Charles Spurgeon Commentary Hebrews 12

Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, 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 is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider him- (Hebrews 12:1–3)

Look to him, look at him, study him, know all you can about him, meditate upon him, –

Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us,

Or "entangle us."

And let us run with patience the race that is set before us, 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 is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest you be wearied and faint in your minds.

The Lord does not wish his people's hands to hang down, and their knees to become weak, so in this passage, as in many others, he administers gracious remedies. Among the rest, he bids us consider his own dear Son. Shall we faint under our small afflictions when he endured so well under his heavy burdens? Come, be strengthened, my weak heart.

"HIS way was much rougher and darker than yours;
Did Christ your Lord suffer, and will you repine?"

Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith;

It was no excitement to run if there were no onlookers. The spur to the racers and wrestlers in the Grecian games was found in the eyes of those who gazed, in the clapping of their hands, in the shouting of their applause, as well as in the prizes that awaited the winners. Behold, my brethren, even our most private acts are looked upon by the millions of eyes of the great cloud of witnesses. Angels tell the news of how we run the great race, and they rejoice when we prosper.

Let us "run well" because so many are looking on at us. Just as the Grecian runner stripped himself of his clothes before he started, so, let us lay aside every weight, the weight of sin, the weight of care, the weight of grief, the weight of worldliness, and everything else that might hinder us. Above all, let us beware of that sin which, like a trailing garment, might entangle our feet and trip us up, for if we fall, our opponent will certainly win the prize. Look well to that sin to which you are the most liable. We all have some besetting sin; let us especially be on the watch against that.

While we keep all the wall with diligence, let us set a double guard at the most vulnerable point. And let us run with patience—or 'endurance.' There is to be a combination of the active and passive in the Christian; he must be able to endure and yet be able still to work.

Let us run with patience, run when we are out of breath, run when our bones ache, run when the prize seems to be further off than ever and hidden from our eyes, run when the hot sun makes us thirsty. Still, let us run with patience the race that is set before us, for it is he that endureth unto the end who shall be saved—not merely the starter in the race, for there are many who begin, and who do not begin in the power of the Spirit of God, and who therefore do not persevere to the end.

The true children of God will be known by this sign: that they run with endurance to the end, looking unto Jesus.

As the wife of the Persian nobleman said, when her husband asked her what she thought of Darius, that she had not looked at him (she had no eyes for any man but her husband), so the Christian has no eyes for anyone but Christ,—looking unto Jesus,—keeping his eye always upon him, and so running the Christian race.

Jesus is here delightfully called the author and finisher of our faith. In most of the arts, there is a division of labor; one man begins, and another completes. There is scarcely anything completed by one man.

But the stupendous work of our salvation was not only begun but it was also completed by the Lord Jesus Christ alone. Let us look to him then. This will help us to persevere to the end because he persevered to the end.

Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, 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 is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

We can have no doubt about the great truths which we believe, for we are surrounded by a cloud of witnesses. The former chapter gives us the names of many of these glorious bearers of testimony, who all by faith achieved great wonders and so bore witness to the truth of God. Having therefore no room for doubt, let us throw our whole strength into our high calling, and run with patience, having our eyes always fixed upon him, the beginner and finisher of our faith, who has run the race himself and won the prize, and now sits down on the right hand of the throne of God.