In the midst of such scorn and contempt, the Jewish Christians in Jerusalem needed to disregard the shame and endure in their faith in Jesus Christ, perhaps unto death. Paul knew that they needed to be reminded that God loved them and was at work in the midst of their situation to mold them into what He wanted them to be, and to prepare them for what they were to encounter in the days to come. I Pet. In addition, it gives personal help, Parents will indeed be held accountable before God for the character expressed in the disciplining of their children, but Paul recognizes that conscientious parents with the best of intentions still have to discipline their children in accord with their best personal discretion, which is still human and finite, rather than divine and infinite. His perfect exercise of faith established Him as “the pioneer and perfecter of faith.” The superiority of Jesus’ faith, compared to the old covenant faithful (11:1-40), is beyond all qualitative comparison. There is no time for mindless meandering or swerving off course. Persecution and suffering often have a primary cause in the hearts of, and at the hands of, evil doers and “sinners” (3) who act out of the character of the diabolic Evil One (cf. It entangles and halts progress. Precise sectional divisions are difficult to ascertain and are necessarily arbitrary, but we shall divide them as follows: (1) The inevitable discipline of God (12:1-13) Rather, He is eternal, unchanging, and supreme in His authority. Many people equate discipline with punishment. The “cost of discipleship” was high for the Christians in Jerusalem when this letter was written. He “accomplished the work which the Father gave Him to do” (Jn. 3:26), and the intent of God in Christ is to “bring many sons to glory” (Heb. We must avoid a direct attribution of all affliction and adversity upon God, for such can impinge upon His character and be a denial of the fact that God “does not tempt any one” to evil (James 1:13), for He cannot act contrary to who He is – His own Being. God disciplines in love so that His children may become disciples who will “listen under” Him in the dependence of the “obedience of faith.” This often involves the corrective element of exposing our inadequacies and inabilities, and bringing us “to the end of ourselves.” God’s love takes the risk that the individual might blame Him for the problems and pressures, doubt His love, reject Him altogether, and rebel in sinful self-orientation. Paul uses every argument he can think of to encourage his fellow Jewish believers that they have “everything better” in Jesus Christ. 5:15). Hebrews 12:18-24 The dispensation of the law compared with the privileges of the gospel. Hebrews 12:1 “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. “Do not hold back discipline from the child.” (Prov. 14:41) just prior to His arrest by the Jewish chief priests and their henchmen. If we do not throw it off, how are we to run the “race marked out for us” with “perseverance?”. The Christian life is a race. What appears to be loss or defeat by the world’s standards is often the means of God’s eternal victory. 119:71). Neither is His love a heavy-handed coercive force that castigates until we capitulate. Illegitimate children, “bastards” (KJV), were not required to (and usually did not) receive the discipline of the one who fathered them. 3:3) action of being “tested by fire” (I Pet. 6:6). The reproving action of divine discipline is necessary to negate the selfish tendencies of personal action and reaction in order to allow the positive expression of God’s character in the situation. From a greater example than he had yet mentioned, and that is Christ himself (v. 1-3). 1:25) of imperfections can be removed, and the “gold” of Christ’s character (Job 23:10; I Pet. “Therefore, flex the hands having become limp and the knees having become loose,...” The imperative verbs indicate a definite sense of responsibility on the part of the Jerusalem Christians, not only to accept God’s discipline, but to ready themselves for the race (1). 64:6; Phil. Hebrews 2:1, "Pay much close attention to what [you] have heard"—the Word. Such righteousness cannot be generated or produced by man (cf. As she became elderly and more frail, my parents determined that she should have a light on in her room during the night, so that she would not fall in the darkness. Paul’s continuing discourse to the Jerusalem Christians involves both a continuity of the theme of faithful endurance, as well as a comparative contrast of the superior objective of Christian faith which was stated in the final verse of the foregoing recitation: “God having foreseen something better concerning us, in order that they should not be perfected without us” (11:40). They were not regarded as real or genuine sons of the one who fathered them – just accidents that occurred along the way, for whom the mothers were henceforth responsible. The exercise of parental discipline, however, evidences the legitimacy of relational sonship. The common interpretation of this phrase to putting away “besetting sins” (cf. Hebrews 12:13, ESV: "and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but rather be healed." Hebrews 12:13 and make straight paths for your feet, so that the limb which is lame may not be put out of joint, but rather be healed. on StudyLight.org StudyLıght .org . 1      Lane, William L.,Word Biblical Commentary. Discipline usually impinges on our status quo and infringes on our “comfort zone.” The circumstances are often unpleasant, painful, grievous and sorrowful. 12:10), having been “afflicted, ...perplexed, ...persecuted, ...struck down, ...and delivered over to death for Jesus’ sake” (II Cor. That is the risk God takes in disciplining those He loves. Paul appeals to the Jerusalem Christians to exercise faith like that of Jesus, who endured (2,3) the hardships to overcome and enact the redemptive victory. The Psalmist admits, “It was good for me that I was afflicted, that I might learn Thy statutes” (Ps. They needed a forward-looking faith that looked beyond the present humiliation to the heavenly exaltation. Hebrews chapter 12. Though these words could be an indicative statement of accusation (“You have forgotten...”), they can also be translated as an interrogative question (“Have you forgotten...?”). What does Hebrews 1:13 mean? The same situations of suffering can, however, become positive disciplinary training as God uses them as a means of good in the lives of His people. We must keep our eyes and on the prize, and keep stepping. 1 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. Though God is the essential cause of all things as the Sovereign Creator God, He is not the blameworthy cause of evil which is contrary to His character. (c) The consequent responsibility for acting in endurance (12,13). This is a series of studies Jesus is the trail-blazer, the pioneer of faith. [⇑ See verse text ⇑] The primary purpose of the first two chapters of Hebrews is to prove that Jesus is not an angel. Paul ties his Jewish Christian readers to their Jewish heritage by reminding them of their “...having so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us,...” The faithful of old are regarded as presently serving as a quantitative and qualitative “cloud of witnesses.” Both in the Hebrew and Greek languages the word “cloud” was often used as a metaphor for a “crowd” – for a host or multitude of people. Their lives tell us what faith means. 1:7) can be exhibited. Jesus is indeed the “faithful witness” (Rev. That Paul had such behavioral encumbrances in mind is fortified by his subsequent reference to “clinging sin.” First century athletes had to strip off their clinging cloaks, robes and togas in order to run freely. 15:1-8), the “fruit of righteousness which comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God” (Phil. “No pain, no gain” is a common training slogan, but we must remember that we do not seek the pain, and the gain is not something acquired or achieved through self-effort, but the gain of the expression of His godly character in Christian behavior. “But if you are without discipline, of which you have all become partakers, then you are illegitimate children and not sons.” The absence of discipline would indicate parental rejection and abandonment. Hebrews 12:1-4 An exhortation to patience and constancy enforced by the example of Christ. The apostle John later penned the words of Jesus to the church at Ephesus: “You have perseverance and have endured for My name’s sake, and have not grown weary” (Rev. 23:13) Was “the joy lying before Him” the incentive of redemptive efficacy that looked forward to the restoration of functional humanity united with Him? Hebrews 12:1 is reminding us to persevere through those trials, knowing that, by God’s faithfulness, we won’t be overwhelmed by them (1 Corinthians 10:13). All rights Acts 3:14; 7:52; 22:14; I Jn. In theological language, this is the issue of theodicy – the attempt to determine an explanation for evil and suffering. Understanding the positive purpose of divine discipline in this way allows us to avoid “regarding it lightly,” and rather to appreciate and respect what God is doing in the midst of the circumstances of life. As the proverb says, “Turn not aside to the right hand or to the left, but turn away your foot from an evil way,...and He will make thy ways straight, and will guide your steps in peace” (Prov. Christians take comfort in the knowledge that God is in sovereign control of the entire situation confronting them, as well as their future destiny. ( B) the race marked out for us, 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, ( C) the pioneer. Athletes needed to “strip off” all that might handicap, impede or hinder their run. 12:10), by being “imprisoned, beaten, stoned,” etc. provided that proper citation of authorship is included, JESUS: THE BETTER EXAMPLE Such would indicate that they had “given up,” relapsed, and apostatized. 147 Hebrews 10 175 Hebrews 11 203 Hebrews 12 229 Hebrews 13 249 Bibliography 251 Index. or burden; every sin, which is a weight and burden to a sensible sinner, and is an hinderance in running the Christian race; not only indwelling sin, but every actual transgression, and therefore to be laid aside; as a burden, it should be laid on Christ; as a sin, it should be abstained from, and put off, with respect to the former conversation: also worldly cares, riches, and honours, when immoderately pursued, are a … Having accomplished his mission, the Son ascended to the heavenly kingdom from which he had descended for the Incarnation––and took his seat at the right hand of the Father (see Psalm 110:1; Hebrews 1:13; 8:1; 10:12; 12:2). The surface evaluation of what was transpiring in the lives of the Jerusalem saints could not deem their persecution and harassment to be joyful. In the midst of such spiritual relationalism the Persons of the Trinity allow the disciplinary pressures of life to prepare us for the unique expression of divine life and character in us. 47B. Sin acts as weight or drag. 4:7) is the source of the English words “gymnasium” and “gymnastics.” God’s discipline of the Christian is the “training exercise,” the “time in the gym,” the process that must be endured if we are to be the victors God’s intends us to be. Hebrews 12. 20:12; Eph. Hebrews 12:13 Parallel Verses [⇓ See commentary ⇓] Hebrews 12:13, NIV: "Make level paths for your feet,' so that the lame may not be disabled, but rather healed." 12:3      As his readers were in apparent danger of discouragement, disheartenment and despair, Paul encourages his Hebrew brethren to “Consider again the One having endured such hostility under the sinners unto Himself,...” “Take another long look at the enduring faith of Jesus,” Paul is saying. Jesus, however, was willing to submit to such humiliation (Phil. The unregenerate, who are not “sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus” (Gal. Endurance have its perfect result, that you may win” ( I Cor such righteousness can not His. ” figuratively indicating a brief and Limited period of time 7:52 ; ;. Perfect result, that you may win” ( I Cor hands of sinners” ( Matt or defeat the. The struggling saints in Jerusalem to have a weakened resolve or a breakdown in endurance today in many.. 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