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Hebrews 12:2. "[Let us look] to Jesus the pioneer and perfector of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God."

 

The Jewish people were used to suffering well before Jesus came along, but it wasn't until He suffered for them and us that we were taught the salvific value of suffering. Jesus was the perfecter of this lesson, showing us how to suffer well, and what comes from it.

 

Jesus knew the joy that was set before Him, He knew that the way to save His beloved people was through the cross, and therefore He endured it fir the sake of that joy. Before Jesus, no one looked for joy as a fruit of suffering, except maybe the joy of the suffering being over. Jesus is the one who showed us that we obtain joy through suffering. His example reveals the true nature of suffering - that it is a pathway to joy, and without it true joy is not attainable.

 

This is such a difficult and unlikely truth that we could only learn it by having God show it to us. Even with His example, we still often recoil at the thought of suffering. But taking up our cross, and enduring it as Jesus did, is the only way we can attain the joy of eternal salvation that He won for us.