Running the Race (12:1–2)

The writer of Hebrews begins chapter 12 with the familiar race metaphor, presenting a forceful challenge for Christians to endure in a “marathon” commitment to Christ. The author crafts a logical transition between chapters 11 and 12 with the particle “therefore” (toigaroun) and a reference to the “great cloud of witnesses,” the exemplars of faith just recounted. With 12:1 he turns the spotlight on his own community of faith, using the first person plural “we” to challenge this community to recognize themselves as part of the great host called to live by faith. The basis for this exhortation has been laid well with the example list of chapter 11.

Authors of classical literature used the image of a “cloud” to describe a large group of people, and our writer employs this metaphor with an added emphasis, pointing back to the multitude of persons listed or alluded to in chapter 11 as “such a great cloud.” In what sense, however, are the heroes of the faith surrounding the Christian community a “great cloud of witnesses”? Some, in light of the race imagery, have understood this confession to mean that the countless thousands of God’s faithful throughout the ages now sit in the “stands” of eternity, observing Christians as they seek to live for Christ in the world. The word “witness” (martys) certainly can carry the meaning “spectator,” as in 1 Timothy 6:12, and “surrounded” (perikeimenon) brings to mind the ancient amphitheater with its tiered rows of seats.

However, the author intends more from this image than to conjure the faithful of the ages as passive spectators. Rather, they are witnesses in the sense that they bear witness to the Christian community of God’s faithfulness and of the effectiveness of faith. God has given witness to them (“commended” in 11:2, 39 is from a related word, the verb martyreo), and they, as examples, bear witness to him before succeeding generations. 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. As F. F. Bruce notes, “It is not so much they who look at us as we who look to them—for encouragement.”

The writer calls his hearers to “throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles.” An ancient writer could use the word onkos to mean “mass, weight, heaviness, bodily fat,” or more positively, “fullness.” In line with the sports imagery of verse 1, the word could refer to a runner stripping of burdensome clothing or losing excess bodily fat. For success one had to get rid of anything that would “hinder breathing or the free movement of the limbs.” So the Christ-follower must lay aside “everything that hinders” if the faith race is to be run triumphantly. More specifically, we are to get rid of the “entangling sin” (cf. niv). The word euperistatos possibly refers to something that clings so closely that it impedes movement, but its meaning is uncertain. Those who prefer a translation in line with the niv understand the term to derive from periïstemi (“to surround”). The author does not seem to have a specific sin in mind, but rather understands any sin as hindering progress in the faith.

The main clause of 12:1–2a is translated with “let us run.” This image of “running” emphasizes that Christ-followers have a course to complete or a goal to reach, and must exert effort if the Christian life is to be lived faithfully. The author has in view, however, a marathon rather than a sprint, as seen in the phrase “with endurance.” The effort called for, consequently, is a sustained effort that goes the distance, following through on one’s commitment with dogged determination. This is how we must run “the race marked out for us.”

Prokeimai, translated here as “marked out,” can also be translated “lie before, lie in view, be at hand”; the author has already used the word at 6:18 to speak of the hope that has been “offered to” or “placed before” the believer. The picture evoked in 12:1 is that of runners looking down the track at the course they must run. They know where they must go and now must bring their training and commitment to bear on the task of running the race successfully. As runners see the path lying before them, so Christians see the path of the faith life stretch into the future.

Yet, thankfully, the path is not all the believer sees. We are called to “fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith” (12:2). Looking to a king or leader as a model, or to God for inspiration, was a common motif in various rhetorical literatures of the ancient world. In the context of the “race,” Jesus is the one who has run the path before us, and he offers the preeminent example of how the race is to be run. But he is more; that he is the “author and perfecter of our faith” sets him apart from all the examples enumerated in Hebrews 11.

The word translated “author” is rich with meaning and can communicate variously the idea of a champion, leader, forerunner, or initiator. The word has already been used in Hebrews in the context of Christ’s bringing of salvation (2:10). These various nuances may overlap in the present context. Both the concepts of forerunner and champion fit the athletic imagery of the passage. Juxtaposed with the word translated “perfecter,” however, it also may connote the idea of an initiator. That he perfected our faith means that the Lord accomplished fully what it would take for new covenant faith to be a reality. Donald Hagner comments:

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.

Ultimately, Jesus accomplished the perfection of our faith by his sacrificial death on the cross. In keeping with the race imagery, he has cleared the path of faith so that we may run it. The way is open, and although hurdles exist, the roadblocks have been removed.

As Hagner notes, Jesus not only perfected faith but also provided the preeminent example of endurance because he looked beyond immediate, painful circumstances to the reward that was ahead. The verb kataphroneo, translated here as “scorning,” means to treat someone or something as if he or it had little value. Paul uses the same word in Romans 2:4, where he speaks of “scorning” God’s kindness. It also occurs in Jesus’ proclamation that no one can serve two masters; rather, one will be loved and the other scorned (Matt. 6:24; Luke 16:13). That Jesus “scorned” the shame of the cross means that he treated it as insignificant or of little consequence.

The author’s choice of words here is powerful. The cross was the lowest form of capital punishment in the Roman world, reserved for slaves and criminals and involving both torture and public humiliation. On the cross Jesus was treated as valueless, being mocked and ridiculed—in short, being “scorned” or “shamed.” He, however, turned the experience inside out, “scorning the scorn,” or in the author’s words here, “scorning the shame”; the cross was insignificant compared to the joy set before our Lord. The end result of its shame was his exaltation to the right hand of God (Ps. 110:1). Thus, Christians are encouraged to look beyond their present difficulties to God’s promised rewards.