1 Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Commentary
Vs. 1 "Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us"
Therefore since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses who ran the race of faith before us, who overcame this world by their faith so we are being exhorted to overcome (consider 1 John 5:4). Therefore using the metaphor of a giant Colosseum whose seats are filled with the faithful saints and martyrs who have past before us, the Word of God now encourages us all to lay aside every weight and the sin which easily ensnares us. Here weight means anything which keeps us from being conformed to the image of Christ, and thus experiencing all of Christ's liberty and life which He has given us to be. For all such things though not necessarily morally wrong are not beneficial to us (or anyone else) when we cling to them, for then they just become burdening weights holding us down and keeping us back from running our own race of faith with endurance, and thus doing, pursuing, and being all that the Lord Jesus Christ has remade us and released us to be. Similarly is the sin which we indulged in and were in bondage too before we came to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. For though by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ we have died to sin, and thus been released from it's power (see Rom 6:2). We can after we have been released from it, take it up again, and thus bring ourselves back into the bondage of it, which will only bring it's own spiritual troubles and problems (1 John 5:18), which again will only keep us from doing and enjoying all that Jesus Christ has called us and remade us to do, enjoy, and be (consider John 8:31-36; 10:10; Rom 12:1-2; Col. 1:13).
Vs. 2 "looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God."
Now though the testimonies and lives of those who have past before us are inspiring, there is only One the Word of God directs us to focus on. The Lord Jesus Christ the author and finisher of our faith. For in eternity past God the Father chose Christ His Son to be the bearer of our redemption and bring salvation to us. And so in the fullness of time Jesus took on human flesh and entered into the human experience to do just that. And so Jesus was born a baby, grew from childhood to a teenager to an adult, doing and experiencing all that we do and experience as human beings, yet He did so without sin, because there was no sin within Him, and so Jesus lived and walked amongst us for One Supreme purpose to do the Will of Father and fulfill the Word of God by suffering and dying on the Cross for our eternal redemption from sin and death. Therefore we are all commanded to look to Jesus not only for our eternal redemption and salvation from sin an death (John 3:15-16), but also as our Role Model for this life that we now live with Him. For it is Jesus who is the author and finisher of our faith. Author here means He is the originator, the One through whom God's life, Holy Spirit life, came and comes to everyone who believes in Him, and thus Jesus is the One through whom God's Will and Word for us all has been declared and manifested to the glory of God the Father (also see Heb. 2:10). Jesus then is the the One who has not only paved the way for us all to enter into a holy and everlasting redeemed relationship with God the Father (John 14:6), but He is the One who has finished it. That is finished our faith in the sense of both completing and perfecting it, and thus us all who believe in Him (see Heb. 10:14). For that is what Jesus said on the Cross just before He died, "It is Finished!" That is all that God will ever require of us for salvation has already been accomplished, completed, and perfected by the Son of Man's Perfect death on the Cross. Therefore Jesus for the joy that was set before Him, (joy in what He was about to accomplish, not joy in what He was about to go through) endured the cross, despised the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. The incredible suffering and public shame of the cross, of suffering a Crucifixion death which was a form of capital punishment thought reserved for enemies and the worst of criminals (i.e. violators of the Law) has become by the Will of God the means by which God has purchased our eternal redemption! The Lord Jesus Christ's Substitutionary death on the Cross for us all then had to happen there if God was going to be Just in redeeming us from all of our sins against Him. "For there is no one from Adam and Eve forward who has not sinned against God (Rom 3:23; 1 John 1:8-10), and as the Word of God declares "the soul that sins shall die" Ezekiel 18:4 Therefore Jesus as the Sinless Son of Man went forward in faith to suffer and die in our place so that He could accomplish our eternal redemption, and having accomplished it, Jesus three days later rose from the dead revealing His resurrected Person to His disciples and having done so and having instructed them on what they must now do, Jesus Ascended back to God the Father, to sit down at the right hand of the throne of God. Therefore we must all look to Jesus as we walk through this new life that He has given us when we are faced with trials and tribulations, when we are faced with our own personal failures, and when we are faced with overwhelming opposition which can never defeat us but can become the means by which God likewise accomplishes His Will for us if we go through it correctly. Therefore we too for the joy that is set before us, let us all run our own races of faith, with conviction, with love, with joy, with endurance, with patience, always remembering that whatever we pass through in this life is just another means by which God is likewise perfecting us (consider Heb. 2:10-13).
Scriptural Quotations
The New King James Version. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982.
Vs. 2 "looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God."
Now though the testimonies and lives of those who have past before us are inspiring, there is only One the Word of God directs us to focus on. The Lord Jesus Christ the author and finisher of our faith. For in eternity past God the Father chose Christ His Son to be the bearer of our redemption and bring salvation to us. And so in the fullness of time Jesus took on human flesh and entered into the human experience to do just that. And so Jesus was born a baby, grew from childhood to a teenager to an adult, doing and experiencing all that we do and experience as human beings, yet He did so without sin, because there was no sin within Him, and so Jesus lived and walked amongst us for One Supreme purpose to do the Will of Father and fulfill the Word of God by suffering and dying on the Cross for our eternal redemption from sin and death. Therefore we are all commanded to look to Jesus not only for our eternal redemption and salvation from sin an death (John 3:15-16), but also as our Role Model for this life that we now live with Him. For it is Jesus who is the author and finisher of our faith. Author here means He is the originator, the One through whom God's life, Holy Spirit life, came and comes to everyone who believes in Him, and thus Jesus is the One through whom God's Will and Word for us all has been declared and manifested to the glory of God the Father (also see Heb. 2:10). Jesus then is the the One who has not only paved the way for us all to enter into a holy and everlasting redeemed relationship with God the Father (John 14:6), but He is the One who has finished it. That is finished our faith in the sense of both completing and perfecting it, and thus us all who believe in Him (see Heb. 10:14). For that is what Jesus said on the Cross just before He died, "It is Finished!" That is all that God will ever require of us for salvation has already been accomplished, completed, and perfected by the Son of Man's Perfect death on the Cross. Therefore Jesus for the joy that was set before Him, (joy in what He was about to accomplish, not joy in what He was about to go through) endured the cross, despised the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. The incredible suffering and public shame of the cross, of suffering a Crucifixion death which was a form of capital punishment thought reserved for enemies and the worst of criminals (i.e. violators of the Law) has become by the Will of God the means by which God has purchased our eternal redemption! The Lord Jesus Christ's Substitutionary death on the Cross for us all then had to happen there if God was going to be Just in redeeming us from all of our sins against Him. "For there is no one from Adam and Eve forward who has not sinned against God (Rom 3:23; 1 John 1:8-10), and as the Word of God declares "the soul that sins shall die" Ezekiel 18:4 Therefore Jesus as the Sinless Son of Man went forward in faith to suffer and die in our place so that He could accomplish our eternal redemption, and having accomplished it, Jesus three days later rose from the dead revealing His resurrected Person to His disciples and having done so and having instructed them on what they must now do, Jesus Ascended back to God the Father, to sit down at the right hand of the throne of God. Therefore we must all look to Jesus as we walk through this new life that He has given us when we are faced with trials and tribulations, when we are faced with our own personal failures, and when we are faced with overwhelming opposition which can never defeat us but can become the means by which God likewise accomplishes His Will for us if we go through it correctly. Therefore we too for the joy that is set before us, let us all run our own races of faith, with conviction, with love, with joy, with endurance, with patience, always remembering that whatever we pass through in this life is just another means by which God is likewise perfecting us (consider Heb. 2:10-13).
Scriptural Quotations
The New King James Version. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982.
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