Hebrews 12:1-2

February 24, 2013 The main theme weve seen is that Christ Jesus is greater than all things. This letter is written with that theme in mind because the original hearers have considered leaving; theyre being persecuted and they dont like that. Theyre asking, Have we left Moses and the sacrifices for no reason? And the author shows how Christ is better than those things and they are only types and shadows and they point to Him. He shows from their history that turning back is always the wrong to do, and he reminds them that the just shall live by faithjust as Noah and Abraham and Moses all the others in chapter 11. And so now we come to chapter 12 and we ask, how is Christ glorified in these verses? 1. Hes proven faithful by His witnesses (:1) Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, This is a reference to all the men and women from the last chapter. Some people interpret this to mean since there are so many great men and women watching us, but I dont think thats quite right. Rather it should be understood to mean since we have so many examples and testimonies of Gods faithfulness to fulfill His promises. Theres this whole group of people all through your Bibles that shows how God never lies and that we can depend on Him. Do you think your lives are bad? Is the persecution starting to get to you? Well, be encouragedyoure in great company with all the others whove had to wait on Him to find Him faithful! 2. Hes removed every weight and sin from us that we may run our race (:1) 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, I suppose weight can be just about anything that slows us down and keeps us from finishing our race. In my mind I picture Christian from Pilgrims Progress: hes walking around with this huge burden on his back that wont come off until he gets to the cross.

The sin that easily besets us could also be translated as the sin that skillfully surrounds us. I picture a man walking alone on a road when suddenly 7-8 robbers rush out of the bushes and before he even realizes whats happening hes already completely surrounded. So, our first reading commands us to lay aside the burden and to lay aside or overcome the sin that so skillfully surrounds us. Hmm. That doesnt sound right, does it? I dont read Greek, but I study it, and Im occasionally asked why it matters. Well, this is one of those times where it makes a big difference. This is kind of hard to explain, but let us lay aside is all one word in the Greek. Its tense is called second aorist which means its something thats already finished. Its also middle voice, and its a participle which means in English its probably going to have an ing or an ed at the end. It should be translated something like this: Seeing Christs faithfulness throughout history, and having laid aside every weight and sin, let us run our race with patience. Its an important distinction to make: let us lay aside implies that theres something for us to do; it commands us to lay aside the weight and the sin so we can run our race. But weve already traded our burden for the yoke of Christ (Mt. 11:28), and Hes already made us free indeed! How can we add to His work? And so the glory that I see for Him in this verse is not that He enables us to lay aside the weights and sin and waits for us to do it, but that He has already done it and has made us to stand and run: He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength. 30Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall: 31But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint (Is. 40:29-31). In Greek it literally reads this way: weight, having laid aside every, and the easily surrounding sin, with endurance we should run the lying before us race. Seeing so many testimonies of Gods faithfulness and having laid aside the weight and sin, let us run with patience! You see? Its not a command to strive more or work harder. Its a command to wait because the striving has been done and the work is already finished. Now just wait on the Lord! 3. He Himself ran His race faithfully to secure our inheritance (:2)
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Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith;

Looking unto means more than just to look at something. The idea behind it is that you look away from other things to look at this one thing. A relevant example

might be Stephen in Acts 7:55-56. The Hebrews need to look away from their circumstances and toward the Christ! 4. Hes the author and finisher of the faith by which the just shall live (:2)
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Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith;

Author is elsewhere translated as Prince (Acts 3:15; 5:31) and Captain (Heb. 2:10). The Greek word (archegos) means founder or leader. Finisher is (teleiotes). Its used only here and I couldnt find it in any other Greek manuscripts, but it comes from (teleioo) which means to make perfect, complete, to accomplish, fulfilled, bring to maturity. He that began a good work in you will bring it to completion (Phil. 1:6)! 5. Hes proven His victory, faithfulness, and worthiness by sitting at the right hand of the throne of God (:2) who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, What joy was set before Christ? How about the atonement of the saints? How about the establishment of His church? How about the hope of resurrection? He looked at the promise of inheritance and endured the cross, and He despised (disregarded) the shame that came with it. What shame and humiliation for the Son of God to be on that cross, and they mocked Him for it. But He says, Its all worth it because I can see afar off and I embrace the promise and confess that Im a stranger here on this earth. and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. Christ was shamed at the cross, but now Hes alive and at the right hand of God! He is victorious and faithful and worthy, and if we look at Him we see that everything will be good for us because of Him! newgracebaptistchurch.wordpress.com