Hebrews
12:1-3
The Arguments Proper
2. The necessity to persevere in faith, 10:32-12:17
viii] Looking to Jesus
Argument
Having examined the characters and characteristics of those who have persevered in faith, the Rhetor now exhorts his audience to faithfully endure like them, v1-17; "Run the race with perseverance and look to Jesus", Kistemaker. "
Issues
i] Context: See 10:32-39. These three verses introduce the second part of the second main argument, The necessity to persevere in faith. This part of the argument, covering 12:1-17, makes the point that, following the example set by Jesus, a believer should strive, as an athlete strives, to persevere in faith to reach their eternal goal.
ii] Background: A general introduction; See 1:1-4.
iii] Structure: Looking to Jesus:
Exhortations set on the example of the great-ones of faith, v1-3:
As a dedicated athlete:
Let us run with endurance, v1-2;
having laid aside all that hinders;
having fixed our eyes on Jesus.
Let us compare our situation with that faced by Jesus, v3:
iJna mh, lest / so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted.
Some commentators argue that these three verses form a chiastic structure, so Vanhoye.
iv] Interpretation:
Given the example of the great-ones of faith, believers are to apply themselves in their Christian life as an athlete applies themselves to their chosen sport. We cannot run the race "unless we have first got rid of everything that would hinder us, the sins that cling to us and keep us back", Neil, v1. In running the race, we are to set our eyes on Jesus. He has run the race before us, reached the goal and won the prize; he has set the path for us to follow and coaches us (and sometimes carries us!) in order that we may share in the prize, v2. And "when [we] become weary on the way, and grow faint at heart because there seems no end to the trials [we] have to endure, let [us] consider Jesus", Bruce, let us compare our situation with his. He didn't lose heart, but endured the cross and is now enthroned in heaven, so let us persevere in faith as he persevered. By focusing on Jesus "we will not grow weary and lose heart", v3.
v] Homiletics: Running the race of life
![[illustration]](images/heb25.jpg)
The Christian life is like a race. Our reading today gives us some clues about the type of race we are in and how to run it.
First: what type of race are we in? The race is like a long distance foot race with a finish line completely out of sight. It's a marathon. The goal is but a hope, an anticipation. Many have run before us. Of all who have run the race, only one has, as yet, crossed the finish line and received the prize. He is the one who is our trail-blazer. So, this is a faith-race. We run hoping for a wreath of glory at the end of the race. We run in faith.
Yet, unlike most long distance races, all who run this race receive the prize. It's a noncompetitive sport, a community game. All who compete win. All win, all get to sit in God's throne-room alongside God's supreme athlete, Jesus.
There is a downside. The race is painful. The pain barrier endured by Jesus was the "cross". We will find much of our time, talent and tinkle absorbed in the run, but in particular, we will find the mental, emotional and spiritual challenges draining. So, the race is a wearing one. We can easily lose heart. Let us therefore "run with perseverance the race marked out for" us.
Second: how do we run this race? The author of Hebrews gives us three pieces of advice, two negative and one positive.
First, to run the race we need to get rid of "everything that hinders" us. There are many things which hinder us in the Christian life, often things which are not evil in themselves, but which hold us back in our run with Jesus. They are often the things of this world, the clutter of life.
Second, to run the race we need to negotiate "sin that so easily entangles", drags on us and trips us up.
Third, we must "fix our eyes on Jesus". A good athlete needs a brilliant trainer and a positive role model, and Jesus fits the bill. "Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart."
Image: Freepik
Text - 12:1
Looking to Jesus, v1-3: i] The Christian life is a race to be run by all of us, v1-2. First, let us lay aside all that hinders: In chapter 11, the Rhetor lists some great ones of the past who persevered in difficult times by holding onto the promises of God. In the face of difficult circumstances, they trusted God, even though the circumstance they faced seemed to deny what they believed. From the witness of these great ones the Rhetor encourages us to do likewise. So, his first piece of advice is that we run the race set before us with patient endurance in order that we may gain the promised prize, cf., 1Cor.9:24. Let us discard all that can "easily entangle", all that can "easily distract". Let us cast off every weight which slows us down, every sin which drags on us, holds us back, trips us up; let us set aside every "sin that clings so closely", NRSV.
toigaroun "therefore" - therefore. An emphatic form of gar drawing a logical conclusion, "So therefore".
econteV (ecw) pres. part. "since" - [we and = also] having. The participle is adverbial, probably causal, "because", as NIV; "Because we ourselves too have". The central players in the Rhetor's exhortation, namely "we" and "Christ", return in this literary unit.
perikeimenon (perikeimai) pres. part. "are surrounded" - [such a cloud of witnesses] surrounding, bounding. The participle is adjectival, attributive, limiting "a cloud of witnesses", witnesses "who surround us". These "witnesses" are the men and women of faith, chapter 11. "Cloud" meaning "throng", gives us "many witnesses". "Surrounded by a vast crowd of spectators", Barclay. The genitive "witnesses" is adjectival, descriptive, limiting "cloud", "a host made up of witnesses". Possibly moving toward the idea of "martyrs", Moffatt, cf., Bruce p347, but maybe it is the angelic host who cheer the runners on to the finish line.
hJmin dat. pro. "-" - us. Dative of direct object after the peri prefix participle "surrounding".
apoqemenoi (apotiqhmi) aor. part. "let us throw off" - having put off, laid aside, put away [all = every weight and easily distracting / ensnaring sin]. Attendant circumstance participle expressing action accompanying the main verb "let us run", a hortatory subjunctive, so "let us lay aside every weight ...... and let us run". "We must get rid of everything that slows us down, especially the sin that just won't let go. And we must be determined to run the race that is ahead of us", CEV. Probably sin in general, "the burden of sin/guilt", rather than some specific sin, so "entangling sin".
trecwmen (trecw) subj. "let us run" - let us run. Hortatory subjunctive.
dia + gen. "with" - through, by means of [endurance, perseverance, fortitude]. Ellingworth classifies this prepositional phrase as attendant circumstance, as NIV. It is an unusual way of expressing attendant circumstance, but given the abundance of participles it is an understandable choice, cf., Rom.8:25 for a similar construction. Adverbial is also possible, expressing manner of running, "let us run, without faltering, the race which is set before us".
prokeimenon (prokeimai) pres. part. "marked out for" - [the race] being set before, laying before. The participle is adjectival, attributive, limiting "the race", "the race which lays before us". "The race which stretches in front of us", Barclay.
hJmin dat. pro. "us" - us. Dative of direct object after the pro prefix verb "to set before".
v2
Second, let us set our eyes on Jesus, v2. The second piece of advice is that we focus on the performance of a classic athlete. Jesus is the supreme example of the Christian athlete who has run the race and reached the goal. That is why he is the "pioneer" (trail-blazer, or pathfinder, is better than the NIV "author") of the life of faith. In the running of his race, Jesus faced the full weight of suffering which comes upon those who choose to submit to the living God rather than the powers of this age. Jesus "endured the cross", "scorning its shame", setting aside the joys of earthly life. This is why he is the "perfecter of faith" ("our" is not in the Gk.) in the sense of being the perfect example. In the few years of his ministry, Jesus demonstrates what it means to persevere in faith day-by-day.
"Study how he did it. Because he never lost sight of where he was heading - that exhilarating finish in and with God - he could put up with anything along the way: cross, shame, whatever. And now he's there, in the place of honour, right alongside God", Peterson.
aforwnteV (aforaw) pres. part. "fixing our eyes" - [let us run the race being set before us (v1)] looking up to, fixing gaze on, concentrate on [into jesus]. The participle is adverbial, modal, expressing the manner of running, as NIV (trecwmen, "let us run", v1), or instrumental, expressing means, "by means of". The prefix apo strengthens the looking, a looking without distraction, and the present tense, being durative, expresses ongoing looking. The following eiV, "into", serves as an idiomatic reinforcement of apo. The direct object is "Jesus", emphatic by position. "We must concentrate on nothing but Jesus", Barclay.
ton ... archgon kai teleiwthn "the author and perfecter" - the pioneer, trail-blazer, author, leader, founder, prince / and / perfecter. Together standing in apposition to "Jesus". Possibly "beginning and end" is being implied; "the founder of our faith and the one who brings it to perfection", Cassirer. Possibly the sense is that Jesus is both the example and source of faith.
thV pistewV gen. "of our faith" - of the faith. The genitive is adjectival, limiting both nouns "pioneer" and "perfecter", verbal, objective; "fixing our eyes on Jesus, the champion (trail-blazer) in the exercise of faith and the one who brought faith to complete expression", Lane. With the addition of "our", the NIV treats the genitive as subjective. The presence of the article may indicate "the faith", in the sense of assembled propositional truth, but this is unlikely. "Faith", in the sense of a firm reliance on the divine will / word / revelation, is more likely. This faith is exemplified in the Old Testament saints listed in chapter 11, but is particularly exemplified, and more pointedly realised, in Christ.
o} pro. "who" - who. Personal pronoun, antecedent "Jesus".
anti + gen. "for" - instead of. This preposition very rarely takes a causal sense, "for / because of", which meaning would imply that Jesus endured the cross because he wanted to gain the joy set before him; "in order to reach his own appointed joy", Moffatt. The more likely meanings are either a) "in the place of", expressing exchange, or b) "instead of", expressing substitution. Either way, it was only exchange / substitution for a time. Ellingworth has a take on this prepositional clause which he ultimately doesn't accept, but which is worth considering; "Instead of (earthly) joy which was within his grasp, Jesus endured the cross and thus obtained greater joy in heaven." Most commentators / translators opt for "because of / for the sake of" = "for", the "joy" being heavenly.
prokeimenhV (prokeimai) pres. part. "set before" - [the joy] being set before [him]. The participle is adjectival, limiting "joy", "the joy which was set before him".
uJpemeinen (uJpomenw) aor. "he endured" - he patiently endured [the cross]. Normally intransitive, but here with the direct object "the cross".
katafronhsaV (katafronew) aor. part. "scorning" - having scorned, disregarded, despised [shame]. Attendant circumstance participle expressing action accompanying the verb "endured", "endured .... and scorned ....", although possibly adverbial, concessive, "endured the cross although scorned its shame", even possibly modal, expressing how he endured the cross, "thinking nothing of its shame", Moffatt.
kekaqiken (kaqizw) perf. "sat down" - [and] he has sat down. The perfect tense is taken to express a past event with ongoing consequences, but here possibly just stative. Jesus is even now sitting at the right hand of the Ancient of Days bringing all things into subjection to himself.
tou qronou (oV) gen. "of the throne" - [in = at right] of the throne [of god]. The genitive is adjectival, partitive. The genitive tou qeou, "of God", is possessive.
v3
b) Let us compare our situation with the situation that Jesus faced, v3. Therefore, "let us fix our eyes on Jesus." The Christian athlete needs to focus on the outstanding performance of Jesus. Jesus' life shows us how we can run the race of faith; he is the supreme inspirer of faith. "Consider him", therefore, the one who "endured such opposition from sinful men" and did so trusting God. We must let the example of Jesus' life inspire us in our life of faith, so that we "will not grow weary and lose heart" in the day-to-day grind of living for God in a world falling apart.
"When you find yourselves flagging in your faith, go over the story again, item by item, that long litany of hostility he ploughed through. That will shoot adrenaline into your souls", Peterson.
gar "-" - for. More reason than cause, further developing the point made in v1-2, although Allen argues that it provides the grounds for the exhortations in v1-2.
analogisasqe (analogizomai) aor. imp. "consider" - [for] consider, reckon up. Barclay draws out the idea strongly; "the way to avoid the failure of your nerve and heart is to compare your situation with the situation of him who met the opposition of sinners with such constancy and courage."
ton ... uJpomemenhkota (uJpomenw) perf. part. "him who endured" - the one having endured. The participle serves as a substantive, object of the imperative verb "to consider". The perfect tense may indicate that Christ endured and endures, but more likely stative, the permanent nature of the example.
toiauthn pro. "such" - such. The pronoun serves as an adjective limiting / modifying the noun "opposition". Expressing a quality, unlike v1 which expresses quantity.
antilogian (a) "opposition" - controversy, hostility, speaking against, opposition. Accusative direct object of the participle "having endured". "Think about how much those sinners who hated him caused him to suffer", TH.
uJpo + gen. "from" - by [the sinful]. "Sinners". Instrumental, expressing agency, although Harris argues for source / origin, as NIV.
eiV "-" - into = against [himself]. The preposition here expresses disadvantage, opposition; "let your minds dwell on him who has borne up patiently with so much hostility against himself on the part of sinful men", Cassirer. Note that the singular eJauton, "himself", is not as well attested as the plural eJautouV, "themselves". "Themselves" makes no sense, although Lane has tried to make it fit, see p416-7.
iJna + subj. "so that" - that [you may not be weary]. Introducing a purpose clause, "in order that", or hypothetical result, "so that".
taiV yucaiV (h) "-" - in the souls [of you]. The dative is adverbial, reference / respect; "with respect to your souls." The sense is "in your very being". Most likely "lose heart in your souls", rather than "grow weary in your souls". "So, don't let yourselves become discouraged and give up", TEV.
ekluomenoi (ekluomai) pres. pas. part. "and lose heart" - losing heart, becoming weary or slack, giving out, cf., BAGD. Attendant circumstance participle expressing action accompanying the verb "grow weary"; "not grow weary and be discouraged". Possibly adverbial, consecutive, expressing result, resulting in "apathy", Ellingworth, and / or a "loss of faith", Lane. Physical language is being used to express "mental or spiritual exhaustion", Attridge.
![[Pumpkin Cottage]](images/cottage1s.gif){kind=small}
lectionarystudies.com