Christ’s example for endurance

First the example of Christ. You have got to break this down into three parts, because our text does. First, we are motivated by what Christ endured. You notice that in Hebrews 12:2, Look to Jesus the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him, endured the cross. The cross here comprehends the whole suffering life of Jesus, but especially of course the cross itself at the end. Where he hung naked in the flame of his Father’s wrath for six long hours. No eye of mercy cast upon him, saying: We understand. Seemingly rejected by heaven and earth and hell, he endured the cross till its bitter end, crying out, My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me? Oh, the magnitude of the sufferings of Jesus Christ. What a cry! What an awful cry! That cry of dereliction was. My God, My God! He is aware of the God-ness of God. The otherness of God. The power of God. The holiness of God. But he does not say now, does he? As he did in the first word on the cross and the last word from the cross, My Father. In his self-image as he bears all your sins, dear child of God, as he bears them away, to hell itself as it were, he knew more of the sinner-ship than the sonship at that moment. He felt your sin and my sin in his self-image. He is not the beloved, in whom the Father is well pleased, but the cursed one, the vile, the foul, the repulsive one, an object of dread. This is the essence of the cry of dereliction. This is what God thinks of sin, your sin. The price Christ had to pay, for your sin. He endured to the very end. The heavens did not open and say, This is my beloved Son. The angels did not come to minister. The pure-minded and women did not gaze upon him and say, Jesus, we understand. There was no one to support him. He trod the winepress alone. The only word spoken in support of him is the word of a despicable thief.

Oh, what he endured in running his race to the end. That should motivate you. If Jesus Christ died for you, can’t you live for him? He gave his all for you. Can’t you run for him? You know, as pastors I am sure, we experience something like the following all the time: When someone gets very ill, for example cancer; you watch them at the beginning when they have some courage. Then they get very distraught and it becomes very real. Oh, I have got cancer. It is just overwhelming. But then when they start going for chemotherapy and get into a waiting room with all kinds of cancer patients, and they see all these other people who have cancer much worse than they do, they come to you and they say, Pastor, you know, I do not really have it so bad. They began to get more hope, because they see others who have cancer worse. You see, Jesus Christ is a motivation for us. Not only because he suffered meritoriously for our salvation (that of course is the biggest motivation), but also, because his crosses are always so much bigger than our crosses. So, that we look to him and we say, Well, if he endured all of that, if he endured the substance of suffering for me, and I only have to follow behind him and endure the shadow, can’t I do that for him? He is everything. His crosses are huge. Mine are small. Mine are nothing compared to his. Be motivated, by what he endured.¹

Joel Beeke