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Holy Week · Wednesday of Holy Week · Year B

Hebrews 12:1-3

God Disciplines His Sons

The Forerunners of Christ with Saints and Martyrs, Fra Angelico
The Forerunners of Christ with Saints and Martyrs, Fra Angelico, c. 1423-1424National Gallery, London · public domain

Overview & Insights

“Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus.” (Hebrews 12:1-2)

With the glorious history of the faithful in mind, our author turns now to his readers. The standard of faith has been set by the record of God’s faithful people in the past, who moved out into the unknown with confidence and who endured hardship without giving up their expectation of a future fulfillment of the promise. But the author now comes to the supreme example of this kind of faith in Jesus—the name that must be the climax of any list of paragons of faith. Jesus himself endured great suffering without losing sight of the glory that was to come. The readers, together with Christians of every era, are called to walk in the steps of faith that characterized the saints of the past and the one who has now been made Lord. Only such an attitude of faith can sustain them during the adversities they may be called to face.

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What is the great cloud of witnesses?

Surrounded by the faithful of old, believers are called to lay aside every weight and run the race with their eyes on Jesus, who endured the cross for the joy set before him.

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