Run the Race

The writer again reminds his people to consider Jesus in verse 3. The author isn’t asking them to merely take Christ under consideration. By consider, he means to hold up Christ as a model and to constantly look to him for inspiration and encouragement. Jesus shows his followers how to be found faithful in the end. This is not a new argument in Hebrews. The writer is echoing his exhortation from chapter 3. The only way to endure and stand firm is to consider Jesus. He endured great hostility in the race.

It doesn’t take much pain to get our attention or much hostility for us to feel persecuted. There are persons right now enduring vehement physical persecution because of their faith in Jesus Christ. There are people being flogged, beaten, imprisoned, separated from their families, and even martyred in his name. I was in the Middle East several years ago, and I met an Iranian pastor who had scars on his back from being beaten by the secret police with chains. It was an unforgettable sight. This is the kind of hostility the author of Hebrews is talking about.

While the increasing secularization occurring in the West may marginalize and malign Christians, this passage specifically speaks of physical persecution and the shedding of blood. This is a reality for many Christians around the world, which evokes the extreme persecution first and second century Christians experienced. Thinking of physical hostility, the writer of Hebrews reminds us that our Redeemer was tortured. Jesus was flogged, whipped, and endured this hostility against himself. Considering what Jesus Christ endured will help us endure in a world that continues to grow more and more hostile and opposed to Christianity. We must fix our eyes on him if we are going to persevere.

Hebrews 12:4-11

The struggle is not just against persecution. It’s also a struggle against sin. In other words, the author is saying that resisting the temptation to fall away can also be described in terms of resisting the temptation to fall into sin. The temptation to avoid persecution or to abandon the faith is ultimately the temptation to submit to sin.

The “not yet” in verse 4 is critical. Although some Christians might not yet have experienced physical persecution, it remains a real possibility for all of us. We must always remember that the comfort we know now is not guaranteed to last forever. Things can change quickly, and in many parts of the world they do. Almost instantly, countries change regimes, constitutions, or law enforcement approaches. Persecution of Christians can happen anywhere at any time, and it can quickly lead to the shedding of blood.

Recall that the author is writing to a Jewish congregation. His readers are Jewish converts. They are familiar with torah and with the Old Testament. They know the Wisdom literature of the Old Testament, including Proverbs, which is cited in verse 5. In Proverbs 3:11-12, Solomon was warning his son not to make light of the Lord’s discipline. He does not want him to scorn God’s discipline because discipline is a sign of sonship. The very presence of the Lord’s discipline in a person’s life is evidence that the person is loved by God. This concept is something that the readers are intended to understand instinctively. The concept actually works backward to a confused and generally undisciplined generation such as our own, but this is exactly the truth Solomon was trying to communicate to his son.

Administering discipline is a parent’s job. No one disciplines someone else’s children. The one who disciplines is treating the recipient like a son or daughter. When Solomon writes to his own son, whom he disciplined, he essentially says, “You should take the Lord’s discipline as the sign of how much he loves you, in the same way that I discipline you because I love you.” The writer of Hebrews assumes that discipline is an act of love by the righteous parent who understands his child’s need.

Discipline is by nature unpleasant. It is painful, but it has a purpose. Parents know what they’re doing. Children don’t always know why they’re being disciplined or how the discipline is an act of love, but it’s not necessary that children understand these things at every point. If children understood all this in advance, they would not have done whatever it was that required the discipline. Certain lessons can only be learned by discipline.

The author continues his discussion and reveals the purpose of discipline. It is to bring “the peaceful fruit of righteousness” into the child’s life. Because the parent loves the child, he always disciplines in a reasonable, firm, authoritative, and yet loving and righteous way. A father shows his son that he loves him through his discipline. If he did not love him, he would let him run wild. But he wants this son to know the peaceful fruits of righteousness. To show him this, the father’s love must sometimes take the form of discipline.

People tend to think that things happen to them by chance. The truth is that things come into our lives by the sovereign intentions and purposes of the Lord. Not all things are good, but all things are for the good and edification of those who love God. Sometimes Christians have to keep faith when things do not seem to be for our good.

In Romans 8 Paul describes that God is working in all things for the good of believers. This doesn’t mean we need to be thankful for the development of tumors or other tragic things that happen. These aren’t things for which we would ask or pray. Yet even in difficult situations, God is working for our good. It’s this truth that the author has in mind as he writes this passage of Hebrews. God, as a loving Father, may be disciplining us, sharpening and maturing our faith.

When people think of discipline, they often think only of corrective discipline or punishment. But discipline is far more. It is teaching. God is making disciples through his discipline. It is tempting to complain about discipline and to think it is a sign that God does not love us. Christians question how God can work for good through horrifying loss. Yet God was working for our good in the gruesome death of his Son. If ever we doubt God’s love because of our circumstances, we can look to the cross and remind ourselves that God gave us his own Son so that we might in turn become sons of God.