Hebrews 12:2
looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
We ended in verse 1 with the runners looking down the track, and today we will see what that object (or more accurately, what person) is down the way. Verse 2 is the meat of this passage, and there is more information presented here than in any other verse that we will be looking at in this passage.
The object down the track is what keeps the runners going. Whereas verse one present the runners as looking at what lies before them, verse two shows the runners looking to a specific person, Jesus. The author has already made a connection to those who have run the race successfully, the witnesses. Now he introduces the man who ran the race perfectly, the one who they can look back to for an example and look towards for encouragement. The author does this in three distinct ways. He refers to Jesus as the founder and perfecter of the faith, speaks on how Jesus endured the cross, and once again alludes to His exaltation. Through these three references, the author presents Jesus as the perfect example for his audience.
In one sense Jesus is just another example for Christians to look to when running their own race; however, the author of Hebrews presents Him as the perfect example. First off, Jesus founded the faith. Paul Ellingworth suggests two possible meanings when referring to Jesus as the founder. For Ellingworth, this word means either beginner or leader, and he proposes that both descriptions are adequate. “In the immediate context, the contrast requires the meaning ‘beginner.’” But in relation to Hebrews 2:10; 11:40, Christ brings many sons to glory, and Ellingworth believes that this shows Him as a leader or pioneer.[1] V. Rhee latches on specifically to this idea of Jesus as the leader of the faith. In so doing, he remains consistent with the racing imagery of the text. Jesus is the leader in the race much like He was in Hebrews 2:10,[2] where He founded and perfected salvation. In other words, He is the one that Christians look to both as the one who founded the faith and the one who leads it onward in the race.
The second descriptive term, perfecter, also receives a pretty good consensus on the meaning of the word; however, there remains a debate as to how unique this word actually is to the text. As already seen, Jesus is described as the founder of the faith, and John MacArthur presents the idea that when the author uses the word “perfecter,” Jesus is also being described as the “One who carries it through to completion.”[3] Owen explains this same thought a little differently saying that Jesus “carries it on unto perfection.”[4] Both men introduce the idea that Jesus not only begins the faith, but He also finishes it, bringing it to full perfection. Thus, He offers Christians the perfect example of running the race of faith. Furthermore, Attridge points out that it is not Jesus or the Christians that are being perfected in this verse. Instead, Jesus is perfecting the faith.[5] This will further be seen in the remainder of verse two: through His suffering on the cross and His exaltation.
However, commentators have argued over whether the term used here for “perfecter” is unique to this biblical text or if it can be seen in other documents from the first century. To begin with, Lane states that it is “not found elsewhere in the Greek Bible and is unknown from other literature of the period.”[6] Although others agree on the fact that this Greek word cannot be found in any other biblical text, it seems as if Lane has overlooked a document in which this term is found. Koester points to a document written by Dionysius of Halicarnassus, in which Dionysius uses this word to refer to an orator as a completer.[7] N.C. Croy also caught on to this piece of information and rebukes against those who state that Hebrews is the sole place in which this term is used. He argues that “the author of Hebrews did not coin the term, or at least was not the first to use it.”[8] This may seem to be a minute detail for this passage, but by seeing how this word is used by a non-biblical writer, one can more fully understand what the term might have meant in the culture of the first century. Using that definition, more light can be shed on the meaning of the word in the biblical text as well. This document helps further show that perfecter in Hebrews refers to one who brings something to completion, and in the case of the book of Hebrews, the faith is being brought to completion.
So first, the author describes Jesus as the one who both founded and perfected the faith. By describing Jesus as the perfecter, he transitions into the next part of this verse where Jesus endured the cross. When Attridge describes Jesus as perfecting the faith, he states that this “perfecting activity consists first in the creation through his death and exaltation of a new possibility of access to God in a new covenant relationship.”[9] So it goes through his death on the cross. Jesus withstood the ultimate price by dying on the cross so that Christians can see an example by which to live. Once again, looking at the Tyndale Bible Dictionary, they define crucifixion as a “form of execution…by which Jesus procured atonement for humanity.” Furthermore, they state that this term is “also used figuratively by Jesus to portray the sacrifice in discipleship.”[10] This definition points out both Jesus’ actions as well as the example that His followers are called to model.
The runners are commanded to look towards how Jesus endured the cross, in which He despised the shame and ran toward the joy before Him. Ellingworth comments on this joy saying that Jesus did not run for the earthly joy before Him. Instead, Jesus endured the cross in order that He might receive the heavenly joy.[11] He knew what was before Him in the exaltation; therefore, he continued to endure the sufferings placed before Him while on earth. Guthrie comments on how Jesus looked to the reward ahead of Him by simply enduring through the present sufferings. Through this, He provides the “preeminent example of endurance.”[12] This shows why Jesus’ example is so important to understand. The examples provided in chapter eleven were necessary and great ways to provide encouragement for the runners, but now Jesus is the ultimate example to follow. In life, Christians must look beyond the hard times, endure through them, and look toward Jesus in faith.
Finally, verse two ends with Jesus’ exaltation at the right hand of the Father. Exaltation, as defined in the Tyndale Bible Dictionary, is “the glory and dominion which Jesus attained [upon] completion of his earthly work of suffering and death… the reward of his full obedience to the will of the Father.” Furthermore, Psalm 110:1 comments on the exaltation by saying, “…sit at my right hand…” God speaks to His Son, and makes His enemies His footstool. Guthrie comments on this exaltation by stating that it should provide Christians with encouragement to persevere.[13] And Owen further expounds on this by saying that since Christ suffered yet endured, should Christians not persevere through those their sufferings?[14] Both men make a great point. Christ is being portrayed as the ultimate example, and yet He had to endure the suffering of sinful men. But despite those hard times on the earth, He still persevered through them and is now exalted in Heaven. This is the example that the author gives Christians, and this is what Christians are to look to for encouragement during their personal tribulations.
With verse two alluding back to Psalm 110:1, one must take time to see why the author once again alludes back to this verse. Lane shows how this idea was first presented in 1:3, and then how the author continues to expound upon the point in 2:5-9; 8:1-2; 10:12-13.[15] The exaltation becomes one of the major themes throughout the book of Hebrews. And Attridge says that this is the last allusion back to this passage in the book.[16] In this final allusion, the author plainly states that Jesus is seated by God’s right hand. It does not allude to some future event, saying that Jesus will be exalted to that position at some point. Instead, it clearly sits Him there, making this final allusion a critical one for the reader. Once again, the exaltation is the goal that Jesus looked to through His sufferings. And it provides Christians with an example to look to through their own sufferings.
Please remember that these posts are a series of excerpts from my paper, and you will be presented with the majority of my paper and research by the end of this series. Now verse 3 will begin to provide the application of this passage, and we will look at that next time.
[1] Paul Ellingworth, New International Greek Testament Commentary: Commentary on Hebrews (Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1993) 640.
[2] V. Rhee, “Chiasm and the Concept of Faith in Hebrews 12:1-29,” Westminster Theological Journal 63, no. 2 (2001), http://web.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.uu.edu:2048/ehost/pdf?vid= 5&hid=103&sid=3211ba31-00a5-4e1e-b72e-f8f1341c4b37%40sessionmgr104 (accessed October 11, 2008).
[3] John MacArthur, The MacArthur New Testament Commentary: Hebrews (Chicago, Illinois: Moody Publishers, 1983) 379.
[4] Owen, The Works of John Owen: An Exposition of the Epistle to the Hebrews with Preliminary Exercitations Volume VII, 239.
[5] Attridge, The Epistle to the Hebrews: A Commentary on the Epistle to the Hebrews, 356.
[6] Lane, World Biblical Commentary: Hebrews 9-13, 411.
[7] Koester, The Anchor Bible: Hebrews, 523.
[8] N.C. Croy, “A Note on Hebrews 12:2,” Journal of Biblical Literature 114, no. 1 (1995), http://web.eb scohost.com.ezproxy.uu.edu:2048/ehost/pdf?vid=6&hid=103&sid=3211ba31-00a5-4e1e-b72ef8f1341c4b37%40s essionmgr104 (accessed October 11, 2008).
[9] Attridge, The Epistle to the Hebrews: A Commentary on the Epistle to the Hebrews, 356.
[10] Elwell and Comfort, Tyndale Bible Dictionary, CD-ROM.
[11] Ellingworth, New International Greek Testament Commentary: Commentary on Hebrews, 641.
[12] Guthrie, The NIV Application Commentary: Hebrews, 399.
[13] Ibid.
[14] Owen, The Works of John Owen: An Exposition of the Epistle to the Hebrews with Preliminary Exercitations Volume VII, 244.
[15] Lane, World Biblical Commentary: Hebrews 9-13, 413.
[16] Attridge, The Epistle to the Hebrews: A Commentary on the Epistle to the Hebrews, 358.
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