More than a Passing Glance

CONSECRATION Wake up, sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.  Jesus, I belong to you. I lift up my heart to you. I set my mind on you. I fix my eyes on you. I offer my body to you as a living sacrifice. Jesus, we belong to you.  Praying in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, amen.  SCRIPTURE Hebrews 12:1–3 NIV Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. CONSIDER THIS It was the hope of future joy that motivated and empowered Jesus to endure the suffering of the cross. The author of Hebrews invites us to follow the example of the pioneer of our faith and to play with the long game in mind—to expand our capacity to endure suffering in this present moment for the sake of the joy that is set before us. We experience this joy in part, but not yet in full. The implications of future joy come to bear on the present, bringing purpose and hope to us in the midst of opposition and hardship. We are not called to run quickly, but to run with perseverance. To persist and run with the tenacity needed to finish. The goal is simple: keep going. We are able to do this because of the one who has pioneered the way. He is the one we are to look to, to fix our eyes on. This is why we are urged to “consider” Jesus. To consider means to engage fully with who Jesus is. A passing glance won’t sustain us; we are to gaze upon Him, ponder His example, and seriously ask ourselves about the implications of His life, death, and resurrection. Why? So that we don’t grow weary and lose heart. Fixing our eyes on Jesus makes joy available to us, even in weariness, discouragement, or suffering, which seek to eclipse the joy we have before us. We are not the first and only followers of God to do this. The opening words of our text today remind us of that: “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses . . .” (v. 1). This is in reference to the great cloud of witnesses of our faith detailed in the previous chapter of Hebrews. Their running of the race encourages us to do the same. The cloud of witnesses extends beyond those recorded in Scripture. Throughout church history, countless others have faithfully run the race, standing as examples of perseverance and faith. Some of these have shared in the sufferings of Jesus to the point of death. It is on their shoulders that many of us stand today. Among these witnesses are early church martyrs like Perpetua and Felicitas, two young women who were arrested for converting to Christianity in the third century as they were preparing to be baptized. Their story is a powerful testimony of what it looks like to fix our eyes on Jesus and to experience the joy of knowing Jesus in the face of death. [Perpetua] was a young, well-to-do woman nursing her infant child. . . . When Perpetua and her companions were arrested, her father tried to persuade her to save her life by abandoning her faith. She answered that, just as everything has a name and it is useless to try to give it a different name, she had the name of Christian, and this could not be changed. . . . Felicitas, who was pregnant when arrested, was afraid that her life would be spared for that reason, or that her martyrdom would be postponed and she would not be able to join her four companions. The account of her martyrdom tells us that her prayers were answered, and in her eighth month she gave birth to a girl who was then adopted by another Christian woman. Seeing her moan in childbirth, her jailers asked how she expected to be able to face the beasts in the arena. Her answer . . . “Now my sufferings are only mine. But when I face the beasts there will be another who will live in me, and will suffer for me since I shall be suffering for him.” . . . Perpetua and Felicitas were placed in the arena to be attacked by a crazed cow. Having been hit and thrown by the animal, Perpetua asked to be able to retie her hair, for loose hair was a sign of mourning, and this was a joyful day for her.1 In light of these things . . . Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. (Heb. 12:1–3) RESPONSE PROMPTS Who in your life has run their race of faith in a way that encourages you to keep going? What would it look like for you to consider Jesus? Not glance at Him, or remember Him for a moment, but to really consider Him? PRAYER Thank You, Jesus, that You are the pioneer and perfector of our faith. Thank You that You endured the pain and suffering of the cross for the joy set before You. Thank You for the cloud of witnesses that have gone before me and finished the race. I pray today for the persecuted church around the world. Strengthen them, uphold them, empower them, fill them with the joy and hope of Your presence today. Amen.