews. The priests of Israel offered sacrifices to God, but they never offered a sacrifice that would enable them to sit down beside God. Jesus offered one sacrifice and then sat down on God’s throne as both a king who rules and a priest who helps. His reward was great, but it was fully deserved. There is no other way by which the achievement of Calvary can be measured. The degree of the reward says all that needs to be said.

The exhortation

The writer tells his audience to look to Jesus. By definition, his words indicate that they can see Jesus, not with their physical eyes, but by the eyes of faith. This is not the first time in the letter that the author has said that they can see Jesus. In Hebrews 2:9, he says: ‘But we see him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honour because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.’ In what ways can we describe this looking?

One feature of such looking can be stated as looking with admiration. After all, Jesus did nothing small. Even his actions that seem small, like taking hold of someone’s hands, turn out to be massive in their consequences. The word that should be on our hearts as we read the Gospel accounts should be Wow.

A second feature of this response we can describe as looking with appreciation because we understand the achievement of Jesus on the cross. We can look on him as the sin-bearer and the sin-remover, the one who dealt with the powers of darkness and who paid the penalty for our sin. His obedience unto death paid the penalty for our sins.

Thirdly, such looking can also be described as looking with anticipation that Jesus, now exalted on heaven’s throne, can meet all our needs. He is One who observes us persevering, and he is the One who can keep us persevering by providing us with whatever kind of grace we need.

Fourthly, this looking must be a looking with affection. It is impossible to follow Jesus without loving him. After all, much of what he did he did for us. Every step in his race was taken with his people in mind because he had loved them with an everlasting love. As John put it, ‘We love him because he first loved us.’        

Fifth, this looking will be a looking with adoration. The One we look at with admiration, appreciation, anticipation and affection is the eternal God, the second person of the glorious Trinity, the Creator and Upholder of all things, who became incarnate in order to live and die for sinners so that they would be with him in the eternal ages to come. As we run our race and face our circumstances, we have to put them into perspective and make sure that our looking at them does not prevent us looking at Jesus our Saviour.