Hebrews 12

Hebrews 12:1

In chapter 11, looking at the men and women who tapped into the blessing of God by believing God is who He claims to be and that He does what He says He will do, we saw the walk of faith. Here in chapter 12, we’ll see the wisdom of hope. And in chapter 13, we’ll see the way of love… We are in a race, folks, observed and cheered on by a cloud of witnesses. Who are these spectators? They are the ones spoken of in chapter 11, the heroes of faith… Shortly before He was to die outside Jerusalem on a hill called Calvary, Elijah and Moses appeared with Jesus on Mount Hermon (Matthew 17). They had come, if you would, to cheer Him on. So, too, it is my firm conviction that right now, you and I are being cheered on by those in heaven. Furthermore, I believe the clouds spoken of in 1Th_4:17, in which we will be caught up during the Rapture, are not of the cumulus or nimbus variety. Rather, they’re clouds of those who have gone before us. Therefore, next time you feel you’re being “wailed on,” think of Jonah. He’s up there cheering you on. Next time you feel like you’re in a fiery trial, look for Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego in the stands. Next time you feel like you’re up against a giant of a problem, remember David, the giant-slayer, and take heart. “Weight” is not necessarily sinit’s just stuff. A woman dreamed the Rapture was taking place. But much to her consternation, while everyone else was zooming up, it was a struggle for her to get even twenty feet off the ground. Looking down, she saw the problem. Around her ankle was a rope, the end of which was tied to all her furniture. When she awoke, she realized the Lord was telling her she was tied down by all her possessions. The race before us is not a sprint. It’s a marathon. We’re in it for the long haul, gang.

Hebrews 12:2

For an example of One who ran the race with patience, look to Jesus. The course Jesus ran wasn’t easy, but He knew on the other side of the finish line, joy awaited Him. I believe the Father gave His Son a sneak preview of this joy even as He hung on the Cross. You see, when one of the two thieves who hung on either side of Jesus said, “Remember me when You come into Your kingdom” (see Luk_23:42) it was as if the Father gave His Son a taste of the joy that would be His when an entire world would have the opportunity to follow the thief’s example.

Hebrews 12:3

Consider Jesus, who endured the opposition of sinners. He was drenched in their spittle, pelted with their curses, beaten with their fists, and crowned with their thorns.

Hebrews 12:4

We sweat at times because of things we go through. But we have never sweat like Jesus did, for in the Garden of Gethsemane, knowing the Cross awaiting Him and the challenge before Him, Jesus prayed with such intensity that the capillaries in His forehead burst, causing blood to flow down His face. Had He so chosen, He could have backed out at this point. Instead, He prayed, “Not My will, but Thine be done.” Therefore, because He wrestled with His own ability to choose, perhaps the pain of Gethsemane was, in some ways, even greater than the pain of the Cross.

Hebrews 12:5

Quoting Pro_3:11-12, the author seems to change metaphors from running a race to disciplining children. But in reality, the best coaches are like dads. Yes, they get in the faces of their athletes from time to timebut it’s because they want them to succeed, to excel, and to finish the race set before them. “Wait a minute,” you protest. “If the first eleven chapters of Hebrews are true, how can it be that here in chapter 12, all of a sudden we’re talking about a Father who scourges His son? If it is true that He doesn’t remember our sins and iniquities (Heb_8:12), and if it is true that we are completely sanctified through our High Priest, Jesus Christ (Heb_10:10), then how can God punish us for sin He doesn’t remember or doesn’t see?” I submit two points for your consideration in this very important matter of the chastening hand of God… First, God’s chastening is never punitive. It’s corrective. People would often travel great distances to worship in the temple. Upon their arrival, a priest would most likely meet them at the door, saying, “I’m sorry, but that ox you’re bringing as a sacrifice has a problema little splotch under his left ear. But this is your lucky day. We just happen to have on hand preapproved oxen you can buy.” Or worshipers would bring money to place in the offering, only to hear the priest say, “I’m sorry, but that money is not temple currency. You’re in luck, however, because one of our moneychangers will be happy to take your money and give you temple currencyfor a price, of course.” Thus, the priests were becoming millionaires by ripping off people who had come to worship the Father. In John 2, Jesus went into the temple, and finding pollution and corruption within, with scourge in hand, He overthrew tables, chased out livestock, and drove out moneychangers. So, too, we being the temple of the Holy Ghost (1Co_6:19), Jesus has every right and reason to come into our lives and throw out anything and everything that would hinder ours or anyone else’s access to Him. His goal isn’t punitive. It’s corrective. His goal is to get rid of the stinky cattle, bleating sheep, and rip-off moneychangers who pollute our temples. Second, God’s chastening is never confrontational. It’s consequential. If you’re a Christian, God does not confront you in a disciplinary manner for the sins that you have done or ever will do. Your sin is forgivenpast, present, and future. However, in Num_32:23, we read: “Be sure your sin will find you out.” Notice it’s not God finding us outit’s our sin. God is not sniffing around, searching for our failings and shortcomings so that He can have reason to punish us. No, the sin itself will track us down and deal with us in every single instance. “Be not deceived,” Paul says, “whatever a man sows, that will he reap” (see Gal_6:7). How many sins have repercussions? Every single one. How do I know? Check out Jeremiah 2… When the people of Israel were getting involved with all kinds of sin, God said, “Thine own wickedness shall correct thee, and thy backslidings shall reprove thee…” (Jer_2:19). Did you catch that? Thine own wickedness shall correct thee. Thy backslidings shall reprove thee. It’s not God, gang. It’s the consequences of our own sin that bring their own tragic repercussions. After slaying his brother, it seemed as though Cain got away with murder. After all, God even marked him for his own protection. Nonetheless, Cain was a fugitive all the days of his life, shunned and ostracized by the community that had once embraced him, because sin brings about its own repercussions. Fearing for his own life, Abraham told Pharaoh his wife, Sarah, was his sister. Pharaoh in turn added Sarah to his harem. When Pharaoh released Sarah untouched, adding all kinds of servants, livestock, and possessions to pay for his errorit seemed as though Abraham got away with his lie. But among the servants given him by Pharaoh was a woman named Hagar, who would eventually bear the son who would shatter Abraham’s family. Although David was forgiven his sin of murdering Uriah following his adultery with Bathsheba, blood and tragedy flowed in David’s family from that point on. Sin stinks. God forgives it and doesn’t even remember it. But the sin itself searches us out and has terrible repercussions. After a game of hoops at the YMCA, you stop off for some drinks with the guys. On your way home, you plow into a wall. Your sin of drunkenness is forgiven and forgotten. But that doesn’t change the fact that you’re crippled for the rest of your life. Truly, the work of forgiveness is finished. But the sin itself will be the scourging. “Give me my inheritance,” said the foolish son to his good father before heading to a far country where he spent freely on wine and women. He thought he was getting away with ituntil the money ran out and he found himself living in a pigpen (Luke 15). The father didn’t put him in the pigpen. The father didn’t send the police after him. The father just let it play out, knowing his son’s own sin would correct him. As believers, every sin we commit is forgiven. But even as believers, every sin we commit brings repercussion. Ask David or Moses, Abraham or Cain. So what do we do with the scars from our sin? The same thing Jesus did. After He was scarred in the process of absorbing our sin, He said to Thomas, “You who are cynical and skeptical, touch My wounds.” And, in seeing the scars sin caused in Jesus, Thomas was rescued from his own sin and unbelief (see Joh_20:27-28). You may have blown a marriage. You may have lost your health. You may have bottomed out financially. Who knows what it might be that has scarred you permanently. I wish I could tell you your scar will go way. It won’t. But if you say, “Lord, I give these scars that were brought on because of my sin to You to use,” He will.

Hebrews 12:10

The idea here is that our earthly fathers corrected us lest we be an embarrassment to them. Everything God does in correcting us is not because we are an embarrassment to Him, but because He wants the best for us. And the best for us is that we drink deeply of His holiness, His wholeness.

Hebrews 12:11

No child says, “Oh, boy, I’m being disciplined!” No, it’s grievous. Nevertheless, the fruit, the result of discipline is sweet indeed.

Hebrews 12:12

This is great! The exhortation here is, “You’ve been disciplined. You’ve been injured and sidelined by your sin. But you’ve been healed by your Father. Now wipe away your tears and get back into the race, where you’ll be able to run better than before.”

Hebrews 12:14

The word “follow,” which can also be translated “pursue,” gives further insight into the race we run. All athletes pursue somethingbe it health, wealth, or fame. Ours is a far more glorious prize, for ours is a pursuit of peace.

Hebrews 12:15

A more proper rendering of this text would be: “Looking diligently lest any man fail because of the grace of God.” Follow the flow here, gang, because it’s intriguing. We’re in a race, surrounded by witnesses cheering us on. We’re to keep our eyes on Jesus, who is our example of how to run. We’re to lay aside the stuff that slows us down. We’re to realize the Father so loves us and wants us to win that, when necessary, He will discipline us. And we are to be careful of bitterness. Why? Because after we’ve been disciplined, we’re vulnerable to bitterness toward those who enjoy God’s grace. “How come he’s getting away with that? Why is she being blessed? They haven’t been to church in three years, while I haven’t missed a service in ten! How come I’m getting busted and they’re not?” In this way, if we’re not careful, the grace of God in the lives of others can actually produce the root of bitterness within us. Jesus knew this would happen… In need of laborers, the owner of the vineyard went to the town square early in the morning and hired some workers. Still needing more help, he returned at noon to hire more. At three o’clock in the afternoon he did the same thing, and again at five o’clock. At the end of the day, he paid the last hired a full day’s wage. If those guys got that much" thought the men hired first, just think what we’ll get! But when they were paid the same full day’s wage, they became bitter. “Didn’t we agree on this?” asked the owner. “Well, yeah,” said the disgruntled laborers. “But what about those guys? They only worked one hour.” “Why are you upset because someone else was the recipient of grace and mercy?” asked the owner (see Matthew 20). Truly, the tendency for us, like the prodigal son’s older brother of another parable, is to murmur and complain when grace and mercy are lavished on those whom we deem undeserving. And it ought not befor the root of bitterness is far more deadly than it appears…

Hebrews 12:16

Following the flow, Esau is cited as the biblical example of the fruit of the root of bitterness. Why did Esau sell his birthrightthat which would have given him leadership spiritually and a double portion financially? Could it be because Esau was bitter over the fact that before he was born, God had said, “The elder, Esau, shall serve the younger, Jacob” (see Gen_25:23)? “It’s not fair,” Esau must have thought. And as a result, he sold his birthright for a bowl of beans. Consequently, Esau became a fornicatora profane man. “The first shall be last, and the last first,” Jesus would say centuries later (see Mat_19:30). Therefore, could it be that Esau had the potential to be even greater than Jacob in the eternal economy if he had accepted his role and embraced his lot? Perhaps. But he became bitter. And that’s just what happens today. People say, “Why should I live godly if those guys are getting blessed anyway? Why not just live a life of compromise?” And like Esau, their lives become a mess because of bitterness.

Hebrews 12:17

This intrigues me, for this man who was initially a party animal, who initially tossed away his birthright without a second thought, later wept over the lack of his father’s blessing. Truly, whether a man is spiritual or carnal, whether he is perceptive of the things of God or whether he walks away from God, every single son and daughter craves the blessing of their father. Now think with me: Just as blessing could not be given because Esau was not interested in the birthright, so, too, we cannot despise our birthright if we expect to receive the blessing of our heavenly Father. “I want that blessing,” people say as they read of the righteous never begging for bread (Psa_37:25), of the Lord delivering those that fear Him (Psa_34:7), or of the Lord upholding those who fall (Psa_37:24). But if they despise the birthright, if they don’t see the need to be born again, the blessings will not be bestowed. The Book of Hebrews was written for those who desperately desired blessing but were unable to receive it because they wanted to earn it through rules and religion instead of relationship.

Hebrews 12:18

The law is awesome. Like the mount from which it was given, it quakes and shakes and is laden with power and possibility. But no one can keep it. And therein lies the problem, for all the blessings connected to it are impossible to touch or to receive.

Hebrews 12:22

Like Esau, you can try to gain the blessings of God with tears, by futilely trying to keep the law given on Mount Sinaior you can go to Mount Zion, the heavenly mountain, the city of the Living God, and enter in to the New Covenant. When Cain killed Abel, God said, “Abel’s blood cries out to me” (see Gen_4:10). What did Abel’s blood cry? Justice. Judgment. Revenge. Jesus’ blood also cries outnot justice, but mercy; not judgment, but forgiveness; not revenge, but grace. Thus, the blood of Jesus Christ, the New Covenant, makes the birthright and the blessing available to me.

Hebrews 12:25

“In the year King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord,” wrote Isaiah (Isa_6:1). Under the reign of Uzziahone of the greatest kings in the history of Judahwealth flowed throughout the Jewish empire, and the borders of the nation were not only protected but expanded. So powerful was he, it was said that his name was on the lips of everyone from Babylon in the north to Egypt in the south. But when did Isaiah see the Lord? In the year Uzziah died. So, too, in each of our lives there are Uzziahs: good things, wonderful thingsbut things in which we trust and upon which we depend instead of trusting in and depending upon God. And because He loves us and wants the best for us, our Father says, “As good as Uzziah might be, he’s not Me. As secure as you might feel because of his weaponry, it’s not nearly as secure as you would be if you were looking to and leaning on Me.” Because we are so prone to put our trust in things that are not trustworthy, God shakes our world as surely as He shook Mount Sinai in order to knock away anything we are trusting in and living for. Gang, He loves you enough to say, “If year after year I let you trust in that, lean on him, or live for her, you will be a spiritual midget. I don’t want that for you. You don’t want that either. So, I’ve got to shake it to remove it, that you might again lean on Me, look to Me, and walk with Mefor then you’ll be blessed, strengthened, and ready for eternity.”

Hebrews 12:28

I like this! Even though it takes some shaking to get us there, we eventually receive a kingdom that is stable and solid. The author of this letter addressed to Jewish believers who had a tendency to lean on their traditions, their priests, and their sacrifices never misses an opportunity to draw their attention back to the finished work of the Cross, to the New Covenant, to grace. Serve Him with reverence and godly fear, for our God is indeed a consuming fire who will consume anything which distracts you from your relationship and dependency upon Him. If you are at a place where you’re experiencing the fire of God, fear not, for if allowed to burn, the warmth and brightness of His love will, indeed, burn away all that is unfruitful and distracting in your walk with Him.