In chapter twelve of his Epistle to the Hebrews, Paul begins to draw his conclusion about what he had already written. In the first two verses Paul uses a chiastic literary structure[1] in order to compare the believing Jews of the first century AD and the problems they had to face with Jesus and what he endured for them, during his public ministry, while in the flesh. Paul went on in chapter twelve to warn his brethren about the consequences of apostasy, showing that the infinitely greater rewards of the New Covenant over the Old Covenant would be lost to them, if they didn’t remain faithful to the Lord who chose them. Paul dresses up his plea by comparing the believer’s present circumstances with that of ancient Israel, whom the Lord slew in the wilderness.
One writer has observed a chiastic structure in Hebrews 12:1-2.[2]
“Therefore[3] we,
[A] having seated around about us such a cloud of witnesses,
…..[B] setting aside every weight and every clinging sin…
……….[C] with patient endurance…
……………[D] let us run the race that is set before us
………………..[E] keeping our eyes on Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of the faith,
……………[D’] who for the joy that was set before Him…
……….[C’] patiently endured the cross…
…..[B’] despising shame…
[A’] and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.”
Each capital letter at the beginning of the first four phrases of Hebrews 12:1 corresponds to the same capital letter before the final four phrases of Hebrews 12:2, with the capital [E] in the center being the pivotal phrase, which brings success to the believer’s labor in verse-1.
Visualizing the cloud of witnesses surrounding the believer [A], as he prepares for the challenges of walking in Christ, answers to Christ, the true Witness (Revelation 3:14; 19:11; 22:6; cp. Jeremiah 42:5) who is seated on the Throne at the right hand of God [A’]. The second phrase “setting aside every weight and every clinging sin…” [B] is actually a poor translation but answers to [B’] in verse-2 where Christ made light of his persecutions and persecutors (Isaiah 49:7; Matthew 26:67-68; 27:27-31; Hebrews 10:33; 11:36).
Concerning the poor translation quoted in the chiasmus, it should read: setting aside every weight and the besetting sin. The Scriptures never tell us to remove sin from our lives. Instead, we are told to reckon our old man dead and ourselves alive to Christ (Romans 6:11-14; cp. Ephesians 4:22-24). The word sin or sins is mentioned in the Epistle to the Hebrews twenty-four times, of which eighteen[4] refer to either Christ’s sacrifice for our sin / sins or the Old Covenant sacrifices for sin / sins. Once, (Hebrews 11:25) sin is mentioned in connection to Moses’ choice between identifying himself with his people or with Pharaoh, which is not in the sense of evil behavior.[5] Twice sins are mentioned in connection with the New Covenant, in that the Lord promises he won’t remember men’s sins anymore (Hebrews 8:12; 10:17).
Finally, sin is mentioned three times in connection with the sin principle (Hebrews 3:13; 12:1, 4), never in the sense of becoming sinless, because the old man cannot be saved (Romans 8:6-8), because he cannot cease from sinning (Romans 8:7; cp. 1Corinthians 2:14). Rather, we are told he must be cast him off (Ephesians 4:22; Colossians 3:8), and we need to embrace our new man, Christ (Galatians 3:27; Ephesians 4:24; Colossians 3:10). Therefore, it was in this sense that first century AD believers had to lay aside the sin (i.e. the sin-principle / old man) that hemmed them in or surrounded them on all sides. We may apply this to ourselves as well, because the old man seeks to control our lives, as it did our brethren in the first century AD.
The remaining phrases, [C] in verse-1 answers to [C’] in verse-2, where the believer is called upon to endure the difficulties of the race, just as Christ endured the cross. Moreover, the Jews of the first century AD were told to run the race before them [D], answering to [D’] in verse-2 where Christ accepted the cross for the joy that was set before him. Finally, The central and pivotal phrase is [E] keeping our eyes on Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of the faith. I like the way the NASB puts it: “fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith.”
To fix one’s eyes on Jesus causes the believer to imitate his Savior. Elsewhere, it is understood as looking into this mirror, whereby we are changed into that very image of Christ (2Corinthians 3:16-18). In other words, walking with Jesus has nothing to do with our strength, rather, it has to do with the power of God working in us. It is our decision to turn to the Lord, but it is the Lord’s power that makes us into that which we are powerless to do under our own strength. In other words, Paul’s encouragement to his brethren in the first century AD, who were buckling under the heavy hand of their persecutors, was: ‘lay aside the old man, the sin principle, before whom they had no power, and **fix their eyes upon Jesus** and he that began a good work in them would perform it to the end’ (Philippians 1:6; Hebrews 12:1-2).
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[1] See an earlier study of mine: The Anonymous Disciple.
[2] From Expository Notes of Dr. Constable; taken from: Estella B. Horning, “Chiasmus, Creedal Structure, and Christology in Hebrews 12:1-2,” Biblical Research 23 (1978):41.
[3] According to Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges: Wherefore… “The Greek word is a very strong particle of inference not found elsewhere in the New Covenant except in 1Thessalonians 4:8.”
[4] The eighteen are: Hebrews 1:3; 2:17; 4:15; 5:1, 3; 7:27; 9:26, 28; 10:2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 11, 12, 18, 26; 13:11.
[5] The mention of sin at Hebrews 11:25 concerns the literal meaning of “missing the mark” rather than an evil deed. See my previous study, Bearing the Reproach of Christ.
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