Hebrews 12:1-13 - Why do bad things happen?

Our earlier reading from Philippians 3:3-11 wasn't, of course, written by the author of Hebrews, but I am certain that he would have been in total agreement with it because it talks about the exact same things that the writer of Hebrews has been talking about for the past eleven chapters:

• The greatness of Jesus Christ.

• The inability of the law to save.

• And the absolute need for us to have faith in Jesus Christ, who died on the cross for our sins and rose again from the dead.

A faith, which brings forgiveness, justification, and righteousness. A faith, which has as its goal, knowing Jesus, and becoming more and more like Jesus in our characters. A faith, that not only trusts, but a faith that obeys because it trusts.

As we come into Hebrews 12, we find that our author has answered the great theological question that this particular church was asking.

Is salvation based upon law, temple, priests, and sacrifices, or is salvation by grace through faith in Jesus Christ?

He has answered this question throughout this letter by showing that salvation, forgiveness, and new life are found in, and only in, Jesus.

• Jesus, the son of God.

• Jesus, God the Son, through whom God the Father created all things.

• Jesus, our great high priest.

• Jesus, the one who offered himself as one sacrifice for sins forever.

• Jesus, the one who is greater than all.

Then, having done that, having established and demonstrated the greatness of Jesus, and the all-sufficiency of Jesus; having answered the great theological question, he now answers that initial practical question they had. That question which started them to doubt and question Christ. That question that had prompted them to begin thinking of turning back to the law and sacrifices, and that question is simply this:

If the Kingdom of God is here. If God's rule and reign have been established in this world through Christ. If Christ has defeated sin through his death on the cross, then why are so many bad things happening to us?

It was that practical question which was the beginning point of all their doubts.

We know that this was a church that had faced great persecution, as we read in Hebrews 10:32-34:

But recall those earlier days when, after you had been enlightened, you endured a hard struggle with sufferings, sometimes being publicly exposed to abuse and persecution, and sometimes being partners with those so treated. For you had compassion for those who were in prison, and you cheerfully accepted the plundering of your possessions, knowing that you yourselves possessed something better and more lasting.

Not only had they, as well as their friends and fellow believers, suffered persecution from those around them because of their faith in Christ, but they had also seen the most terrible things happening in Judea, the land that God had given on oath to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

The Romans had invaded and conquered Galilee and Judea, and were now at the very gates of Jerusalem, where the temple of God was. The Romans had killed and enslaved tens of thousands of Jews, and in a very short time, the Romans would conquer Jerusalem itself, destroy the temple of God, and crucify thousands.

Because of what was happening to them, and what they saw happening in Judea, they asked themselves, "why"?

Why are all of these bad things happening?

• If God has gained the victory in Jesus, then we, the church, should be victorious.

• If God has established the kingdom through Jesus, then surely, Judea and Galilee should be an unconquerable fortress of God. Incapable of being invaded. Incapable of being defeated.

All of these things, what was happening to them personally, and what was happening in Palestine, piled on top of each other, and caused them to doubt, to question, and to turn away from Jesus.

When I was seventeen years old, I graduated from High School, and, as most of you know, after I graduated High School, I joined the Navy. During the six years I spent in the Navy I served on four different ships. Two nuclear powered submarines. One guided missile cruiser. And one anti-submarine frigate.

Naturally, when you are in the Navy, you are compelled to go out to sea in all kinds of weather.

Sometimes we were at sea in the most beautiful, calm. perfect weather imaginable.

We were in the South China Sea once, and the water was so calm, so still, it was like glass. It was so calm that you could see where the wingtips of the flying fish were hitting the water. Magnificent. But, of course, there were other times when we hit some of the nastiest storms imaginable.

I remember many times being out at sea in heavy storms and the ship is just "bouncing" around the ocean. In fact, it sometimes got so rough that I would wake up and I had my armed wrapped around the bedpost that was supporting the bunks above me, and I had gripped that bedpost in my sleep so I wouldn't be tossed out onto the deck.

Another time it was so rough that my mattress slid nearly off of the bunk.

Then there were those times in heavy seas when the ship would start to roll to port, and it would just keep on going, and going, and going. And then you would get to a certain angle, and you wondered, "is she going to stop and go back the other way? Is she going to start rolling to starboard, or is she going to keep on going to port and capsize? Then the ship would get about as far as she could go without capsizing, and you would feel the entire ship shaking with the force and power of the wind and the waves, before she finally, finally started to right herself. Of course, right after that nasty roll to port, you got an even nastier roll to starboard, and it started all over again, and this could on and on for hours, days, until you eventually rode out the storm.

But at that split second in the roll, that split second that seemed to go on for an eternity, you could easily ask yourself the question:

How long O lord? How long is all of this going to last?

That was this church in Hebrews. “How long O Lord?”

• How long must we undergo this persecution?

• How long until we see Jerusalem delivered?

• How long until we see the Prince of Peace establish peace?

• How long, O Lord, until we find relief from the trials, the struggles, the pain, and the suffering?

• It has been going on for so long, O Lord. How much longer?

There is a line in Gordon Lightfoot's song, The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald, when the ship is being buffeted by gale force winds, and towering waves, and in the middle of the storm, and the wind, and the fear, the song says:

Does anyone know where the love of God goes

When the waves turn the minutes to hours?

In other words, when "life" gets so overwhelming, when we are walking through that "valley of the shadow of death", when the world has turned against us and is abusing, threatening, persecuting, and even killing us, when we are carrying that cross up the hill of Calvary, when we can say with Psalm 6:3:

My soul also is struck with terror, while you, O LORD—how long?

Psalm 13:1:

How long, O LORD? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me?

Psalm 89:46:

How long, O LORD? Will you hide yourself forever? How long will your wrath burn like fire?

Habakkuk 1:2:

O LORD, how long shall I cry for help, and you will not listen? Or cry to you “Violence!” and you will not save?

We cry out these things when all of this is going on around us and we say, "where is God and what is he doing"? This was them, these first readers of the letter of Hebrews. These were their questions, and these were their doubts and their fears, and in their doubts, fears, and uncertainties they were thinking of abandoning faith in Jesus, and returning to law, temple, and sacrifices.

How many believers in Christ, how many of us at times, faced with unrelenting problems, day after day, week after week, month after month, never ending, always present, no hope in sight, how many have just thrown up their hands in despair, and felt like giving up?

Our reading today from Hebrews 12 seeks to answer these questions that had been overwhelming them, and sometimes try to overwhelm us, and which were drawing them away from faith. He answers it first of all in Hebrews 12:1-3 as he shows how we should respond to all the bad things that are going on. He says:

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such hostility against himself from sinners, so that you may not grow weary or lose heart.

In this passage he reminds them that they have seen in Hebrews 11 example after example of individuals who, in the face of the greatest trial, threat, and danger, continued to trust God. They have seen example after example of people who:

• When they were called to go to lands they had never been to.

• Build boats when no one had yet experienced a flood.

• Lead a nation out of slavery in Egypt.

• Conquer cities by marching around them seven times.

• Establish kingdoms.

They have seen how these individuals trusted God enough to do what he said, no matter what anyone else said. No matter what the personal consequences were. No matter what else was going on around them. They trusted God enough to be faithful during every situation that arose.

Further, they have seen Jesus, the son of God who came into this world. Who became a human being. Died on a cross bearing the sins of the world. He was opposed, rejected, despised, and abused. They have seen how he was faithful to death, even to death on a cross.

They have seen all of these people who have lived a life of faith in God through the highest highs and the lowest lows. Through the greatest struggles imaginable, and because they have seen all of this, he basically tells them:

Stop feeling sorry for yourselves. Don't give up. Get rid of everything in your life that is tripping you up or slowing you down in your discipleship and get on with the job of following Jesus faithfully.

Now that isn't the answer that we normally want to hear when things in our lives are going bad. We normally want sympathy, pity, a shoulder to cry on, but he doesn't give it to them.

Instead, he gives them a pep talk. A challenge. A rebuke. And his pep talk, challenge, and rebuke centres on the fact that we have a race to run, a life of faith to live.

• We have a saviour who has shown us the way, and who himself was faithful to the calling of God, even to the point of laying down his life.

• We have in Jesus an example of faith in the face of the greatest struggle, while we ourselves have not yet struggled as he has, because we haven't had to die for the faith.

Therefore, because of all of this, as our lives face difficulties, struggles, trials, uncertainties, and pain, the answer to it all is look to Jesus. Focus our hearts and lives upon Jesus. Cling to Jesus and continue to follow Jesus on the road he is leading you, whatever that road may bring.

But he then reminds them of something very important about life. And he lets us know that hardships, struggles, and trials are all part of God's "discipline".

Now, we often think of "discipline" as punishment. When our children do something wrong we might give them a smack, or send them to their room, or take away their computer privileges, or something like that, and we say that we have "disciplined", or we have "punished" our children for their bad behaviour.

But the two words which are translated as "discipline" here in Hebrews 12,[1] mean:

The act of providing guidance for responsible living, upbringing, training, and instruction.

These words mean to provide instruction for informed and responsible living. They mean to assist in the development of a person's ability to make appropriate choices, and although they do, at times, have the meaning of "punishment", it is a punishment that leads to growth and transformation of character, and so we find in Acts 7:22 that:

Moses was instructed in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was powerful in his words and deeds.

Or Acts 22:3, where Paul says:

I am a Jew, born in Tarsus in Cilicia, but brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, educated strictly according to our ancestral law, being zealous for God, just as all of you are today.

He told Timothy to:

Correct opponents with gentleness.[2]

And Titus 2:12 talks about how God’s grace:

 train[s] us to renounce impiety and worldly passions, and in the present age to live lives that are self-controlled, upright, and godly.

Ephesians 6:4:

Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.

2 Timothy 3:16:

All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness.

Instructed. Educated. Corrected. Trained. Disciplined. Taught. All are the same Greek word translated here in Hebrews 12 as "discipline".

It is only if we think that the entire purpose of salvation and new life in Christ is to make our lives nice, sweet, enjoyable, healthy, wealthy, and abundantly blessed, only then should we look at "hard times" as God's wrath, punishment, or abandonment. Instead, the entire purpose of our lives in Christ, the entire goal of the Christian life, is to make us more and more like Jesus, as Paul said in 2 Corinthians 3:18:

All of us, with unveiled faces, seeing the glory of the Lord as though reflected in a mirror, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another; for this comes from the Lord, the Spirit.

Also, in Ephesians 4:13:

Until all of us come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to maturity, to the measure of the full stature of Christ.

Or, as Paul said in Philippians 3:10-11:

I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by becoming like him in his death, if somehow I may attain the resurrection from the dead.

And the phrase, “like him in his death”, simply means that total submission to, faith in, and obedience to, God that Jesus had in the cross.

And our author says in Hebrews 12:10:

For [our fathers] disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but [God] disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share his holiness.

In other words, the entire purpose of God's "discipline", God's training, teaching, and guidance, is holiness of life, as Hebrews 12:11 says:

Now, discipline always seems painful rather than pleasant at the time, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.

Through those times of training, teaching, learning, growing, and developing, God uses those things to bring about righteousness of life, and peace within our spirits. For if the goal of the Christian life is maturity. If the goal of the Christian life is Christlikeness, then we need "instruction", "guidance", and "teaching" so that we might reach that goal, and as hard as it is for us to accept it, we learn these things best in the hard times, not in the good.

Think for a minute about what Paul says in Galatians 5:22-23a:

The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

Think about it. How could we grow in love, if our lives were not faced with people who are "unlovable". People who through their lives, actions, words, or behaviour, are a challenge to love?

How could we grow in joy if our lives were not faced with sorrow and pain? Those times in which "joy", is put to the test?

How could we grow in peace, if our lives did not, from time to time, face conflict and distress. Those times when we needed to rest in the peace of Christ.

How could we grow in patience if our patience was never tried?

How could we grow in kindness and generosity, if we were not faced with situations where it is just so hard to be kind or generous, and where it takes a total submission on our part to the will of God and to allow the Spirit of God to work kindness and generosity in and through us?

How could we grow in faithfulness if there were not those times when our faithfulness was tested. Those times when the temptation to "unfaithfulness" reared its ugly head, and we had to make a choice.

How could we grow in gentleness if not faced with a situation where, let's face it, we would much rather answer in harshness, cruelty, or bitterness?

How could we grow in self-control if not faced with situations where our "self-control" would be so easy to toss aside. Those times when it would be so easy to give in to our anger or our desires, and to allow our passions to rule our lives, instead of allowing the Spirit of God to rule, lead, and guide?

Although this is sometimes hard for us to comprehend, it is in the middle of all of those "bad things", those “hard times”, that God is working out his greatest good in our lives. That "greatest good" of transforming our lives and our characters into that which is a reflection of Jesus Christ. That "greatest good" of using us in the bad times, to touch the life of someone else.

This is what happened for Jesus. In the middle of the "opposition from sinful men". In the middle of "enduring the cross and scorning its shame". In the middle of all of the bad times that Jesus went through, his response of faith and faithfulness to the will and plan of God - touched, transformed, and brought salvation to the world.

Because of this "greatest good" that God is bringing about as he "teaches, instructs, and guides" us, as he "disciplines" us, our author says in Hebrews 12:12-13:

Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint, but rather be healed.

And again in Hebrews 12:3:

Consider him who endured such hostility against himself from sinners, so that you may not grow weary or lose heart.

Then in Hebrews 12:5-6a:

You have forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as children— “My child, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, or lose heart when you are punished by him. for the Lord disciplines those whom he loves

Sometimes, when we go through great struggle, it isn't so much that we lose faith. Sometimes the problem is simply that it all gets to be "too much", or it goes on for "too long", and we "lose heart".

The problem is that it just seems that much harder to keep on going. To take another step. To go another day. To face another trial. And we "lose heart".

That is why he tells us to look to Jesus. To focus on Jesus. Look at the examples of faith and faithfulness in the face of great trial, struggle, and pain that we read about in the Scriptures. Realise that the goal of our faith is being transformed into the image of Christ.

Don't get weary. Don't lose heart. Don't become "disabled" by rejecting what God is doing in your life and turning away from faith, rather "be healed", that is, be fully restored in your spirits through an ongoing faith in, and faithfulness to, Jesus Christ.

 The first couple of storms that I went through in the Navy were quite frightening, and trust me, they can be frightening. But after a while I noticed that, instead of the storm waking me up and keeping me awake most of the night, I slept right through them.

Instead of swaying back and forth like a drunken sailor as I walked down the passageways of the ship, as the ship was being tossed about, I learned to walk a reasonably straight line.

I learned to go up and down ladders while the ship was pitching and rolling.

I learned to eat my meals, and to do my job.

And all of this while the storm raged around me.

But was it the calm waters of the South China Sea that taught me all of this?

No! It was the storm.

I learned it all in the storm.

[1] paideia paideuw

[2] 2 Timothy 2:25