I was reading Hebrews 11 last night and there was a small parenthesis that really caught my eye. It was this one: (men of whom the world was not worthy).
A friend once sort of poked fun at me for my fascination of parenthesis (or rather my excessive use of them haha), but in my opinion this parenthesis is worth extra mention: (men of whom the world was not worthy).
In Hebrews 11 verses 35 to 38 we read, “Women received back their dead by resurrection; and others were tortured, not accepting their release, so that they might obtain a better resurrection; and others experienced mockings and scourgings, yes, also they were sawn in two, they were tempted, they were put to death with the sword; they went about in sheepskins, in goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, ill-treated (men of whom the world was not worthy) wandering in deserts and mountains and caves and holes in the ground.”
Just think about that for a second: (Men of whom the world was not worthy)… If this world was not worthy of the types of men and women described in Hebrews 11 who suffered so much for their faith in a future Christ, how much more unworthy then do you think the world is to have received the object of these people’s faith, the person Jesus Christ, who came to dwell among us approximately 2010 years ago?
Extremely unworthy.
And yet it was this Christ that we did not consider worthy enough even to be given a decent place in which to be born.
We considerd Him unworthy even though it is us who aren't worthy of Him... just like this world considered the heroes of the faith unworthy when it was really the world that wasn't worthy of them.
It says about these men and women in Hebrews 11 that they wandered in deserts and mountains and caves and holes in the ground… well, so did Christ.
In fact, Jesus started out his ministry by wandering in a desert, and even more, Jesus once said that “foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head” (Luke 9:58).
Hebrews 11 says that these people were, “stoned, they were sawn in two, they were tempted, they were put to death with the sword, they went about in sheepskins, in goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, ill treated…” and well, so was Christ.
The gospels do not record Jesus as being stoned or sawn in two, but Luke mentions that there were some from a synagogue who wanted to throw him off a cliff (4:29).
And as for being tempted: Jesus was too. The writer of Hebrews refers to Jesus when he says that our high priest was tempted in all things as we are, yet was without sin (4:15).
And what about being put to death by the sword? Jesus wasn’t put to death by a sword (he was rather put to death on a cross - a method far worse); but regardless, the weapon here stated reminds me of John 19 where it says that a soldier pierced Jesus’ side with a spear which caused both blood and water to come gushing out as proof of Jesus’ death (v.34).
And how about the garments that Jesus wore? I do not know that Jesus ever went about in sheepskins or goatskins, but as he hung there dying on the cross, John 19:24 says that the very clothes that Jesus did have – even those were taken away from him by those standing by.
And as for being destitute, afflicted, and ill treated: that was practically Jesus’ trademark. Isaiah 53:3 describes him as being “despised and forsaken of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief”… and a few verses later in Isaiah 53:7 it also says, “He was oppressed and afflicted, yet He did not open His mouth.”
Concerning Jesus’ mockings and scourgings: Mark 15:16-19 says, “The soldiers took Him away into the palace, and they called together the whole Roman cohort. They dressed Him up in purple, and after twisting a crown of thorns, they put it on Him; and they began to acclaim Him, “Hail, King of the Jews!” They kept beating His head with a reed, and spitting on Him, and kneeling, and bowing before Him.
And as for being tortured and not accepting His release: Mark 15:29-32 says, “Those passing by were hurling abuse at Him, wagging their heads, and saying, “Ha! You who are going to destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself, and come down from the cross!” In the same way the chief priests also, along with the scribes, were mocking Him among themselves and saying, He saved others, He cannot save Himself. ‘Let this Christ, the King of Israel, now come down from the cross, so that we may see and believe!’ Those who were crucified with Him were also insulting Him.” … all the while, these people did not realize that this Jesus whom they were insulting very well could have accomplished all these things that they were demanding of Him (and a whole lot more as well), but instead He chose not to.
And finally, as for His resurrection: in 1 Corinthians 15:3-8 Paul says, “For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that he was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. After that He appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time, most of whom remain until now, but some have fallen asleep; then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles; and last of all, as to one untimely born, He appeared to me also.”
But it is Paul’s recognition of himself as being the one who is unworthy as being the correct assertion.
We are so unworthy to have had the Son of God come into our world, but we are even less worthy to have had His Spirit come into the hearts of we who believe. And yet this is precisely the reason why the Son of God came into the world – to give us the opportunity to be forgiven and to have His Spirit come into our hearts.
Isaiah 53:3 says, “He was despised and forsaken of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and like one from whom men hide their face He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.
We did not esteem Him, yet the following verses show that Jesus did not view us in this same light. Verses 4 and 5 continue saying, “Surely our griefs He Himself bore, and our sorrows He carried… He was pierced through for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the chastising for our well-being fell upon Him, and by His scourging we are healed.”
Amazing.
It is actually us, the truly unworthy ones, who have been given the opportunity to be forgiven by the only truly worthy One – the Son of God.
Verses 39 and 40 of Hebrews 11 go on to say that "All these, having gained approval through their faith, did not receive what was promised, because God had provided something better for us, so that apart from us they would not be made perfect."
All the things that these men and women did in gaining their approval from God, they were really done because of the faith that they had in the one who would eventually suffer like them - in Jesus Christ. It was Him that they were looking forward to; and as a result, they considered their persecutions worthwhile because of the faith that they had in the coming Messiaha. They considered their trials unworthy of their care in comparison to the care for the faith that they had in the only one that is worthy.
In an opositely similar way, Jesus also considered His sufferring worthwhile, but it was for the sake of our souls and because of that (and also a whole lot more), that we are not worthy of Him, but somehow it is because of this that God considers us worthy to enter in His presence.
2 Corinthians 4:16-18 says this: "Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal."
So be it.
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