Title: Let's Look to Jesus/Hebrews 12
Central to the book of Hebrews is the preeminence of Jesus Christ as the High Priest and the importance of faith in him. Hebrews 12 exhorts us not to fall from grace because we look to Jesus as the high priest.
1 “Let us look to Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith” (1-13)
The beginning, center, and end of faith is looking to Jesus. Because Jesus is the Lord of faith and the perfecter of faith. What encourages us to look to Jesus is that the Messiah and the multitude of ancestors of faith who lived while looking at Jesus are surrounded like a cloud. The attitudes of those who look to Jesus are heavy, such as stumbling blocks (such as business, hobbies, money, power, wealth, wealth, etc.) and sins easily entangled (such as the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the pride of life, etc.) It is to put off the stigma and run the race ahead with patience. Faith is “taking off” and “racing”. The Jesus we are looking at is the One who endured the suffering and shame of the cross and sat at the right hand of the throne of God. Therefore, the life of those who look to Jesus is a life of fighting sin and enduring discipline until the point of shedding blood like Jesus. When you are disciplined, you should neither belittle nor be discouraged. For those who follow the cross will follow discipline, and discipline will ultimately be beneficial. “Any discipline at the time does not seem joyful, but sad, but to those who have been trained by it afterward it produces the peaceful fruit of righteousness” (11).
2 “Pursue peace with all men and holiness” (14-17)
The life of those who look to Jesus is a life that follows Jesus and pursues peace and holiness. Jesus came as “the Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6) and became “our peace” (Ephesians 2:14). We are “one in Jesus” (Galatians 3:28). Therefore, the life of those who look to Jesus is not a life of enmity with “everyone” but a life of pursuing peace. Jesus also came “without sin” (Hebrews 4:15), the Holy One “without sin”. “There is no sin in him” (1 John 3:5). Therefore, the life of those who look to Jesus is a life that pursues holiness with all people. Holiness means a negative separation from the world and sin, a positive separation from heaven and God, and the likeness of Jesus. Those who do not pursue peace and holiness cannot see the Lord. Therefore, we should fear whether there are those who have fallen from grace, those who have departed from peace and holiness, those who are rooted in bitterness, and those who have fallen into fornication and profanity.
3 “You have come to Mount Zion and to the city of God, the heavenly Jerusalem” (18-29).
The place where those who looked to Jesus arrived and the destination was not Moses' Mount Sinai, nor the Jerusalem of Palestine, but the eternal city of Jerusalem, Mount Zion in heaven. Here ‘Mount Zion’ is the city of heaven where the Lamb and the 144,000 are together (Rev 14:1). Those who look to Jesus have already reached heaven. To come to see Jesus today is not to look at Mount Sinai in the Old Testament, nor is it to look only at Jesus 2,000 years ago. It means looking at Jesus in heaven with “ten thousand angels and God and the spirits of the righteous.” The conclusion is as follows. Since you have received the immovable kingdom of heaven because you look to Jesus, you must not disobey or betray God who has spoken from heaven about the Son. Because they will receive a greater vibration than those who rebelled against Moses. Therefore, we must receive grace and serve God pleasingly with reverence and fear.