The Joy Set before Him

Hebrews 12:2 calls Jesus the “author and finisher of our faith.” The same verse in both the New International and New American Standard Bible versions refers to Jesus as the “originator and perfecter” of our faith.

Let me encourage you with those words. Whatever Jesus begins, He is going to complete. If He has started something in you, He will complete it. That is His faithfulness—not our cleverness.

Hebrews 12:2 continues, saying that Jesus, “for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” On the cross, Jesus endured shame, but He did not let it deter Him. For the joy that was set before Him, He did not consider shame a worthy reason to turn away from His purpose. What was “the joy that was set before Him”? The joy of bringing many sons to glory. In order to bring you and me—and millions and millions of others like us—to glory, Jesus Christ endured the shame of the cross.

There is no form of death more shameful than crucifixion. It is shameful because it is the lowest form of punishment reserved for the most debased of criminals. It is shameful because of the very way in which the death occurs. The Scriptures state clearly that the Roman soldiers took all of Jesus’ clothing away from Him. Jesus hung naked on the cross before the eyes of the people for three hours or more. People walked past and made fun of Him. How would you feel in that situation? In a single word: shameful. Jesus endured the shame because He saw that through it, He could bring us to glory.