January 11th, 2022 – Tuesday Afternoon
“For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.” ~Hebrews 12:3
What a treasure this verse is to us who are in Christ Jesus! After the encouragements and commands to lay aside weight and sin and to run the race with endurance while we look to Jesus, we get this encouraging command. It is like the frosting on the cake or the straw that broke the camel’s back; if there was any doubt in our minds as to how we could run with endurance, it is banished in light of our passage today.
The Greek word translated “consider” means “to think over, ponder, consider”; and specifically in this verse, “to consider by weighing, comparing”, etc. Therefore, if we are commanded to consider Jesus it means that we are to think over and ponder Him – His attitude, His words, His actions, His example; it means we ought to consider by weighing and comparing Him to ourselves and to others (we and others fail so miserably at enduring compared to Him!). The purpose is not just to see how He is so much better and greater than anyone else or to do some academic or analytical exercise, though; no, we are to consider Him and what He endured at the hands of sinners (whom He created and who should have fallen down in worship at His feet) for a specific purpose.
That purpose is not unknown: “For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.” We are to think over, ponder, and consider so that we ourselves do not grow weary and lose heart when confronted with the trials, struggles, and sufferings of this life. We are to realize and remember that He was so undeserving of the mocking, the cruelty, the rejection, and the wrath of God, yet He endured them without a word of complaint, accusation, or condemnation. That is crazy. It is absolutely bananas that He who is God and He for whom all creation was made for (see Colossians 1:15-20) would stoop to such a level that He wouldn’t even flinch when faced with such humiliation and abuse.
Pause there a moment… Why do we grow weary, get discouraged, and lose heart? What is it that causes us to do so? Is it not because we are considering our weaknesses, the threats to our safety, peace, and prosperity, the woes and troubles of our families, communities, and world, and dwelling on our own pain, hurt, anger, and sorrow? We all consider – think over, ponder, and consider by weighing, comparing, etc. – and what we consider does affect us, probably more deeply than we realize. The question is not if we consider, but rather, what is it that we are considering?
My beloved brethren, let us consider ourselves and our problems no longer – except to take them to Him who so faithfully cares for us (1 Peter 5:6-7). Let us consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself so that we do not become weary and lose heart – in our struggle with sin, in our sorrow and pain, in the sufferings of this life, in loving others, in pursuing righteousness and godliness, and in living by His Spirit and grace for the glory of God.