Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy that was set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

”Let us fix our eyes on Jesus. Let us not be distracted. Let us not gaze at all the pleasing things of the world. For if we do, we shall not be able to run in a straight line, but shall wander from side to side. And maybe we shall not even reach the finish line.’ Tom Hale: ‘Applied New Testament Commentary’, p.878.

The first readers of Hebrews were experiencing opposition to their faith, but Jesus faced ”such opposition”. No one has gone further than He in doing the will of God; no one has suffered so much in the cause of God. The key to living the Christian life is to fix our eyes on Jesus, who is the initiator and completer of our faith. He got us started in the Christian life and He will bring everything to maturity. If we look at Jesus, we see in Him the hope that on the other side of pain there lies unending joy. He is our pattern and our prize.

I love how Eugene Peterson translates this in ‘The Message’:

Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we’re in. Study how he did it. Because he never lost sight of where he was headed—that exhilarating finish in and with God—he could put up with anything along the way: Cross, shame, whatever. And now he’s there, in the place of honor, right alongside God. When you find yourselves flagging in your faith, go over that story again, item by item, that long litany of hostility he ploughed through. That will shoot adrenaline into your souls!