Looking to Jesus
Hebrews 12:1–3 – Jesus Is Better
2nd Sunday in Ordinary Time – June 7th, 2026 (am)
Not everyone is a fan of track and field. But they are in years with Summer Olympics. The finest runners of all distances are gathered on the same track and the result is some of the most memorable competition in the history of sport. We may not remember their names just a few weeks later, but we heard their stories as their races were being introduced. We heard the hardships they had to overcome to qualify for their Olympic Team, then to make it through the preliminaries to the finals. And when those finals arrive, the stadium is filled to capacity and the rest of the world is watching by television or internet.
That’s something like the picture we meet as we transition in c.12 of Hebrews. Let’s look at it in more detail. We’ll do so by asking the text two questions.
How should we respond given this cloud of witnesses? – 1
1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, the stands are filled, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us. Let us press toward our absolute best. Let us spend ourselves in pursuit of a personal record. Let us not stop short of a peak performance. That’s the charge here.
But it’s even more vivid: let us lay aside every weight. For runners, let’s get ready to race! Let’s treat our bodies well. Let’s eat the right foods at the right times in the right amounts and combinations—high proteins and carbohydrates that burn efficiently in our bodies and don’t tend to add extraneous weight. Let’s hit the weightroom strategically, concentrating on just the right kind of strengthening of just the right muscle-groups in just the right ways for our event. Sprinters, don’t worry about bulk; your races are short. Build twitch—that quick, explosive power. Distance runners, long, lean endurance is what you’re aiming for; build muscles that strengthen the economy of your form without adding mass. Do running workouts in thoughtful sequences that enhance speed, endurance, and recovery time, without damaging or needlessly overworking muscles. And get your sleep; make sure your body is rested. All this is part of laying aside every weight before we even start talking about our race-day clothing and shoe design, those things you bring along as you run your race—well, at least modern-day Olympians bring them along! In addition to this, most top-tier athletes these days have a sports psychologist as part of their team, to keep their minds in good shape for peak performance.
What would it look like to give this kind of attention to preparing ourselves for the race of faith with peak readiness and endurance? The author helps us a bit here by talking about stubborn or ensnaring sin as the spiritual equivalent of extra body-weight, of being in less-than-peak condition, of being spiritually out-of-shape for the race. Sometimes we might call this extra weight baggage, stuff we tend to bring along everywhere which doesn’t really help us anywhere!
The author is telling us to lay all that aside, to lose it! By this point in this letter, this sermon, the author has said enough for us to know that running this race well is what we truly long to do. We want to be numbered among the cloud of witnesses for those who come behind us. So, any baggage that impedes our running well, we want to get rid of, lest we eventually become more committed to it than to our race. That’s what had happened to some in the original audience. One of the chief problems with the Hebrew Christians to whom this letter is addressed is that they have set out on the race but, after a good start (10:32-34), are now slackening in the will to persevere: their effort is decreasing (2:1), sin is holding them back (3:17-4:1), they need to recover their intensity of purpose (4:11), to shake off the sluggish mood into which they have fallen (6:11f.), to regain their confidence (10:35, 39) and their competitive spirit (12:12) (Hughes 520-521).
They hadn’t been giving proper attention to race nutrition, to what they were feeding their souls. They needed—we all need—good spiritual food and… spiritual drink (1Co.10:3-4). But they hadn’t been giving proper attention to that. The author had already told them: 5:12 … You need milk, not solid food, 13 for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child. You’re not well-prepared for the race. You’re not well-conditioned. You haven’t been eating right. 5:14 But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil. These folk are ready to run!
Brothers and sisters, confess the sin! Repent of it and leave it behind. It’s no help to you in the race you so long to win! Paul said it best. 1Co.9:24 Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. 25 Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. 26 So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. 27 But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified. Get yourself ready to run!
That’s how we should respond given this cloud of witnesses.
How are we supposed to accomplish that response? – 2-3
We’ve heard a few suggestions already. But the heart of the answer, the big-picture focus that folds it all together in one image, comes in vv.2-3. 1 … let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith…. Let’s stop there for a moment. This instruction makes it clear that our eyes are fixed on Him, not on the cloud of witnesses. And incidentally, the stadium image is a compelling one. And I do believe the saints in heaven are aware of what’s happening on earth. But I don’t believe they’re literally present, cheering us on in our race. There are Christians running this race all around the world. The collective saints of old couldn’t possibly be watching all of them at once. (They’re not omnipresent!) But we will surely celebrate together when the race is completed for all of us! No, our eyes are fixed on Jesus, the One Who blazed the trail before us, then ran it to perfection (cf. Bruce 337-338).
Remember, the word behind witness is actually martyr. We’re called to be like Stephen, the first martyr. When the pain of his race was at its peak, Luke records: Act.7:55 But he, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. … 59 And as they were stoning Stephen, he called out, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” His eyes were fixed on Jesus. We saw the same with Moses above. 26 He considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward. 27 By faith he left Egypt, not being afraid of the anger of the king, for he endured as seeing him who is invisible, his eyes also fixed on Jesus, the supreme [champion] of faith, the one who, beyond all others, not only set out on the course of faith but also pursued it without wavering to the end (Hughes 523). He brought it to perfection (Bruce 338).
As the author here continued on describing Jesus: 2 … who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross…. Actually, I believe this should read: 2 … who [over against (ylt)/instead of (l-n)/replacing (bagd)] the joy that was set before him endured the cross…. It’s hard to understand why so many versions translate this as they do when the Greek word behind for is ἀντί, which means the same as it sounds in English: opposite (cgednt), over against (nasbd); ἀντί [marks] an alternative serving as a contrast (l-n). The difference in meaning is subtle but important. As it is here, we might hear the author saying: for the joy that salvation would bring, Jesus endured the cross. But what he appears to be saying is: in place of the joy that could have been his, Jesus endured the cross. Do you hear it? And as soon as we put it that way, we remember that somewhat odd statement back in 5:7 In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to him who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence. But it didn’t change what took place. 8 Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered. 9 And being made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him. So, Jesus laid aside the joy that could’ve been His to go to the cross and provide His great salvation (2:3). He deliberately chose to renounce the joy proposed to him in order to share in the [race] proposed for us. This necessarily meant a commitment to [take] the path of obedience and suffering (Lane 413).
So we 1 … run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who [instead of] the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, wow, there’s another interesting statement. It doesn’t mean Jesus hated being shamed, like He was ashamed to go to the cross since it truly was the lowest depths of disgrace back then. It was considered a punishment for those who were subhuman, those who were deemed… unfit to live (Bruce 338). It was illegal for Roman citizens to be crucified; it was too degrading (Bruce 338). Even so, we’re not being told here that Jesus despised this disgrace. Rather, we’re being told He disregarded it, as something not worthy to be taken into account when it was a question of his obedience to the will of God. So he brought faith to perfection by his endurance of the cross—and now the place of highest exaltation is his. The pioneer of salvation has been made perfect through sufferings (2:10; 5:8), and has therefore taken his seat “at the right hand of the throne of God.” That’s just how v.2 finishes: and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
How are we supposed to accomplish the response we’re called to in this passage? V.2: we fix our eyes on Jesus, Who blazed the trail and ran it to perfection. Then we: 3 Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so much more than we ever have (cf. 4), so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted. We ponder Him. We think out carefully Who He is and what He’s done; we reason thoroughly (l-n) through it all. We don’t just fix our eyes on Jesus, we fix our hearts and minds on Him as well (cf. Col.3:1-2). We rivet our imaginations to Him and ponder all that it means to belong to Him, to be numbered among His redeemed ones, to have a place in the cloud of witnesses and a seat at the marriage supper of the Lamb (Rev.19:9). We consider him!
Conclusion
Oh, friends, what else would we want to pursue in this life ahead of running this particular race in the particular ways we’re called to run it in the beautiful passage? Let’s do it! Let’s lay aside every weight, and the sin which clings so closely to us, and let’s run with endurance the race that is set before us, the race of faith. Let’s run it together, as we’re called to do throughout this letter (cf. 3:12-13; 10:24-25). And let’s run it to win! Let’s run it not just like the cloud of witnesses, who were just as encumbered with sin as we are, let’s run it like Jesus!
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Resources
Anders, Max, gen. ed. 1999. Holman New Testament Commentary. Hebrews & James, by Thomas D. Lea. Nashville: Broadman & Holman.
Arndt, William F., & F. Wilbur Gingrich [bagd]. 1958. A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, second edition revised and augmented by Wilbur Gingrich and Frederick W. Danker from Walter Bauer’s fifth edition, 1958. Chicago: University of Chicago.
Arnold, Clinton E., gen. ed. 2002. Zondervan Illustrated Bible Background Commentary. Vol. 4, Hebrews to Revelation. Hebrews, by George H. Guthrie, 2-82. Grand Rapids: Zondervan.
Barclay, William. 1976. The Daily Study Bible Series. The Letter to the Hebrews, Revised Edition. Louisville: Westminster John Knox.
Beale, G. K., & D. A. Carson, eds. 2007. Commentary on the New Testament Use of the Old Testament. Hebrews, by George H. Guthrie, 919-995. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic.
Bruce, F. F. 1990. New International Commentary on the New Testament. Hebrews. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans.
Calvin, John. 1553. Commentary on the Epistle of Paul to the Hebrews, trans. by, John Owen. Logos.
Carson, D. A., R. T. France, J. A. Motyer, & G. J. Wenham, eds. 1994. New Bible Commentary 21st Century Edition. Hebrews, by David Peterson, 1321-1353. Leicester, Eng.: InterVarsity.
Clendenen, Ray E., gen. ed., David S. Dockery, NT ed. 2010. The New American Commentary. Vol. 35, Hebrews, by David L. Allen. Nashville: Broadman & Holman.
Dever, Mark. 2005. The Message of the New Testament. Ch. 19, The Message of Hebrews: Sticking with the Best, 413-425. Wheaton: Crossway.
Fee, Gordon D., gen. ed. 1990. The New International Commentary on the New Testament. The Epistle to the Hebrews, Revised Edition, by F. F. Bruce. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans.
Grudem, Wayne, ed. 2008. ESV Study Bible. Study notes on Hebrews, by David W. Chapman. Wheaton: Crossway.
Guthrie, George. 1998. The NIV Application Commentary. Hebrews. Grand Rapids: Zondervan.
Hubbard, David A., & Glenn W. Barker, gen. eds. Ralph P. Martin, NT ed. 1991. Word Biblical Commentary. Vols. 47a, Hebrews 1-8; Vol.47b, Hebrews 9-13, by William L. Lane. Dallas: Word.
Hughes, Philip Edgcumbe. 1979. A Commentary on the Epistle to the Hebrews. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans.
Longman III, Tremper, & David E. Garland, eds. 2006. Revised Expositor’s Bible Commentary. Vol. 13, Hebrews-Revelation. Hebrews, by R. T. France, 17-195. Grand Rapids: Zondervan.
Louw, Johannes P., & Eugene A. Nida [l-n]. 1989. Lexicon of the New Testament Based on Semantic Domains, second edition. New York: United Bible Societies.
Morris, Leon, gen. ed. 1983. Tyndale New Testament Commentaries. Vol. 15, Hebrews, by Donald Guthrie. Downers Grove: InterVarsity.
Newman, Barclay M. [cgednt]. 1993. A Concise Greek-English Dictionary of the NT. Stuttgart, Germany: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, United Bible Society.
Owen, John. 1855. Exposition of the Epistle to the Hebrews, 7 Vols. Edinburgh: Johnstone and Hunter.
Thomas, Robert L. [nasbd]. 1998. New American Standard Hebrew-Aramaic and Greek Dictionaries, Updated Edition. Anaheim: Foundation.
NEXT SUNDAY: For Our Good, Hebrews 12:4–11