Hebrews 12:2
Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of [our] faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Jesus Christ, murderously impaled onto the cross-beam of a dead tree that had been a partaker of more men’s deaths than a serial killer, endured. It’s hard to imagine a man in so much pain enduring such humiliation and shame at the hands of men who were not one-one-hundredth the human being that he was. Next to criminals, a class of men he had no right being even in the same cage with, he suffered the looks of the people as they wagged their heads, wagged their tongues, and worse yet, even wagered over his clothes below. Why, that assault upon his soul should have killed him!
If we had been him (falsely accused, misunderstood, misquoted, misrepresented in a court of law, and mistakenly taken as a threat to a nation) we would have shown those rascals who had dared to oppose us a thing or two. Yes, we would have come down from that cross; even if just to get out of the pain. But he didn’t. Instead, he forgives a criminal on the left, assigns his mother’s care to the disciple below watching, prays to the Father who had brought him to this painful place, and the forgives the world (and the people in specific) for placing him in this most painful predicament.
And the Jerusalem reporter down below asks the question of his viewers, ‘Just how did he do it? Was it because he was God? Was it because he was perfect? Was it because he was drugged up?’
Jesus was a man who lived for TOMORROW no matter what the situation was for today. He had always been that way. He knew when his hour would be, and didn’t fear it. He knew what his Father wanted him to do and he would embrace it. He prophesied of his death long before it occurred and came to peace with it. But most of all, and most important of all, HE SAW FORWARD TO THE DAY WHEN DEATH WOULD LOSE IT’S STING! That’s right. He who had RAISED many a dead man KNEW about his own resurrection. He who had visited with Moses and Elijah on the mountain KNEW he would see them shortly. The Kingdom that he had been preaching about and the mansions that he had been promising his believers, he eagerly looked forward to go prepare. And the Father, his beloved Father, welcoming him in with open arms saying, “My good and faithful son, come thou in to the Joy of your Lord”, this kept his HEART safe while his TENT was destroyed by evil assault.
It was not the JOY NOW that kept him through the hard times, the busy times, the tumultuous times and all the contradiction of sinners – not to mention demons – which were arrayed against him. It was the JOY FUTURE that was his solid foundation. HE BELIEVED EVERYTHING THAT HE PREACHED, AND HE LOOKED FORWARD TO ITS FULLFILLMENT.
One day, your joy will be full too; if you follow your Shepherd, if you endure to the end, if you press for the mark, if you partake of the sufferings of Christ, if you overcome, if you let no man take YOUR crown of faith. He understands and will ‘succor’ you in it all; if you will call on HIS name.
Original Copyright: © 5/16/04 Anthony J. Massotti Th.M., Th.M.