A Strange Hedonism
2 Amens
Hebrews 12:1-2 –A Strange Hedonism: Jesus Endured the Cross
Calvary
Baptist
Church
Cicero
called it “that cruel and disgusting punishment.” It was a horrific and shameful execution, calculated to maximize the suffering of a criminal.
Egypt
with God’s people, even though that stirred the anger of the king (27).
Read More© Eric M Schumacher – Preached Good Friday, April 6, 2007 at
Hedonism—The American Heritage Dictionary defines it as the “pursuit of or devotion to pleasure.” A hedonist is a person whose way of life—their thoughts, actions, choices—is controlled by their pursuit of happiness.
When you think of a hedonist, you probably don’t think of Jesus and the persecuted church—but you should.
Crucifixion—We are gathered here this evening because Jesus was crucified. The Jewish historian Josephus called crucifixion “the most pitiable death.”
What Has Hedonism to do with Crucifixion?
Crucifixion is “the most pitiable death.” Hedonism is the “pursuit of pleasure.” Crucifixion is a means of execution calculated to maximum agony. Hedonism is a life lived to maximize pleasure.
What could Good Friday possibly have to do with hedonism? Jesus’ willingness to endure the horror and shame of crucifixion was an act of strange hedonism. Another way of saying that is: Jesus chose to endure the cross because he was pursuing pleasure. Or, you could simply say it the way that the Bible does in Hebrews 12:2—“Jesus…for the joy set before him endured the cross…”
It is plain and undeniable that the author of Hebrews says that is was for “joy” that Jesus chose to endure the cross. It is not that Jesus was a sadomasochist—a person who gets pleasure from the infliction of pain. No, we read that Jesus despised the shame of the cross—he hated it. But, Jesus believed that the joy the Father had promised to him if he was obedient unto death, even death on a cross, was a reward for which it was worth being crucified.
That is the perspective from which I want us to meditate on the cross tonight. I want us to see that this strange hedonism—enduring a cross for the sake of future joy—is an example for how we should live. If we are not strange hedonists like Jesus, then we cannot please God and be saved.
Hebrews 11-12:2
The author of Hebrews is writing to encourage his audience to endure in the face of suffering. At the heart of this is the author’s understanding of faith. He defines faith and offers examples of faith to motivate his audience to possess such faith.
Faith Flavored by Hedonism
In Hebrews 10:38, we read that the Lord says, “my righteous one shall live by faith, and if he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him.”
What is at stake is life and death. The one with faith is pleasing to God and lives. The one without faith is not pleasing to the Lord and dies. The difference, in this passage, between life and death is “faith” and “pleasing God.”
The question we must ask is: What is God-pleasing faith? Chapter 11 begins: “Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” Faith is being convinced that what you are hoping for exists and is sure to be yours, even though you do not see it with your eyes.
In verse 6, we get an expansion on this definition of faith. “Without faith it is impossible to please him.” Therefore, if we do not have “the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen,” we will not be pleasing to God, and our souls will not live. So, just what is it that we must be assured of, hoping for, and convicted of? The answer comes in the last half of the verse as we learn what faith believes.
Forward Looking Confidence
“…for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.” To draw near to God (or, to please him [10:38]), faith must be convinced of two things—namely, that God is exists and that he rewards those who seek him.
For the author of Hebrews, faith is a forward looking confidence. Faith is the assurance that God exists, that he has made promises to his people, and that those promises, which are a greater reward than anything this world affords, are certain to be theirs in the end.
Notice the hedonistic flavor to this definition to faith. Faith hopes for something—the God who rewards. God is not pleased in a faith that merely acknowledges his existence. God is pleased by people who believe that he exists and that he is a rewarder. To draw near to God, you must trust in him as the rewarding God, or you cannot trust him at all. That is what biblical faith is, according to the author of Hebrews. And, he has no shortage of witnesses to this truth.
The Hall of Hedonists
Hebrews 11 is sometimes called “The Hall of Faith.” Or, a better definition might be “The Hall of Those Who Believe that God Exists and that He Rewards Those Who Seek Him.” Or, you could simply call it “The Hall of Strange Hedonists.”
These examples highlight that faith in God is characterized by the pursuit of God who rewards. With each example, I want us to ask two questions: 1) What did they endure? 2) What motivated them to endure? (Or, What is faith?)
Abraham
In verses 8-19, we have the example of Abraham. At the age of 75, the Lord called Abraham to leave his family and his home to go to a land that the Lord would show him.
1) What did Abraham endure? Abraham endured losing the comfort of his homeland to travel to an unknown destination (verse 8). He wandered in a foreign land, living in tents (verse 9). He endured being a stranger and exile on the earth (13b). And, he bore this cross until death, dying without receiving what was promised to him (13a).
2) What motivated his endurance? When you are 75 years old, leaving the comfort of a homeland for an unknown destination, to dwell in a tent as a stranger and exile on earth until the day you die is not a fun prospect—especially if you die without receiving what was promised. This hardly looks like hedonism—“the pursuit of pleasure”— until we learn of Abraham’s motivations.
Abraham was motivated to endure the loss of all things because he was seeking: an inheritance (8), a city designed and built by God (10), a homeland (14)—all of which is described as a “better country” (16).
Why did Abraham seek this land? Verse 16 is the clincher. Because he “desired”—notice the role that desire plays. “He desired a better one.” The key word here is “better.” Abraham looked at the homeland he was in, and then we are told that he “saw and greeted” God’s promises from afar, though never receiving them, and he believed that what the Lord promised in the future was better than what the world offered in the present.
Therefore, as a good hedonist, Abraham forfeited the smaller pleasures of an earthly city to gain the greater pleasures of a heavenly one. Abraham’s sufferings were not about giving up pleasure; they were about gaining it.
Moses
In verse 24-29, we have the example of Moses.
1) What did Moses endure? Moses voluntarily endured the loss of the power, wealth and comfort that attended membership in Pharaoh’s household (24). He chose mistreatment with the people of God (25). He chose to leave
2) What motivated his endurance? What is it that would motivate a man to exchange the pleasures of power and wealth in Pharaoh’s household for mistreatment by an angry king? This hardly looks like hedonism—“the pursuit of pleasure”— until we learn of Moses’ motivations.
We are told in verse 26 that Moses “was looking to the reward.” Moses compared being called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter with the wealth God offered. He saw that the pleasures of sin offered by Pharoah’s household were “fleeting” (verse 25) and that the reproach of Christ was “greater wealth” (verse 26). Moses believed that what God had promised was “greater wealth”—even if it meant a lifetime of wandering and suffering to possess.
Moses endured by seeing with the eyes of faith him who is invisible to the naked eye, the God who rewards. Therefore, as a good hedonist, Moses forfeited the smaller pleasures of an earthly kingdom to gain the greater pleasures of a heavenly one. Moses’ sufferings were not about giving up pleasure; they were about gaining it.
“Some…”
The next example is a host of saints in verses 32-38. The author has admitted that he does not have time to recorded the reward-seeking faith of all the saints. He mentions that many of them saw great earthly victory. However, he also mentions that for many saints, life looked more like crucifixion.
1) What did they endure? These saints endured: “torture, mocking, flogging, chains and imprisonment, stoning, being sawn in two, and death by the sword.” They, like Abraham and Moses, were wanderers. They wore skins of sheep and goats. They were destitute, afflicted, mistreated, and lived in deserts and mountains, dens and caves.
They did not only endure this, but verse 35 tells us that they “refused to accept release.” This likely refers to the offer of release if they will only worship another god or deny their faith.
Imagine being in this situation. Imagine being tortured, mocked and flogged. Imagine being chained and thrown into a dungeon where you will never see daylight again. Imagine the first stone striking you in the back and realizing that stone after stone will strike until you die. Imagine the cold teeth of the saw blade being pressed against your stomach or the steel of the sword as the executioner fixes his blade on the back of your neck. Imagine the offer: “We will stop if you will renounce your faith.” And you say, “No. I refuse release.” That is what these saints did.
2) What motivated their endurance? Verse 35 records: “Some were tortured, refusing to accept release, so that they might rise again to a better life.” “Better” is a key word here. These saints looked at the pleasures offered to them by life in this world and they looked at the resurrection that God has promised to his people. They saw that the life God promised in the resurrection was better than the life offered in this present world.
Therefore, as good hedonists, these saints forfeited the smaller pleasures of an earthly life to gain the greater pleasures of a heavenly one. Their sufferings were not about giving up pleasure; they were about gaining it.
Jesus
1) What did he endure? We are simply told that Jesus “endured the cross.”
The process of crucifixion began with a brutal flogging called the verberatio. It was administered with a whip fixed with pieces of bone or metal on the end. Eyewitnesses said that victims were “flayed to the bone with scourges” and “lacerated…even to the innermost veins and arteries, so that the hidden inward parts of the body, both their bowels and their members, were exposed to view.”
After this flogging, still naked, the criminal was then forced to carry wooden beam on their now skinless back to a point outside the city. Once there, the criminals arms would be nailed to the beam. The crossbeam would then be hoisted up onto an upright beam, just high enough for their feet to be off the ground. Their legs were twisted and a single nail was driven through both ankles.
The victim was then left to hang naked in the sun. It could take hours, often days for them to die. “In order to avoid asphyxiation, he had to push himself up with his legs and pull with his arms, triggering muscle spasms that caused unimaginable pain….The end would come through heart failure or brain damage caused by reduced oxygen supply, suffocation, or shock.” (Kostenberger)
That is crucifixion. Bear in mind that Jesus chose this death. John 18:4 tells us that Jesus, “knowing all that would happen to him,” stepped forward and identified himself in the garden.
2) What motivated Jesus to endure the cross? We are simply told that he endured the cross, “for the joy that was set before him.” It was not joy in the cross itself. Jesus despised the shame. The answer comes at the end of the verse. The end result of Jesus’ endurance of the cross is that he is “seated at the right hand of the throne of God.”
The reward set before Jesus was a position at the Father’s right hand. And Psalm 16:11 says of this position: “In your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” The joy set before Jesus was the joy of an imperishable resurrection to reign with his Father over an eternal kingdom.
This, by the way, is exactly what the saints of chapter 11 were seeking. If we look back through chapter 11, we see that they were seeking the reward of a resurrection to a better life in a country and a city built by God which would be their homeland, where God would be with them.
In all of these things, they were seeking God. That is what 11:6 tells us—God rewards those who seek “him.” God does not reward those who seek Cadillacs, mansions, fame, fortune and their “best life now.” He rewards those who seek him. Resurrection life in an unshakable kingdom is a reward of greater wealth because it will be life with God. And, this life is certain for God’s people. Revelation 21:14 speaks of it:
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.
We are waiting for this: A better life, with no crying, mourning, death or pain. We are waiting for a resurrection—not only new bodies but a resurrected country and homeland—a New Heaven and a New Earth. We are waiting for a city designed and built by God—a holy city, a new Jerusalem. We are waiting to experience the pleasure of the presence of God—when the dwelling place of God is with man.
Witnesses
All these saints—from Able onward—stand as a great cloud of witnesses to the truth that God exists and that he rewards with joy and happiness and pleasure those who seek him—a reward that is so great, that is worth dying for.
There is a reward that is worth being tortured to possess. There is a reward worth being mocked, flogged, chained and imprisoned to enjoy. There is a better life in an unshakable kingdom that it is worth being stoned, sawn in two and killed with the sword to experience. There is fullness of joy and eternal pleasure that is so wonderful, that it is worth presently wandering about in animal skins, destitute, afflicted and mistreated, living in caves to know.
Ultimately, Jesus bears witness that there is a joy worth having the skin ripped off your back to possess. There is a joy worth being crucifixion to enjoy.
The Christian life is one of enduring present suffering in the confident expectation of future joy. Any “gospel” that promises you “your best life now” is necessarily a false gospel, because it is not the gospel believed by this great cloud of witnesses and it must deny that we will rise to a “better life.”
Why Do We Look to Jesus Supremely?
All of these are witnesses, but we are to “look to,” to “fix our eyes upon Jesus.” He is the one that we focus on. Why?
1) We look to Jesus because Jesus secures our eternal joy. The greatest threat to our happiness is the wrath of God. As sinful rebels, we deserve eternal, conscious torment beneath God’s wrath in hell.
However, that penalty was placed upon the back of Jesus. He has removed the sins of those who trust in him. Therefore, on the basis of His work, we may stand before God unashamed and unafraid. We may be confident that because we possess the righteousness of Christ, that God will reward us with his pleasure, and not with his wrath.
2) Jesus received the promised joy. Hebrews 11:39 tells us something startling of this great cloud of witnesses—“all these…did not receive what was promised.” No saint in heaven has yet received an eternal, imperishable resurrection. God has decided that his people will be perfected together. Therefore, it is not until the fullness of God’s elect are gathered in that they will be resurrected.
However, Jesus has received his eternal resurrection. He was raised from the dead and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. As the Apostle Paul writes (1 Cor 15:20), “But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.” Jesus’ place at the right hand of the Father is a sign of assurance that we who are by faith united with him in his death shall be united with him in his resurrection.
How does this apply to our lives?
1) Seeking your greatest pleasure and seeking God are not separate pursuits. Psalm 16:11 says, “In your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand there are pleasures forevermore.” The pursuit of God and the pursuit of eternal pleasure are the same pursuit.
That is what the author of Hebrews wants us to realize when we look at Jesus’ endurance of crucifixion. He wants us to see that God exists and that God has promised us joy worth forsaking everything—even life—to possess. He wants us to pursue our joy in God.
If you are an unbeliever tonight—someone who is not trusting and following and treasuring Jesus—why will you continue to pursue anything else but joy in Jesus Christ? Why do you labor for what does not satisfy you? Why would you die?
Why would you continue to dig out broken, empty cisterns to satisfy your thirst when a fountain of living waters is offered to you in Jesus? Repenting of sin and trusting in Jesus Christ is not the forfeiture of joy, but the pursuit of it. Coming to him does mean that you give up your pursuit of joy—it means that you finally find joy. Christianity is the exchange of the partial, temporary, fleeting pleasures of sin for the full pleasures of God.
2) Therefore, we should give up anything and everything to pursue what God has promised those who trust in Jesus Christ. We should:
a) Lay aside every weight. If there is any person, possession or alternate pursuit that would weigh us down in the pursuit of joy in Jesus Christ, we should throw it away for the greater wealth of the kingdom. That is what Jesus meant when he said (Luke 18:22), “Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.”
Perhaps it is the weight that Abraham, Moses, a host of saints, and Jesus dropped—the weights of earthly homelands, of earthly riches, of earthly honor, or earthly life. Perhaps trusting and following Jesus means giving up one or all of these good things.
Like these witnesses, will you believe that, in the Gospel, God has promised you a better country, a greater wealth, and the eternal joy of rising again to a better life?
b) Lay aside sin which clings so closely. Perhaps you are kept from pursuing God because of the pleasure offered by sin. Perhaps it is your adultery, sexual immorality, pride, greed or addiction. Perhaps you are saying, “I simply cannot be happy without these things.”
Consider the example of Moses who saw that the pleasures of sin are “fleeting,” and chose the greater wealth of treasure in Christ by obeying God rather than reveling in sin.
Consider this example of Jesus on the cross which tells us that the joy found by those who humble themselves in obedience—even to death on a cross—is worth pursuing.
c) Run with endurance. If you are growing weary in your walk of faith, meditate on the cross. Endure by meditating on the truth that every other pursuit will give us temporary pleasure and eternal death.
This strange hedonism is the only motivation strong enough to allow us to endure, even in the face of death. The cross is the only pursuit of joy that pays-off. And, perhaps, that is why we call this Friday “Good.”
This is what Jesus calls us to: enduring a cross for the sake of joy (Matthew 16:24-25):
If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.
May God give us grace so that Jesus’ joy-motivated endurance of the cross will give us the endurance we need to believe and to take up our crosses and follow in his steps on the path to joy.
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