³ For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

Misery loves company, the saying goes, a cheap alternative to this verse. But here we discover that those who suffer can be inspired by others who have endured similar experiences. This is especially true when that “other” is the Lord Jesus Christ of whom this book to the Hebrews speaks so much. Not only did He die in our place as the perfect sacrifice for sin, but His suffering provides the inspiring model of endurance for us to follow.

The original readers were facing persecution for their faith, and were tempted to return to the “safe” environs of their religious upbringing. This was not persecution at the hands of the Romans, but by their own people, their fellow Jews who insisted on keeping the Law and all its liturgical worship system and animal sacrifices. To continue on in allegiance to Christ would often mean being ostracized or at times being imprisoned. Certainly the apostle Paul’s life story gives numerous examples of such treatment.

But this persecution should not have been a surprise to them, because of what Jesus had taught. “If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you… Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A slave is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you; if they kept My word, they will keep yours also” (John 15:18, 20).

Paul took it one step further. He wanted to know the experience of having fellowship with Christ in the midst of suffering. He wanted to “…know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death…” (Phil 3:10). There is something spiritually empowering to the consideration of what Christ went through, that enables Christians to accept and endure suffering.

This is not simply an emotional inspiration, which would totally evaporate when our feelings change—we can’t always control our emotions. We are challenged in this verse to “consider” Christ, to use our minds! The word, used only once in Scripture, has the sense of “to reckon, sum up, calculate.” We can control our thoughts. It is logical that if Christ suffered, then we His followers would also suffer. Our leader, the author and perfecter of our faith leads us to move from beginning faith to perfect faith – and that path leads through suffering; it is all part of and necessary to growth in faith. Therefore, we should regularly contemplate Christ’s suffering so that we would “not grow weary and lose heart,” but continue following Christ with a robust faith.

Lord, Your example of endurance against hostility inspires me to also endure.