HOW HAVE I SINNED? March 28, 2006
Hebrews 12:1-13
Kevin Murphy, St. Matthew Lutheran Church (Walnut Creek)

Read the passage and respond to these questions:
            1.  How is God available to help us resist sin?
            2.  How do you sense that God is disciplining you spiritually?  Are you yielding or resisting?
            3.  What fruit will discipline bear in your life?
“…for the sake of the joy set before him [Jesus] endured the cross, disregarding its shame…” (Hebrews 12:2, nrsv).  Our Roman Catholic brothers and sisters, we think, consider the saints too much. We probably consider them too little. The writer of Hebrews asks us to consider the great cloud of witnesses that have gone before us. Look at the prices they paid. Look at the suffering they were willing to endure. She (Priscilla?) uses their example to encourage us to “lay aside every sin and weight” that keeps us from the running the race.

But among this great cloud of witnesses there is none to compare with Jesus, the first witness (literally “martyr,” Revelation 1:5).  If you are like me, you have wondered how Jesus was able to face and endure the unspeakable passion and suffering of the cross. The writer of Hebrews tells us, “for the sake of the joy set before him” (Hebrews 12:2). Jesus kept a picture of his own resurrection in his mind while he was on the cross. He knew he would hear the Father’s voice again, “This is my Son, my Beloved, in Him I am well pleased.”

I also believe Jesus had our salvation in his mind – yours and mine. We saw that great cloud of witnesses that had gone before and he knew he would “bring us to God” (1 Peter 3:18).  “For I know you had me on your mind, when you climbed up on that hill…”
After all that Jesus has done (and endured) for us, there is only one fitting response, that we give all of our lives to Him!
Prayer
Lord Jesus, thank you that you did not shrink from the cross and its shame. But having us on your mind, gave your life for us. Give us the grace to daily give our lives to you. Amen.