Hebrews Chapter Twelve, Weariness

 

Hebrews 12:3 For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls.

 

Verse 2 portrayed Jesus as the sum of our faith and salvation. Our current verse lifts Him up as our ultimate example of pious fidelity to God in the face of persecution. When we reflect on the ministry of Jesus, and its attendant persecution, we may drift to the Garden of Gethsemane and His arrest. But our Lord endured persecution from the first, when He was driven by the Spirit into the wilderness and was tempted by Satan.

From the inception of His ministry His opponents were the Pharisees, scribes, Sadducees, Herod, and even the Jewish crowds that would turn on Him when He imparted inconvenient truth, see Luke 4:28-30, John 6:66, 67 for examples. The persecution of the adversaries reached a crescendo when Judas was directly possessed by Satan, who in turn led the mob to Jesus in the garden, Mark 14:10, 11, Luke 22:3, John 13:2, 27. After His arrest, and during His mock trial, the Pharisees struck Him, spat on Him, beat Him and mocked Him, Matthew 26:67, 68. Mark added the detail that Jesus was blindfolded when struck and mocked, demanding that He prophesy about the identity of His attacker, Mark 14:65. Luke agrees with Mark’s account, recording that they uttered many blasphemous things about Jesus, Luke 22:63-65. John contributes only a little extra information, writing that Jesus was struck with the palm of an officer’s hand for addressing the high priest with what he determined was disrespect, John 18:22.

 

Unanimously, they consented to His death. In Pilate’s presence they railed against Him, compelling Pilate to inquire why Jesus made no effort to defend Himself, Matthew 27:13, Mark 15:4, 5. They likewise begged for a seditious murderer to be released, and Jesus killed, Matthew 27:16, Mark 15:7. The Roman soldiers scourged and tortured Jesus, stripping Him and adorning Him in a royal color, forcing a crown of thorns on His head, and beat Him with a reed they handed to Him as a mock scepter: the symbol of kingship, Matthew 27:28-30, Mark 15:17-19. Luke includes Jesus’ interrogation before Herod, Luke 23:8, 9. Luke asserts that the robe mentioned by both Matthew and Mark was actually given Jesus during His encounter with Herod and his soldiers, Luke 23:11. Even when Pilate brought Jesus out after being scourged, beaten and dressed mockingly as a king, perhaps to elicit pity from the frenzied mob, they still demanded His death, even eagerly accepting the guilt of it for their posterity, John 19:5, Matthew 27:25. Finally, while on the cross, Jesus endured the contempt of the Sanhedrin and the people, mocking Him for His words and feats, Matthew 27:39-44, Mark 15:29-32. Luke records much of the same, save that in this instance he felt compelled to include that one of the thieves clearly repented and believed in Jesus, his faith assuring his salvation, Luke 23:35-43. John fails to record the wicked (and might I add petty) commentary of His adversaries, but he does write that the chief priests argued with Pilate about what was written as Jesus’ crime, John 19:19-21. They wanted the legacy of this Man wholly ruined, and left no stone unturned in their desperate, maddened effort to do so.

 

Hebrews 12:1-4 is something of a unified passage. Verse 1 compels the Hebrew Christians to run their race without encumbrance, avoiding the snare of sin that we easily become entangled by. To give us strength to run we are to look to Jesus, the engineer or architect of our faith, and how for the joy of finishing His own race, endured the cross. He also endured the persecution of external hostility from a God-hating, Christ-rejecting world the entirety of His ministry. Why? The author tells us that they are sinners, and as such, being unrepentant, are hostile to God. The carnal mind, or fleshly mind, is enmity to God, we are told, Romans 8:7. Enmity has numerous synonyms. Among them are: rancor, hatred, and animosity. It paints an ugly picture of the unregenerate heart of mankind as it rages against its Creator. The Creator had been given into the hands of His creation by the foreknowledge and purpose of God, and they demonstrate quickly and clearly what they would do to Him if they could. They would—we would—tear God down from His throne if it meant salvaging our sinful pride and sheltering our oh-so fragile sense of autonomy.

 

Look to Jesus, fellow saints, if we are weary struggling against sin, as He gave us the ultimate example of patient endurance. Looking unto Him will help us when we become weary, and so we do not become discouraged. Discouragement is a crack in the door that invites sin, because discouragement assures us, “You have failed; you are a failure. Why continue? This makes no sense; it proves no point. It does no good. The wicked don’t suffer like you do; just give up and join them.” Sound familiar? The words may alter, but the intent is there. The Devil prowls about as a roaring lion, seeking to devour the wayward saint. When discouragement leads us into the pasture of temptation as persecution chisels our resolve, rest assured Satan is hunting for us. We wander out of God’s will, and therefore we slip out from the hedge of protective blessing He erects against the enemy, 1 Peter 5:8, 9, Job 1:10, 11. Verse 4 finishes this line of thought, including the notion of striving against sin to bloodshed; a verse we will consider next, God willing.