A Word from Hebrews 12

What makes someone a hero of the faith? Is it the battles they won, or the blessings they received? Is it the miracles they witnessed, or the lessons they taught? Or could it be that what makes faith “heroic” is its ability to persevere, even when there are lots of reasons not to?

I ask this because today’s word comes from Hebrews Chapter 12, which means, of course, that it comes right after Hebrews Chapter 11, or the great “Faith Chapter” of the Bible. And if you really pay attention to the list of heroes mentioned in Chapter 11, what gets celebrated is the hardship they endured. Abraham was told to leave his family for an unknown land (v. 8). Moses chose to be mistreated, rather than clinging to his status as a son of the Pharoah (vs. 24-25). And then, of course, there are all the unnamed heroes who were tortured (v. 35), who faced jeers and flogging (v. 36), who were put to death by stoning (v., 37), and so much more.

Heroic faith, you see, is what we cultivate in the process of suffering. And while that doesn’t mean that we should seek out suffering, it does invite us to understand that the hardships we face are producing fruit in our lives that can’t grow in any other way.

And maybe that’s why Hebrews 12 ties it all together by saying this: “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, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross...Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.” (12:1-3; emphasis added)

Naturally, I hope you’re not suffering today. But no matter what you face, I pray that you will “fix your eyes on Jesus,” and that heroic faith will be the result. Amen.