16
salvation" is the author's way of expressing Jesus as the object of faith for believers, not simply
the model of faith.
The aspect of Jesus being the object of faith can also be demonstrated from the use of
aj
rchgov
"
in 12:12. In this passage, the author employs the image of athletes who run the race in
the stadium, and exhorts the readers to run the race with endurance. An examination of these
verses reveals that Jesus is viewed not only as the enabler and model of faith, but also as the
object of faith for believers. One should be reminded that the author has not forgotten the
discussion of Jesus' humanity and his high priesthood in the previous chapters. "His attainment of
exaltation glory by way of faithful obedience in suffering was unprecedented and
determinative."
48
Since Christ has paved a perfect way of faith by his high priestly work, his faith
is qualitatively, not simply quantitatively, greater than the faith of the Old Testament saints.
49
This means that, while the author gives examples of faith in chapter 11, he has something else in
mind in 12:13, in addition to presenting him as the model of faith. The titles of Jesus as
aj
rchgov
"
and teleiwthv
"
circumscribe the dual aspects of the saving work of Jesus Christ: he is
the aj
rchgov
"
(the founder) in the sense that he started eternal salvation for his people; and
teleiwthv
"
(perfecter) in that he will see them through to finish the course.
50
Looking at this
verse from the soteriological point of view, it can be said that Jesus is the object of faith in
Hebrews even if it does not have the Pauline notion of faith (i.e., trust in Jesus for salvation).
Moreover, the latter part of 12:2 also supports that the term aj
rchgov
"
has the idea of Jesus as the
object of faith in a soteriological sense. The author uses the word "cross" (staurov
"
) in this verse,
which is the only explicit reference to this word in Hebrews.
51
Coupled with the use of aij
scuv
nh"
48 Lane, Hebrews 913, 412.
49 David Peterson, Hebrews and Perfection: An Examination of the Concept of Perfection in the `Epistle to the
Hebrews,' Society for New Testament Studies Monograph Series 47 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1982),
173.
50 William Manson, The Epistle to the Hebrews: A Historical and Theological Reconsideration (London: Hodder
And Stoughton, 1951), 83.
51 Lane, Hebrews 913, 414.