Hebrews 12:2 (NCV) offers this intriguing statement: “[Jesus] accepted the shame as if it were nothing because of the joy God put before him.”
Shame is a feeling of disgrace, embarrassment, humiliation. That is exactly what Jesus felt. He never did anything worthy of shame, but we did. And since on the cross God made him become sin, Jesus was covered with shame. Condemned to die a criminal’s death. Parents likely pointed to him from a distance and told their children, “That’s what they do to evil men.” But the shame before men didn’t compare with the shame Jesus felt before his Father. Can you imagine bearing the collective shame of all humanity?
How did Jesus endure such disgrace? How can our hearts have the endurance Jesus had? Simple. By focusing where Jesus focused: on “the joy that God put before him.”
