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God is educating you; that’s why you must never drop out. He’s treating you as dear children. This trouble you’re in isn’t punishment; it’s training, the normal experience of children. Only irresponsible parents leave children to fend for themselves. Would you prefer an irresponsible God? We respect our own parents for training and not spoiling us, so why not embrace God’s training so we can truly live? While we were children, our parents did what seemed best to them. But God is doing what is best for us, training us to live God’s holy best. At the time, discipline isn’t much fun. It always feels like it’s going against the grain. Later, of course, it pays off big-time, for it’s the well-trained who find themselves mature in their relationship with God. (The Message).

I need to say that I have not known the levels of persecution experienced by these Hebrew Christians. This would be the case for most believers living in the Western world. But I think it is also true to say that many of us have gone through trials, hardships, losses we would not have chosen for ourselves. We would not have ticked those particular boxes on life’s menu. Nevertheless, speaking personally, I can say that I am grateful for all the things God did in me when it felt like life was beating up on me.

No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it. (v.11 ‘New International Version’).

Everything that comes our way is under His Sovereign control, and He uses it all for the furtherance of His purposes in us. It is also an indicator that we truly are His children. As someone said, you might wish you could discipline the neighbours’ kids, but you can only legitimately do it to your own your own.

In this all-out match against sin, others have suffered far worse than you, to say nothing of what Jesus went through—all that bloodshed! So don’t feel sorry for yourselves. Or have you forgotten how good parents treat children, and that God regards you as his children?

My dear child, don’t shrug off God’s discipline,
    but don’t be crushed by it either.
It’s the child he loves that he disciplines;
    the child he embraces, he also corrects. (The Message).

I have a warm and vivid memory of sitting on my mother’s knee, feeling her loving embrace, just after being sternly disciplined for some misdemeanour. I can’t remember what wrong I had done, but I know I was in big trouble. The memory, however, is the feeling of warm assurance that I was deeply and tenderly loved, even though I was a ‘sinner’. The parental discipline I had experienced was not about expressing hatred, but was meant to be corrective and educational. The overwhelming memory was of feeling loved.

In the ‘New International Version’, the quote from Prov.3:11,12 is described as ”this word of encouragement” (5). The writer points out that in all their suffering, his readers have not yet had to die for their faith (unlike some of the ‘heroes’ mentioned in Hebrews 11). What they are going through is not a sign that God doesn’t love them. To the contrary, it is an indicator that they truly are His children.

…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.

Here are some thoughts from Warren Wiersbe on the life of faith in Jesus:

‘ ”Looking unto Jesus” describes an attitude of faith and not just a single act.

When our Lord was here on earth, He lived by faith. The mystery of His divine and human natures is too profound for us to understand fully, but we do know that He had to trust His Father in heaven as He lived day by day…The fact that Jesus prayed is evidence that He lived by faith.

Our Lord endured far more than did any of the heroes of faith named in Hebrews 11, and therefore He is a perfect example for us to follow…Like Peter, when we get our eyes of faith off the Saviour, we start to sink (Matt.14:22-33).

Since Christ is the ”author and finisher of our faith,” trusting Him releases His power in our lives. I could try to follow the example of some great athlete for years and still be a failure. But if, in my younger days, that athlete could have entered into my life and shared his know-how and ability with me, that would have made me a winner. Christ is both the exemplar and the enabler!‘ ‘New Testament Commentary’, p.839.

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!

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. (New Living Translation).

Let’s not lose sight of the fact that the first recipients of this letter were Jewish believers who were tempted to drop out of the race. The writer urges them (and us) to keep going. It will take ”endurance” – the kind we see in those Old Testament heroes who we read about in chapter 11, but most of all exemplified in Jesus, who just kept going in spite of facing the greatest suffering ever known to man.

Tom Hale makes this helpful comment about our race:

‘In one way, however, our Christian life is different from a race. In a race only one runner wins and gets first prize. But in the ”race” of our Christian lives, everyone who finishes the race gets the same prize – eternal life. Even though this is true, however, we should all run as if only one person was going to win. If we run like that, then we will be sure to run fast! We will be sure of running a good race for Jesus Christ (see1 Corinthians 9:24-26).’ ‘Applied New Testament Commentary’, p.878.

 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…

It has been said that whenever we see a ”Therefore” in the Bible, we should look back and see what it’s ‘there for’! The purpose of reading about the heroes of faith who finished their race, is to spur us on to finish our own. It’s like they populate the stands and are cheering us on, telling us, ‘You can do it.’ They are called ”witnesses” because through their lives they gave witness to their faith. They are not spectators as such. They are not witnesses to what we are doing, but witnesses to us that God can see us through.

In order to run this race perseveringly we have to discard both hindrances and sins. The Message puts it like this:

 Do you see what this means—all these pioneers who blazed the way, all these veterans cheering us on? It means we’d better get on with it. Strip down, start running—and never quit! No extra spiritual fat, no parasitic sins. 

‘In a race all the runners run as fast as they can. Before the race begins, they take off all unnecessary clothing. No one runs a race wearing fine clothes and jewellery. There is nothing wrong with good clothes in themselves, but it is wrong to run a race in them! Such clothes will hinder the runner.

In the same way, there are many things in our Christian lives which are not wrong in themselves, but which hinder us in our spiritual race. We must throw off everything that hinders in order to run more quickly…We all must examine ourselves to see if there are any such hindrances in our lives. And we must remember as we do so that what is a hindrance in one person’s life may not be a hindrance in another’s. Hindrances are not the same for everyone.’ Tom Hale: ‘Applied New Testament Commentary’, p.878.

This is a wise and helpful observation.

Sins, of course, inevitably slow us down. So let us aim to ‘keep short accounts with God’. As soon as we become aware of sin, we should repent immediately. Pull up the weed. It might be small now, but it will grow and entangle your feet.

 Not one of these people, even though their lives of faith were exemplary, got their hands on what was promised. God had a better plan for us: that their faith and our faith would come together to make one completed whole, their lives of faith not complete apart from ours. (The Message).

Here is the bottom line: none of these heroes of faith fully entered into what they were expecting during their lifetimes. They all died knowing there was something more. Now that Jesus has come, we are experiencing the fulfilment of so many of their longings. But along with them, we also. are still looking forward to the heavenly city and the better country.

Tom Hale expresses this well, in his characteristically clear style:

‘None of these Old Testament heroes of faith received what had been promised. A number of them obtained some promises, but none of them received the one great promise – that is the promise of a Saviour. None of them saw that day when God’s Son Jesus came to earth. God’s greatest promise to mankind is the promise of salvation in Jesus Christ. But in their own lives on earth, none of these Old Testament heroes obtained that promise.

However, these Old Testament men of faith will one day be made perfect; that is, they will receive full salvation just as we will. When Christ comes again, these Old Testament heroes, together with us who have believed in Christ, will be resurrected and receive eternal life.’ ‘Applied New Testament Commentary’, p.877.

These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised, ⁴⁰ since God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect. (New International Version).

 …the world was not worthy of them. 

When the world is most true to itself it values the valueless. It idolises the trivial and superficial. It regularly pours its honours on the unimportant. In the main, people of faith are not valued. But when the people of faith are most true to themselves (i.e.to their new natures in Christ) they are not bothered. They know what matters most, and it is not the praise of men. It is, rather, to know the smile of God. It is to hear His, ”Well done”. They are a living rebuke to the world, and the world responds by rejecting them. But as they are ‘living for an Audience of one’ it doesn’t make so much as a tiny dent on their souls. but look where loving ”human praise” too much can take you (John 12:42,43).

There were others who were tortured, refusing to be released so that they might gain an even better resurrection. ³⁶ Some faced jeers and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. ³⁷ They were put to death by stoning; they were sawn in two; they were killed by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and ill-treated – ³⁸ the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, living in caves and in holes in the ground. (The Message).

This has a strangely contemporary ring to it. Nothing has changed since the time Hebrews was written Still today, millions of Christians suffer great privations (at the very least), just because they dare to follow Jesus.

Warren Wiersbe writes:

”…nowhere in Hebrews 11 will you find a record of any failure because of unbelief. Faith records only victories.’ ‘New Testament Commentary’, p.837.

However, we note the paradox that whereas some people are brought out of trouble by faith (32-35a), others are enabled to go through by faith. Both groups are victorious, but in different ways. Our Christian stories are written by the same Author, and they share a common ending. They also have similar, although not identical, beginnings. But the details in the middle chapters differ. Peter must not expect to live the same life as John. Rather, let him keep his eyes on Jesus. What the Master does with John is none of the fisherman’s business (see John 21:20-22).

This also causes me to think about Acts 12 where we read that James, the brother of John, was put to death, but Peter was miraculously delivered from prison. They shared the same Author but they were reading from different scripts. This is the paradox of faith.

‘…it takes more faith to endure than it does to escape. Like the three Hebrew children, we should trust God and obey Him even if He does not deliver us (Dan 3:16-18).’ ‘New Testament Commentary’, p.838.