But there is also another perspective of the picture that is suggested by the context.
Looking at the context here, we get the sense that there is also a picture of a person suffering from some kind of joint disease. We notice here that the knees are feeble, and that there is lameness. This person has become somewhat diseased, troubled in the joints; and when that is the case you generally find that not only is the knee itself weak, but the muscles around it have become flabby.
So we see here an accurate picture of what is called physiotherapy. More than just the disease in the joint has to be treated; the patient has to be put through various exercises and movements, as well. Massage alone is not enough. The patient also has to do his part in making active movements.
This Instructor is putting us through certain exercises and training in this spiritual gymnasium. He has stripped us, and He is examining us. He knows exactly what we need. Now all we have to do is submit to Him, and do exactly what He tells us, just as we would if we had a physical trainer putting us through physical exercises. We have to listen to the Instructor, go through the exercises, and if we do this, it will give us the peaceable fruit of righteousness.
What does all this mean? The first thing we have to do is to examine ourselves, or submit ourselves to the examination of God's Word. The moment something seemingly negative happens to us, we have to say to ourselves, I am in the gymnasium, and I am working out. Something must be wrong, because I feel pain. Where and what is the problem? That is the way we, as Christians, should always react to any one of these things that happen to us in our lives; whether it is: an illness, an accident, a failure, or a disappointment, it does not matter what it is.
On the basis of this principle, the first thing we should say to ourselves is, Why has this happened to me, have I been going astray somewhere?
All too often people try to blame Satan for their trials, and that may be the case sometimes. He certainly takes advantage of our weaknesses. But people often tend to shrug off any short-comings of their own, and put all the blame on Satan, or even on God, as if they feel lily-white themselves. That is a very destructive view to take, because it relinquishes personal responsibility to someone else, when often the problem began by our own doing.
What next? Well having done that, is a kind of loosening-up process; we now begin to do positive exercises.
This is Paul's way of telling us to pull ourselves together, to brace ourselves, to stand erect, to tone ourselves up. This illustration of the joints fits perfectly at this point. Anyone who has ever had rheumatism or arthritis, in any shape or form, knows that instinctively we all tend to nurse and protect painful parts. If I have a pain in my knee, I try not to bend it. We protect it. We shield the painful parts. And, we do exactly the same thing spiritually. Paul exhorts us, in verse 12, to stop nursing our painful joints! Movement is the best thing for them at a certain stage.
Therefore strengthen the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees.
But we often say in effect, I do not have the strength or the power to do it. The Instructor replies, Lift them up, stand up straight, and be ready to move; the more you move the better it will be. That Instructor is talking about action, doing something in our own lives.
This is something that is literally true on the physical level, and you will find that you will always be given that instruction by one who knows His business. Keep moving, do not let yourself get stiff, keep the joints moving; keep them as flexible as you can. Walk it off!
And this is equally true, in the spiritual realm. We have all seen people who, when trials come, adopt a kind of pose. They are feeling sorry for themselves, and they want everybody else to feel sorry for them. Paul says in effect, Get out of that pose, shake it … . . .
Now turn over to Hebrews 12, verse 12, please. Regarding renewing and our spiritual vitality, notice how it is described in physical imagery with spiritual meaning.
What causes this? What causes the hands not to have any strength? No strength in the shoulders. When you do not have any strength in your shoulders, you cannot lift up your hands.
What is the most common place, it seems, we dislocate? Our shoulder, is it not? You know, somebody says I dislocated something, you think of the shoulder almost inevitably.
So Shechem represents the strength for shouldering the burden of responsibility. It represents the Days of Unleavened Bread, and this feast instructs Christ's disciples in holy conduct. And it is not easy to rid sin out of our lives, is it? We need strength. We need the strength of an ox spiritually to be able to do that, and that strength comes from our refuge, Jesus Christ.
Throughout our Christian life, Christ strengthens us with the bread of life, giving strength to fulfill the responsibility of doing His work, that is, glorifying God and serving others. It represents the strength to work according to His will in removing sin from our lives, to be a true witness of His way of life.
The Hebrews were undergoing some persecution, and so Paul writes this to these people, reminding them of their individual responsibility. Notice what he says.
In times of persecution, it makes one feel weak. It makes one feel as though there is desperate times; maybe even no hope; weak to an extent never known before. So he says:
Because of this, renew your courage, and make effort to bear up under the trial, because victory is just around the corner. Quoting Albert Barnes: A courageous mind, braces a feeble body, and hope makes it fresh for new conflicts.
