(From The Primitive Baptist, Christian Pathway, Gospel Appeal January 2020

Hebrews 12:2 “Who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.” I take it that the joy that was set before the Christ was what He came to accomplish. When He says, “Behold I and the childen which God hath given me,” that joy will be complete in every particular. That is what Jesus desires and has desired since his entry into the world (and before).

My dictionary defines endure as “to stand; bear; to put up with; tolerate.” I take it as a self-evident fact that we do not endure that which we desire, since those two terms are mutually exclusive. If we endure it, we do not desire it; if we desire it, we do not endure it. One of my good father's chief enjoyments, almost to the very end of his 94 years, was eating ice cream: at any time, in any quantity. Watching him eat, it would have been ludicrous to say that he endured eating ice cream.

Shame and pain are by definition things that we desire to avoid, even though we may sometimes endure them in order to accomplish a greater good. When people begin to desire pain, they are ready for a visit to the psychiatrist for help with the mental disorder called masochism. The cross was the epitome of both shame and pain, and Brother Paul makes it clear that Christ endured the cross. What He desired was the joy that was set before Him, which was the salvation of those God had given to Him. In order to make that joy that was set before Him, which was the salvation of those God had given to Him. In order to make that joy a reality, since it was not possible fo His people to be saved without it, He was willing to endure the cross, notwithstanding the pain and shame involved with it. However, since we know for certain that our Lord was not mentally imbalanced, we know for sure that He did not desire it, in and of itself.