Monday, October 5, 2026
Hebrews 12
Jesus, Founder and Perfecter of Our Faith
12 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
Do Not Grow Weary
3 Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted. 4 In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. 5 And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons?
“My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord,
nor be weary when reproved by him.
6 For the Lord disciplines the one he loves,
and chastises every son whom he receives.”
7 It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? 8 If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. 9 Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live? 10 For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness. 11 For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.
12 Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, 13 and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but rather be healed. 14 Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord. 15 See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no “root of bitterness” springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled; 16 that no one is sexually immoral or unholy like Esau, who sold his birthright for a single meal. 17 For you know that afterward, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no chance to repent, though he sought it with tears.
A Kingdom That Cannot Be Shaken
18 For you have not come to what may be touched, a blazing fire and darkness and gloom and a tempest 19 and the sound of a trumpet and a voice whose words made the hearers beg that no further messages be spoken to them. 20 For they could not endure the order that was given, “If even a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned.” 21 Indeed, so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, “I tremble with fear.” 22 But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, 23 and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, 24 and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.
25 See that you do not refuse him who is speaking. For if they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less will we escape if we reject him who warns from heaven. 26 At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, “Yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.” 27 This phrase, “Yet once more,” indicates the removal of things that are shaken—that is, things that have been made—in order that the things that cannot be shaken may remain. 28 Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, 29 for our God is a consuming fire.
Missiologists teach us that the church in any one locale needs the church in the whole world in order to read the Bible correctly. So it is with this passage. Believers under persecution will find these words and their ensuing fellowship with Christ in his sufferings very precious. Those believers who have not known persecution will have more trouble identifying with the kind of suffering the writer of Hebrews wants to address. So, the writer appeals to the “hall of fame” of faith in chapter 11 to motivate his hearers and future generations: “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses . . . let us run with endurance the race that is set before us” (v. 1).
But Hebrews does not ultimately look to these old covenant heroes for motivation to run the race; rather, we are to run “looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God” (v. 2). Jesus, as Mediator of the new covenant, is the supreme example of a faith that endures to the end. He suffered the ultimate martyrdom—the holy Son of God on a Roman cross—to save us from our sins. His struggle and victory are ours—he alone is “the founder and perfecter of our faith,” the champion who brought faith to its complete expression and as such is also our ultimate example of bearing up steadfastly under unjust suffering (cf. 1 Pet. 2:19–23).
Perhaps it is shocking to us, when reading Hebrews 12:3–4, how tough biblical Christianity is. Yet even more shocking perhaps is how soft and untested many Christians are who have not faced persecution. The writer points his readers squarely to Jesus: “Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted” (v. 3). We are to draw courage from Jesus’ steadfast example of honoring God no matter the cost. And we too must be willing to pay the ultimate price: “In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood” (v. 4).
To contemporary sufferers and martyrs for Christ, all other believers should bow in admiration, with gratitude for their example and for the grace of Christ evident in their lives. It is they who know the deep privilege of suffering discipline as the children of God (vv. 5–11). “The Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives. It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons” (vv. 6–7). May God use this passage to help those who face trials to see them as fatherly discipline toward “the peaceful fruit of righteousness” (v. 11). And may he move those who do not face persecution to pray for their brothers and sisters who do.**
Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025. The ESV text may not be quoted in any publication made available to the public by a Creative Commons license. The ESV may not be translated in whole or in part into any other language. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
*Taken from the ESV® Literary Study Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), Copyright © 2007 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
**Taken from the ESV® Gospel Transformation Study Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), Copyright © 2013 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
