For Consider Him Who Endured Such Hostility From Sinners Against Himself: Hebrews 12:3-6

For Consider Him Who Endured Such Hostility From Sinners Against Himself

Hebrews 12:3-6 Christian Standard Bible

3 For consider him who endured such hostility from sinners against himself, so that you won’t grow weary and give up. 4 In struggling against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. 5 And you have forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons:

My son, do not take the Lord’s discipline lightlyor lose heart when you are reproved by him,6 for the Lord disciplines the one he lovesand punishes every son he receives.

            For consider him who endured such hostility from sinners against himself. Why did Jesus endure the suffering and hostility He did at Calvary? It wasn’t because of His own sin; it was because of His love for you and I. It was done at the hands of sinners. Everyone who inflicted suffering on Jesus represented all of humanity. For God so loved the world, He gave His only begotten Son. Everything God does in the lives of people is because of His love for them. When God looks at a broken and lost sinner, He doesn’t see them for who they are, He sees what they can become by His love and His grace. We are called to consider Jesus and fix our eyes upon Him because even though in this life we will face suffering and hardship, the one who has gone before us has endured far greater for us and by His grace and power we will overcome.

            So that you won’t grow weary and give up. Why are we given the example of Jesus? Why did Jesus come and live among us? We are given the example because He has walked in our shoes. Even when we are called to suffer, Jesus has suffered. He understands us better than we understand ourselves. The word weary here means be weary; be fatigued; be ill, to be or become physically, mentally, or emotionally drained. [1] When we face suffering, it can make us want to quit. We can desire to throw in the towel. But our encouragement is that Jesus is with us. Jesus has endured the cross and the suffering it included because of His love for us. The key to overcoming is keeping our eyes fixed upon Jesus and abiding in Him.

            In struggling against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. Are we tempted to sin as believers in Jesus? Yes. The people the author of Hebrews was writing to were considering abandoning faith in Christ. To abandon Jesus for the law. There is no greater sin than abandoning Jesus. He states that they have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. Suffering and persecution were the threat that lay ahead. But Jesus has already shed His blood for us and for our sin. The answer as to why we need to hold fast to Jesus is because all hope is found in Him. It is because of His finished work that we are forgiven and set free. Without Jesus Christ we have nothing. Regardless of the threats we face, the grace of God is greater, but we must abide and remain in Christ.

            And you have forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons. Through Jesus Christ we have been adopted as sons and daughters. It is our sin that separated us from God. When we are born into this world, we are born into sin. But through Jesus Christ our sins have been washed away. We are a brand-new creation. The word exhortation means encouragement; comfort. — the act of earnestly supporting or encouraging (a response or action)[2]. The words that follow are from God Himself to us. They are meant for our encouragement and comfort. This is why it is vital as a child of God to immerse our lives in the word of God. The more the word gets in us, the more we are transformed and changed.

            My son, do not take the Lord’s discipline lightly or lose heart when you are reproved by him. The word discipline means training, discipline. Refers to discipline or instruction used to train a person in the way that is right.[3] The discipline of the Lord is meant to train and instruct us. The suffering and hardships we face in this life is part of the Lord’s instruction in our lives. Trials are an essential part of growing in Christ. We only grow in Christ as we are moved out of our comfort zone to a place of discomfort. Often suffering and persecution is not something we may sign up for, but it is essential for us to becomes the sons and daughters God has called us to be.

            The word reprove means to convict, rebuke, expose. Refers to rebuking or correcting an error, or to exposing something.[4] When we go through the Lord’s discipline He exposes what lies beneath the surface. Those the Father loves, He prunes. The purpose for the trails we face in our lives is to move us from a place of immaturity to maturity. Just as a child grows and develops physically into an adult, the same stands for the children of God. We are called to move from spiritual infancy to spiritual maturity.

            For the Lord disciplines the one he loves and punishes every son he receives. Again, the word discipline means training. Those the Father loves He prunes. God is committed to leading us to a place of maturity in Him. The suffering and hardships we face on this earth are temporary and His grace is sufficient to overcome. But requires us to abide in Him and rely on His grace. The word punishes is the Greek word mastigoō and it means to flog, chastise. To punish or, specifically, to whip or flog.[5] There are moments when we are called to suffer that it seems as if God is punishing us. But everything we go through with the Lord has a purpose. Even the hard and difficult things we face have a purpose. Often, they are used to mold and shape our hearts into the will and purpose of Almighty God.

            It is important to see here it says every son He receives. The word receives is the Greek word paradĕchŏmai and it means to accept near, admit or delight in:—receive[6]. We must remember we are chosen; we are adopted by God. It is by His grace and mercy we are saved. Whatever we face we must trust Him that He is in control, and He has a greater kingdom purpose. Those the Father loves He chastens and disciplines. Those who are illegitimate children are not chastened or disciplined. Often the hard things we face are simply a sign that we are moving in the right direction.

Prayer

Father thank you for the hard and difficult things. Thank you that you are faithful and have a purpose in everything that we face. Help me to rely daily upon your grace moment by moment. Help me to let go of my own strength and wisdom. Father give me eyes to see and ears to hear. May your strength be made perfect in my weakness. Father prune from my life anything that would hinder your work. In the mighty name of Jesus, Amen!

[1] Rick Brannan, ed., Lexham Research Lexicon of the Greek New Testament, Lexham Research Lexicons (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2020).

[2] Rick Brannan, ed., Lexham Research Lexicon of the Greek New Testament, Lexham Research Lexicons (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2020).

[3] Michael Scott Robertson, “Discipline,” ed. Douglas Mangum et al., Lexham Theological Wordbook, Lexham Bible Reference Series (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2014).

[4] Michael Scott Robertson, “Discipline,” ed. Douglas Mangum et al., Lexham Theological Wordbook, Lexham Bible Reference Series (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2014).

[5] Randall Merrill, “Punishment,” ed. Douglas Mangum et al., Lexham Theological Wordbook, Lexham Bible Reference Series (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2014).

[6] James Strong, A Concise Dictionary of the Words in the Greek Testament and The Hebrew Bible (Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, 2009), 54.