These verses immediately follow the famous faith chapter of all who have gone before us and were led to keep their focus where it belonged with the promise to us that they were not being perfected by Christ apart from us.
In Hebrews 12:2 we read that we are all running the race together with endurance, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.
“Looking” is 872 in Strong’s Concordance: aphorao (af-or-ah'-o), which means “to attentively consider.” But this word is the derivation of two other words: apo and horao. Apo indicates the separation of a person or an object from another person or an object with which it was formerly united but is now separated. Horao means to properly stare at; that is, (by implication) to discern clearly (physically or mentally); at its base it means: to look away steadfastly or intently toward a distant object. Metaphorically, it means to behold in the mind, to fix the mind upon (consider this in terms of Paul’s plea to the brethren at Philippi as recorded in Philippians 2:5, “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus”).
“Unto” is 1519 in Strong’s: eis; a primary preposition: to or into (indicating the point reached or entered); metaphorically of a state or condition into which one comes, after verbs of motion, duration. One of the word studies I reviewed explained it this way, “To baptize into somebody or into the name of somebody means to baptize into the obligations incumbent on a disciple of someone or to be identified with the character and purposes of such a person.” As it pertains to this sermon, I thought it helpful to see this word in a context that is of the most significant consequence to us.
Christ’s ascension is incredibly meaningful for us. Here the author uses it as the basis of his exhortation to these Hebrews whose faith and zeal and confidence had been slipping. He points out that they (and we) have powerful examples of people acting with trust in God. But even though we have the examples in the previous chapter, the author tells us where our focus should be. He says, “looking unto Jesus,” and proceeds to yet again describe Jesus fulfilling His earthly ministry, culminating in His sitting down at the Father’s right hand, now actively working on our behalf.
