Marathon of Faith- Hebrews 12:1-3

Recently I watched a quirky documentary on Netflix called “The Barkley Marathons: The Race that Eats its Young.” It describes an exclusive and secretive marathon set in the Tennessee mountains that was co-designed by Lazarus Lake and a man affectionately named “Raw Dog.” In its first 25 years, only 10 people completed this grueling 100 mile run that is divided into 5 20-mile loops. The loops take victims through some of the toughest terrain Tennessee has to offer, under a prison via a tunnel, up and down mountains, through streams, over cliffs, in both day and night. Experts say that by the time people complete this race, if they complete this race, they have scaled and descended enough altitude to climb and descend Mount Everest twice!  Oh and you only have 60 hours to complete it! The trail is not marked out. Instead, one has to follow clues given by Lazarus Lake to find checkpoints and while there retrieve a page from books that correspond to one’s race number. The first two laps are conducted clockwise, the second two counterclockwise and the fifth is up to the runner. Good luck finding out how to enter this marathon race (if you are crazy enough to consider it in the first place) because the first rule about the Barkley’s is to never speak of it. There is not a website, phone number, etc. and yet hundreds of people somehow find out about it and apply to participate. Only 40 are chosen each year and those who are accepted are sent a letter of condolence saying, “we are sorry to inform you that you have been accepted to run the Barkley.” The cost is $1.60, a license plate from your home state/country, and whatever item that Lazarus Lake needs for his wardrobe for that year (white shirts, socks, flannels, etc.). Why someone would want to do this is beyond me, but people are excited to run this crazy impossible race.

Life can often feel like the Barkley Marathon—tiring, painful, frustrating, and near-impossible. Under the conditions that life often sets before us, people lose heart and decide to quit in any one particular area or as a whole. This is especially true for those living the Christian life of faith. Living as a Christian appears to be more difficult with every passing day. However, this is exactly what is asked of us. How are we supposed to live this life, run this race, persevere in this marathon? Hebrews 12:1-3 offers two statements that encourage runners in the faith that I pray we can keep in mind as we endure in this world.

The Calling-“RUN UNINHIBITED”-12:1-2

Having just given a tour of examples of steadfastness and perseverance in Chapter 11’s “Hall of Faith,” the preacher decides to use this historical survey and Who’s Who list to galvanize perseverance in the congregation to which he is writing. He calls upon what he has discussed in chapter eleven by saying, “Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us,…”(12:1). However, what exactly does this mean?

Many authors in Greek literature use the image of a “cloud” to describe a large group of people. Here, the preacher adds the qualifier “so great” to “cloud” in an effort to highlight the enormity of this group’s size (the multitude of people listed/alluded to in chapter 11) and uniqueness of its quality (faithful, accomplished, persevering). Some have suggested that this “cloud” of people are comparable to spectators at an epic track meet that surround the field in the stands and offer their cheers from a distance to those running the race of the Christian life down below. However, “witnesses” suggests something more intimate and active than a mere spectator. Witnesses do not just see something, they bear testimony to what they have seen. Therefore, these “witnesses” are not so much at a distance watching the Christian life, but their testimony is more comparable to trainers on the field who voice more specific and helpful advice to the runners as they pass by. This, the Old Testament saints in general and the inductees in the “Hall of Faith” in particular, do through their stories recorded in the Hebrew Scriptures, providing assurances that godliness works, perseverance is worth it, and God is faithful to His promises.  “In this way, the great cloud of faithful Christ-followers through history offer the community motivation in its current struggle to stay the course of commitment” (Guthrie, 397). “It is not so much they who look at us as we who look to them—for encouragement” (Bruce, 333).

Since this cheering and encouraging cloud of witnesses remains around the believer, the preacher continues by compelling those listening to “lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us,…”(12:1). Two things inhibit a runner’s stride according to this verse: excess baggage and sin. The former in the ancient world and in today’s wonderful world of sports involved baggy clothing and a surplus of body fat. Such things weigh the individual down and lead to inefficiency. Such things represent that which is unnecessary to the Christian life. This may or may not include even good things that in no way contribute to the goal God has set before the believer. Too much of a good things can be a heavy weight that slows the runner down.

Therefore, the preacher encourages the believer here to slim down, streamline, and become more efficient in the things that really matter—even if it means sacrificing the good for the great.

However, the second thing believers ought to “lay aside” is “sin which so easily entangle us” (12:1). If encumbrances involve baggy clothes and excess weight of our own that need dealing with to run the race of life well, sin includes the obstacles that are along the track. No one in their right mind would willfully place obstacles on the track before a race! Neither should the believer allow sin to pothole the path ahead of him/her.

After slimming down and avoiding sin that so easily entangles us, the charge from the preacher to the church is to “run with endurance the race set before us” (12:1). Such a “race” reveals that Christ-followers have a course to complete, a goal to achieve and, for their part, would do well to exert effort to that end. What is this course and goal? Faithfulness to God and His will. Notice too that the “race is set before us.” “set before” can also be translated “marked out,” meaning that runners know which way to go because a third party has marked out the path accordingly for them to take. As far as it concerns believers, the people of God DO NOT make the course themselves and have no autonomy over which direction to go. God is the third party mastermind behind every turn, every incline, every nuance of the trail that He gives each believer to take.

Not only that, but this “race” is more a marathon than it is a sprint as it requires “endurance” (12:1). Though some, like myself, would like for things to happen quickly and grow impatient for the finish line, the preacher makes it very clear that this is a long haul—not a hundred yard dash. Therefore, “endurance” is necessary in order to complete the race and finish well.

I’ve never quite understood the motivation behind all of these crazy runs and marathons. Why would someone subject themselves to the agony of something like the Barkley Marathon? Very little if any recognition is offered, only a few people will ever know about it, there is no cash prize awarded, and personal accomplishment is only so compelling. Though I’m not physically equipped to run something like that, I know that even if I was, it would take a pretty remarkable prize to even enter that race in the first place.

Thankfully, in an effort to motivate the believer along his journey, not only does he have a cloud of witnesses testifying on God’s behalf from the Scriptures, he also has the greatest prize awaiting him in the end—Jesus, “fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith” (12:2a). In fact, this phrase demonstrates the manner by which the race is to be run—by fixing one’s eyes on Jesus—not on the briars below, the people behind or beside, or the obstacles around.

Why is Jesus a proper point of focus for the runner of the Christian life? He is both the “author” and “perfecter” of faith (i.e. the name given to this marathon). The word “author” can mean “champion,” “leader,” “forerunner,” and “initiator” and, in some ways, each of these fits the athletic analogy employed here. Jesus is a reigning champion, He goes before the believer, and, as God, has also initiated the race in the first place. In addition to His being the “author” of the faith marathon, He is its “perfecter.” In other words, He has made this course possible. Here is what one commentator says about this verse,

“As perfecter of faith, he brings it to its intended goal, Thus, whether one talks about faith as a possibility or as the experience of fulfillment, all depends upon Jesus. For this reason, Christians must keep looking away from this world to him. He is not only the basis, means, and fulfillment of faith, but in his life, he also exemplifies the same principle of faith that we saw in the paragons of Chapter 11” (Hagner, 212).

Jesus authored and perfected this course of faith for the Christian life through His selfless sacrifice upon the cross, “who for the joy set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God” (12:2b). So much is contained in this important verse. First, Jesus endured the cross so that His joy and the believer’s joy may be secured. This joy involves eternal life in glory with God. Jesus died so that His joy might be realized and His joy is most nearly concerned about the joy of His children which can only be obtained in right relationship with Him. Second, Jesus’ life and sacrifice is the example given to believers for faithfulness to the end. If Jesus was willing to follow the course set before Him, so too should believers. Third, what Jesus did on the cross is total and complete “and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” Both the perfect tense verb used here and the posture Jesus assumes at God’s right hand suggest that when Jesus said “it is finished!” on the cross, it really was. This renders what Jesus accomplished far greater than what was accomplished under the Old Testament system.

Hebrews 10:11-“Now every priest stands day after day ministering and offering time after time the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But this man, after offering one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God.”

Jesus’ sacrifice, and the authoring and perfecting of faith that resulted from it, render Christ the greatest object of motivation possible as the believer runs the race of his/her life. Ultimately, in verses 1-2 of Hebrews 12, the preacher says, “since we have the testimony of all who have come before us in God’s Word, demonstrating that this marathon can be completed, run the race God gives you to run, all the while looking to Jesus whose sacrifice made joy and salvation possible.”  

The Consideration-“REMEMBER JESUS”-12:3

After calling the congregation to run the race of faithfulness with endurance, the preacher, gives this same congregation something to consider, “for consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself” (12:3a). To be sure, Jesus did suffer throughout His life and on the cross because of sinners like you and me. However, in spite of the pain and suffering He endured, He “endured.” He endured incompetence, impatience, temptations, conflict, danger, betrayal, lies, false accusations, blaspheme, and yet He finished strong the course that God had placed before Him. This is important to keep in mind when running a similar path.

“so that you will not grow weary and lose heart” (12:3b).

In many cases, the best thing to remember when one is struggling to continue and is tempted to throw in the towel is that this race has been completed, it CAN be done. Jesus’ perseverance is the source of inspiration behind the believer’s perseverance as he/she lives the life God has given him/her to live. Because He has finished well, with Him as the church’s aim and focus, so too can the people of God. Because He lives now at the right hand of God, having completed the work God gave him to do, believers can face tomorrow no matter what God has called them to do.

So What?

The calling of this passage is simple, “Run the race God has called you to run of faithfulness.” The cloud of witnesses preserved in Scripture are your trainers helping you along the way and Christ is the proper object of one’s gaze.  The consideration of these verses is inspiring—remember Jesus who has run well and allow His perseverance to engender perseverance in your life. No one is saying that the marathon God has handed you or me is easy, but what this passage teaches is that it can be endured. Such an encouragement would have no doubt inspired a persecuted church in the first century. It must inspire us today!

If this race God has called us to run IS so difficult, shouldn’t we do our part to render ourselves spiritually healthy enough to finish strong? What baggage are you holding onto that is keeping you from running well? What sin is tangling up your progress in your Christian walk? Perhaps today is a day to lay it down at the altar of God, and run out of here unencumbered and more efficient. What race are you running? Are you running one of your own design to your own ends and for your own glory? Perhaps today is a day for you to submit yourself to the race God has for you—the race leading to Christ-likeness and usefulness in His kingdom-building work. Because of what Jesus has accomplished, we are invited to follow Him in the marathon of faith, encouraged by those who have gone before us and inspired by what lies ahead! Its a race we all must enter.