I have often wondered at what point Jesus understood He was to go to the cross? How long did He live with that knowledge? Or how many times did Jesus look around at what everyone else was doing and long for marriage and family life? Did He ever wish for a different profession? Something other than carpentry? How many times did He set aside longings for what He knew He was on earth to accomplish?
In Hebrews 12:2 we are told that, “For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame …” Jesus lived for a future joy. In fact, He’s still living for that future joy, a time when all of His brothers and sisters have received the salvation He died to give them. We too, as believers and followers of Jesus, must live for future joy. In our perfect life yet to come, we will live out the fulness of our destinies; we will be whole and complete with perfect minds, hearts and bodies. Our purposes will be clear. We will have phenomenal harmony in every relationship, everyone will get along and appreciate one another. In the next life all our dreams come true and sorrows end.
This future focus can be very hard to remember in America where so many live to have it all now. Variations on the message, “You can do anything you set your mind to!” abound. With such wealth and privilege all around us, it is easy to fall into dreaming only about the here and now. While in fact, this is just a prelude. In this life we are preparing and being prepared for what comes next. We live in what has been called the, “already but not yet”. We labor towards a heavenly life and are graced and rewarded with tastes of what’s to come.
When we forget about our eternal future, we are left with placing all our hopes in this life, a guarantee for disappointment. Patti, my mentor and friend, has said to me numerous times over 30 years, “Maybe God doesn’t have that for you.” Many times I have faced that some dreams don’t come true – here. Here on this earth. But, later, what I will taste, what you will taste, will be more glorious than any of our hopes or dreams of today. This knowledge is part of what sustains us through the disappointments. The future joy is what sustained Jesus through today, His day of execution and separation. It is why He was able to walk willingly into the hands of His persecutors. It is why He didn’t run from the pain, but moved steadily into it.
For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
Hebrews 12:2-3
To meditate further on these ideas see: Eph 2:10, Phil 1:6, Rms 8:18, 1Cor 2:9, 1Cor 12:12-31, 1Peter 1:4, Rev 21:5