Our Only Hope is Jesus

Trouble

Sometimes, it seems our world has nothing but trouble. Politicians on one side say that the other side has the worst people to ever live. The other side says the same thing. Enemy nations use social media to stoke the flames of hate, knowing that this is how they can make us weak.
At home, it seems like there’s never enough money to do what we would like to do. There are problems with parents/children/spouse/others. There are never enough hours in the day. Nothing goes right at work, home, family, friends, church, neighbors, etc.
Have you ever thought, “Everything would be great if people just did what I wanted.” Then you realize that’s probably what everyone else wants, and that’s why we have problems!

Sin

Driving down the street, people speeding to get somewhere quickly. Some people will cut you off. Others will drive like they own the road, and no one else matters. Maybe you have even been that person some days.
It’s hard to be nice when it seems that no one wants to be nice to you. You begin to wonder if there is any hope for this world (or yourself). Jesus is our hope!

Hope

We have hope, not because of what we have done or who we are. We have hope because of what Jesus has done and Who He is! God Himself came to earth to give us hope. In spite of all the hardships He endured in this life, He always had hope. That was only possible because He knew Who He was, and He knew His Father’s plan. This life was not the end for Him. He knew that He came from eternity and He was returning back to eternity, with His Father.

Perspective

The writer here is giving us a few ways to help keep our perspective on track. First, he tells us that we have a great “cloud of witnesses surrounding us.” He is probably referring to the “heroes of the faith”, such as Abraham and Moses, that he mentioned in the previous chapter. They were all people who overcame “impossible” obstacles because they trusted in God.
Then, he tells us to get rid of everything that is slowing us down, like sin, “which so easily entangles us.” You can’t expect to win a race if you are trying to carry heavy weights on you everywhere you go. Let go of the sin and whatever is keeping you down, away from Jesus.
When you are running a race, it’s good to keep looking at the finish line. That’s where you want to be. You want to do whatever it takes to get there. Jesus is our finish line — “fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith.” Yes, we still have to live in this life, in this world. If we keep our eyes on Jesus, our goal, then we will have the right perspective to live in this life.

Hostility

As we fix our eyes on Jesus, we need to remember what He did for us. Even though He despised the shame of the mocking, beating, and crucifixion, He “endured.” This means that when He wanted to run away, He stayed; He endured. When He was being arrested, Peter was going to fight for Him. Jesus said that He could have called for thousands of angels to protect Him, but He didn’t; He endured.

Sinners

There are times when we are going through trials, and we wonder about other people. We think, “I know that person, and they are horrible. Why do they never seem to have any problems?” Jesus didn’t go there. He was (and is) the Son of God — God Himself. He never sinned, in His entire life, yet here were horrible, sinful people judging Him and mocking Him. If anyone had a right to be angry, Jesus did. If anyone had a right to take revenge, He did. But He didn’t.
Instead of taking vengeance for what these “sinners” were doing to Him, He died for them.

No, Jesus didn’t deserve what happened to Him, but He endured it anyway — for us. We might not deserve the trials we go through (or maybe we do), but we need to endure anyway. We endure because we know Who our Savior is. We keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, because He is our hope.