“Faith is taking the first step, even when you don’t see the whole staircase.”
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Passage
1Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,
2fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
3For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
Hebrews 12:1–3 (NASB95)
Background
Quote-Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister and activist who was one of the most prominent leaders in the civil rights movement from 1955 until his assassination on April 4, 1968. A Black church leader and a son of early civil rights activist and minister Martin Luther King Sr., King advanced civil rights for people of color in the United States through nonviolence and civil disobedience. Inspired by his Christian beliefs and the nonviolent activism of Mahatma Gandhi, he led targeted, nonviolent resistance against Jim Crow laws and other forms of discrimination in the United States.
Passage-The book of Hebrews is a General Epistle (Apostolic Letter). It was written mainly to the Hebrew believers. The author is anonymous, although either Paul or Barnabas was traditionally accepted as the author. It was written approximately 67 A.D. Its purpose was to present the Lord Jesus Christ as perfect and superior in comparison to anything Judaism and the old covenant had to offer. The author was writing to a group of Christians who were under intense persecution and some were contemplating a return to Judaism. He admonished them not to turn away from their only hope of salvation.
Lesson Notes
Opening Statement
People who watch us doing a task can give us strength or make us nervous. God is always watching but that can be an abstract concept. People we know who are alive or have passed on are a different story if they are watching us.
Ask: What is a witness?
Point: Please see the Definitions page.
Ask: If we are surrounded by this could of people both heavenly and earthly, what does that mean about our actions?
Point: Our actions and words are observed by people we can see and not see.
Ask: Should that change what we do?
Point: In theory it should not. We should still do what we believe is right regardless of who is watching us.
Ask: Why should we do what is right regardless of who is watching us?
Point: Because God knows what is in our heart. Please read the following:
6When they entered, he looked at Eliab and thought, “Surely the Lord’s anointed is before Him.”
7But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”
1 Samuel 16:6–7 (NASB95)
Ask: Why is it important to know that God sees what is in our heart?
Point: Because God judges us in total whereas people only judge what they can see and hear, the outward appearance. Please read the following:
25“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside they are full of robbery and self-indulgence.
26“You blind Pharisee, first clean the inside of the cup and of the dish, so that the outside of it may become clean also.
Matthew 23:25–26 (NASB95)
Ask: What does cleaning the cup have to do with keeping our eyes of faith on Jesus?
Point: Washing the inside of the cup is the point of the opening verse of today’s passage. Please read the following:
1Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,
Hebrews 12:1 (NASB95)
Ask: What is the difference between an “encumbrance” and a sin since they are both listed?
Point: Sins are those things God pronounced as bad. An encumbrance is anything, sinful or otherwise, that hinders or slows us down from walking God’s path for our lives.
Ask: Why do “encumbrances and sin which so easily entangle us?”
Point: God’s ways are not the easy ways and the hard truth is that most people like the easy path rather than the hard path.
Ask: Why should we choose the harder path? Is it biblical that the path of God and Jesus is hard?
Point: We should choose it because it is worth it, and yes it is scriptural. Please read the following:
12“In everything, therefore, treat people the same way you want them to treat you, for this is the Law and the Prophets.
13“Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it.
14“For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.
Matthew 7:12–14 (NASB95)
Ask: What way then should we select if we want to walk God’s path and keep our eyes on faith?
Point: Please read the following:
5Thomas said to Him, “Lord, we do not know where You are going, how do we know the way?”
6Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.
7“If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; from now on you know Him, and have seen Him.”
John 14:5–7 (NASB95)
Closing Statement
Love in the storms of life is sometimes hard to focus on because things all around us draw our attention. Our purpose in this world is set by God for whom nothing is impossible (Luke 1:37). If we walk His path for our lives we should be willing to shove aside all those things that get in our way and keep us from making as much progress as possible. That progress is always and should be headed toward Jesus, the rock of our foundation upon which our house is built. We weren’t told we wouldn’t have trials just that we would have help in those storms of life. It is because of those storms that we can shine all the brighter the light and love of Jesus to those witnesses who see our lives as we do our best to walk His path.
Questions for the Week
Question 1 Do you have your eyes firmly set on Jesus in all things?
Question 2 Consider the other six days of the week and what you have scheduled for the days ahead. Make a list of one major activity each day in the coming week.
Question 3 How is Jesus in the each of those daily tasks ahead?
Question 4 How are you going to reflect Jesus to those you encounter as you go about each of those tasks?
Question 5 Are any of those things you have scheduled for the week “encumbrances” keeping you from either Jesus or His path for your life?
Definitions
witness
wit-nis
verb (used with object)
1. to see, hear, or know by personal presence and perception:to witness an accident.
2. to be present at (an occurrence) as a formal witness, spectator, bystander, etc.:She witnessed our wedding.
3. To bear witness to; testify to; give or afford evidence of.
4. to attest by one's signature:He witnessed her will.
verb (used without object)
5. to bear witness; testify; give or afford evidence.
noun
6. an individual who, being present, personally sees or perceives a thing; a beholder, spectator, or eyewitness.
7. a person or thing that affords evidence.
8. a person who gives testimony, as in a court of law.
9. a person who signs a document attesting the genuineness of its execution.
10. testimony or evidence:to bear witness to her suffering.
11. (initial capital letter) a member of the Jehovah's Witnesses.
Greek Strong’s Number: 3144
Greek Word: μάρτυς
Transliteration: martys
Phonetic Pronunciation: mar’-toos
Root: of uncertain affinity
Cross Reference: TDNT - 4:474,564
Part of Speech: n m
Vine’s Words: Witness
Usage Notes:
English Words used in KJV:
witness 29
martyr 3
record 2
[Total Count: 34]
of uncertain affinity; a witness (literal [judicially] or figurative [genitive]); by analogy a “martyr”:- martyr, record, witness.
James Strong, “Μάρτυς,” Strong’s Talking Greek and Hebrew Dictionary (WORDsearch, 2020).
encumbrance
en-kuhm-bruhns noun
1. something that encumbers; something burdensome, useless, or superfluous; burden; hindrance:Poverty was a lifelong encumbrance.
a dependent person, especially a child.
Law. a burden or claim on property, as a mortgage.
Greek Strong’s Number: 3591
Greek Word: ὄγκος
Transliteration: onkos
Phonetic Pronunciation: ong’-kos
Root: probably from the same as <G43>
Cross Reference: TDNT - 5:41,666
Part of Speech: n m
Vine’s Words: Weigh, Weight, Weighty, Weightier
Usage Notes:
English Words used in KJV:
weight 1
[Total Count: 1]
probably from the same as <G43> (agkale); a mass (as bending or bulging by its load), i.e. burden (hindrance):- weight.