Editor’s Note: Click here to access Part 1 of this article, published on October 29, 2024.
3. We look to Jesus because he looked ahead to the joy set before him.
For Jesus, the end was always in mind. He didn’t set his eyes like a flint merely to Calvary — no, all along he had his eyes fixed to what was beyond Calvary, beyond the cross. Paul said in 2 Corinthians 5:21 He who knew no sin became sin. Jesus didn’t just interact with sinners, go play in the sandbox for a few minutes, and get his hands a little messy. He became sin. He wore our shame. Anyone who has ever been scandalously caught, embarrassingly exposed, or sexually abused can identify with this concept of despising the shame. Sin that causes shame is disgraceful. It’s dirty-ing. That’s why most people who are raped feel the unprovoked urge to shower — they need cleansing. Jesus despised the shame of sin and sinners — how? By looking ahead at the joy set before him.
What was that joy? Some would say, “Being resurrected and back in fellowship with the Father.” Maybe. Others would argue, “The joy set before Jesus was going back to Heaven glorified.”
Doubtful. I think the joy that was set before Jesus, beyond the cross, was a pure and spotless Bride who would be arrayed in glory and grace! A people who once were not a people, brought near through his blood! Sinners who had been saved from the wrath of God, set free from their sin, no longer fearing death or judgment!
What was the joy set before Jesus? You, and me. A restored creation, a restored fellowship, a true union of Christ with his people. That’s what gave him hupomone (endurance) with every lash, every accusation, every agonizing breath. In our own race, we too get to enter into the joy of our Master, into a resurrection joy that no one can take from us.
Paul told the Ephesian elders that “none of these things move me; nor do I count my life dear to myself, so that I may finish my race with joy.” If our eyes are fixed on our failures, our pain, our despair, we will falter. We (like Peter) will find ourselves enamored with the wind and waves and find our feet slipping. We will one day be with our Lord, and no light or momentary trouble will compare in weight to the glory of that joyful bliss. So, we look to Jesus, who all along had the end in mind.
4. We look to Jesus because he’s now seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
Where’s Jesus now? He’s not hanging on the cross; he’s seated in glory. We, like the Hebrew Christians in the first century, might be going through trouble, but it isn’t the last chapter!
Ephesians 2 actually says those who are in Christ are already seated with him in the heavenly realms. We are already there! Romans 8 describes our salvation, and it almost seems like Paul is describing our glorification as “past tense,” as already happened!
Even today, Jesus is seated at the right hand of the throne of God, making intercession for us. Cross exchanged for crown. Have you forgotten, weary Christian, that that Day is coming? There are days when the Celestial City looks imminent, and other days when the finish line seems like it will never come. But we look to Jesus.
Verse 3 tells us why: “so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted.”
This was a particularly encouraging word for the struggling Hebrew Christians who received this letter in the first century, but this verse isn’t just for them. Does fainthearted or weary describe your race as of late? You may even be wondering how you’re going to even finish this race?
You’re heavy laden, you’re weary, you’re discouraged, or you may even be in the darkest place of your spiritual life yet.
May I encourage you with something the Lord has shown me in the past year? In the last 12 months, I’ve had some of the toughest, if not darkest, moments of my entire life. Yet, even in the chasm of agony, the Lord has proven himself faithful. There were times I was tempted to drop out of the race, or say “Lord, I can’t go on,” but the Lord proved he is indeed near to the brokenhearted.
The Summer Games of 1992 in Barcelona had all the highlights we expect from the Olympics, with the skill and stamina of the human body on full display. However, it was that year’s 400-meter race that held one of Olympic history’s most shocking moments. Derek Redmond, the lightning-fast Brit who had won the 4×400 meter relay in the European and World Championships that year, was the favorite to win the 400-meter individual race. The men lined up, the gun sounded, and Redmond shot off from the starting line, quickly finding himself in the obvious lead. Rounding the turn into the backstretch, Redmond suddenly felt a sharp pain shoot up the back of his leg, causing him to fall face first onto the track. What happened next was nothing short of unpredictable and astonishing.
The pain Derek felt was his right hamstring tearing. As medical attendants began approaching, Redmond fought to his feet. “It was animal instinct,” he would say later. He tried to keep running, but could only resort to hopping, in a crazed attempt to finish his race. When he reached the final stretch, suddenly a large man in a T-shirt erupted down from the stands, hurling aside a security guard as he ran to Redmond, embracing him. Who was this determined fan? It was none other than Jim Redmond, Derek’s father. He told his weeping son, “You don’t have to finish the race,” to which Derek replied, “Yes, I do, Dad.”
With compassion, Jim looked at him and said, “Well, then, son, we’re going to finish this race together.” That’s exactly what they did. (You can Google this. It was captured on video, and it’s emotional and powerful!) Fighting off security men, Derek’s head sometimes deep into his father’s shoulder, they slowly approached the finish line all the way to the end. The crowd watched — first perplexed — then, rising to their feet, they began to cheer, with some weeping. Derek didn’t walk away with the gold medal, but he walked away with an incredible memory of a father who, when he saw his son in pain, left his seat in the stands to help him finish the race.
That’s what our God has done for us. He didn’t yell from the stands for us to “get to work” or “do better; try harder”! That’s not the Gospel. He stepped down, and picked up broken, weary sinners, and completed the work he promised to begin. Since we’re surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let’s also lay aside every weight and sin which clings so closely, and let’s run with endurance the race that’s set before us, looking to Jesus.
Beloved, he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Jesus Christ. So, keep running. Keep your eyes fixed on Jesus. One day, your eyes will meet his face to face, and you and I will hear those words, “Well done, good and faithful servant. Enter into the joy of your Master.” Even so, come Lord Jesus.
