
fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Hebrews 12:2
English is a really strange language. We can speak with someone, using words that we all know, but meaning something altogether different. Some words have a whole lot of different definitions.
I didn’t understand this when I was growing up. Everyone I knew spoke the same kind of English and could easily talk with one another. No one sounded all that different to me. Whether they were from Baltimore City or the surrounding area, we sounded the same. That is, until I went on vacation.
When we traveled south to Florida, I was amazed at how different people sounded. How they talked was so weird. It was like they took the English language and twisted it. Stretched it. They took some sounds out and replaced them with other, strange noises.
Another thing I noticed was that they took some words and chopped them up, giving them very different meanings. My most memorable example was they people were fixin’ to do something. For me, there was no such word as fixin’.
This strange word sounded a whole lot like fixing. Everybody knew what fixing meant. I knew what it meant and how to spell it even before I went to first grade. Fixing was to repair something. It had been complete and whole, but then something happened to break it. Fixing meant to put it back together. To glue or attach something in place, making it good as new.
But that isn’t what they meant by fixin’. I figured out that they were trying to tell me that they were getting ready to do something. It wasn’t actually doing anything, but they were in the process of deciding what they should do next.
So, when the writer tells the Hebrews to be fixing their eyes on Jesus, he has something very special and specific in mind. It’s not the fixing I grew up with or the fixin’ from the south. But it’s so important that he stops and makes a big deal about it
To get the strength for each day, to be able to live through really terrible and painful persecution, the answer isn’t not to think about it. To believe that it’s not real, that it’s just an illusion. Or to just grit your teeth and get through it with a stiff upper lip.
Not on your life. They were to put all their attention and focus on Jesus. This isn’t just a quick glance over your shoulder toward Jesus and then go back to whatever you were doing. This is to consistently be looking at Jesus and not turning away.
When we fix our eyes on someone, we turn directly towards them. It’s not an accident when we do this. It’s on purpose. We turn our head and face the one we want to look at. The other part of doing this is that we intentionally turn away from everyone else. Everything else.
This is why they put blinders on racehorses. The horse really has one purpose and goal, and that’s to run straight ahead as fast as possible. Rearview and sideview mirrors aren’t needed at all. Neither are turning signals.
So, why look at Jesus? Why only Jesus and not any of the gods and religions that were all around them? The Hebrews are told to be actively and constantly focusing on Jesus because that’s what he was doing. He was actively and constantly focusing on the joy that was right in front of him.
Yes, Jesus had joy in front of him through the resurrection. But remember where Jesus had been living as God for all eternity past. Before being born in Bethlehem, he experienced nothing but a joyful and loving relationship with God the Father and God the Holy Spirit. He laid aside all the great benefits of being God[1] to come to earth where he experienced these two indescribable things.
Enduring the Cross. This was no quick death by hanging, chopping off his head, or lethal injection. Crucifixion was a slow and extremely painful death. Basically he became so exhausted and weak that he couldn’t breathe.
Scorning its Shame. Rather than letting shame come on him, Jesus wouldn’t let it come inside him. He refused to let any disgrace or embarrassment change who he was. What he said.
It was joy that got Jesus through everything that was part of his payment for our sins. It wasn’t painkillers or some kind of medication to lift his emotions. It was a certain hope in his future joy made it all worthwhile. It gave him the strength to live through his arrest, torture, mocking, and execution on a cross.
No matter what we’re going through, no matter how painful, Jesus understands. No matter the shame or embarrassment for what we’ve done, or what’s been done to us, Jesus went through even more. There’s no fixin’ about what Jesus did. It’s done. Our response is to fix our eyes and whole life on the God who loves us. The God who died for us. The God who’s coming again for us.
Noodling Questions
How do we fix our eyes on Jesus? Describe the process.
What happens to our lives when we fix our eyes on Jesus?
Explain how the future changes as we fix our eyes on Jesus.
[1] Philippians 2:6-8
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