Hebrews 12:2-3: “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. For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls.”
HEBREWS 12:3 teaches us that every time we look away from Jesus, we become weary and discouraged in our soul. The English word “looking” is from the Greek word, “aphorao”, which means to “consider attentively.” And the Greek construction is present tense with an active voice, which means we are never to stop thinking about Jesus. He must be constantly upon our mind, in our thoughts, and on our tongue. We must remind ourselves continually by speaking the Word of Christ to our heart and praying for the ministry of the Holy Spirit in our life lest we become weary and discouraged. To be weary is to “grow tired or sickened” in running the race set before you, and to become “discouraged” means we are “enfeebled through exhaustion and we lose courage and become faint-hearted” in fighting the good fight of faith. When this happens, we become unproductive in the Kingdom of Christ, and we fall as a casualty to the schemes of the wicked one.
THEREFORE, we are admonished to consider Christ! The English word “consider” is from the Greek word, “analogizomai”, which mean “to contemplate, to look at attentively and thoughtfully, to consider carefully and at length; meditate on or ponder.” The Greek construction is aorist tense and imperative mood, which means we began looking at Jesus when we were redeemed, and the continuing result of our redemption is that we keep on looking and contemplating Jesus. The imperative mood means that God commands us to keep meditating upon, contemplating, looking attentively, thoughtfully, and carefully at Jesus.
THE WRITER to the Hebrews tells us specifically to remember Christ’s atoning work. That He “endured the cross, despising the shame” and He did so on behalf of all those that the Father gave Him to redeem (John 6:37). We must remember how Christ suffered the inexpressible anguish, pains, and terrors of God’s wrath while He hung upon the cross in the place of His sheep. We must remember how Christ suffered condemnation as He was cast out by the Father for the sins of His people. “The One who knew no sin but became sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Cor. 5:21). And Jesus did this by imputation, not by becoming a sinner but by being reckoned or treated as a sinner by the Father.
WE ARE also admonished to remember that Jesus finished the work the Father gave Him to do and therefore He sat down in the seat of authority and power. The priests and high priests in Israel were never finished with their work. Daily, and year after year, they offered sacrifices to God for their sins and the sins of the people. “But this Man [Jesus], after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God” (Hebrews 10:12). And again, “when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high” (Heb. 1:3). Thus, signifying that His work of atonement was completed, finished, and accepted by the Father as a ransom payment for His people. Think about these things, dear Christian, and you will keep weariness and discouragement from entering your soul.
Friday Devotional: June 7, 2024
In Christ,
Pastor S. Henry