Jesus, Our Great Hero - by Ps Daniel Yaw
 
Introduction
 
There is so much craze over superheroes today.  Marvel DC has churned out more movies than ever on the superheroes.  When we thought that they concluded with the termination of the Avengers, other heroes emerged.
I guessed that people are constantly looking for heroes for hope, and sadly, they are only wishful hopes from the movies.
The writer of Hebrews listed in a whole chapter of 11 the different heroes of faith that we can emulate who had the favour of God upon their lives.  We are thankful to them as we identify with some of them in our journey of faith.
As I was reading and thinking of this book, I came to these three verses in Hebrews 13:12-14 that point us to the greater hero – Jesus himself In Christ, It is not so much living in faith but rather the reason for our faith.  We all need this as we struggle with life on a day-to-day basis.  We are indeed making this journey that requires faith.  What is it that we have in Jesus?
 
Jesus, our helper
 
“So Jesus also suffered outside the gate to sanctify the people through his blood.”
 
This verse highlights that Jesus, our greatest hero and Savior, suffered outside the gate.  This simply meant that for the sake of our faith, he endured all the rejection and shame.  Outside the gate is a place of rejection, shame, and suffering.  He did all this for just one reason - that we might be sanctified through his blood.
His sufferings and death, his rejection and endurance of shame, were solely for the reason of our faith today.  If Jesus did not do that, we would be rejected by God and endure the shame forever. 
Therefore, when we go through such pain, we can turn to Jesus always because He had done that so that we can be sanctified – we can be made clean, be consecrated, and be empowered to pilgrim through this life.
 
Jesus, our hero
 
“Therefore, let us go to him outside the camp and bear the reproach he endured”
 
When we say that someone is our hero, we will emulate him as much as we can.  The writer exhorts us to do the same.  If our Master and Lord, with all his love for us, could do such a thing, should we also not do the same?  Therefore, in verse 13, there is this invitation to also go to him outside the camp and bear the reproach he endured.
I am sure each of us has a story to tell when it comes to enduring shame and rejection for the sake of our Lord.  However, our comfort is that Jesus bore much more for us.
 
Jesus, our hope
 
“For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come”
 
Verse 14 gives us the perspective.  The question is, "Why would we do that?".  The one perspective we must keep is that we are looking forward to an everlasting city.  In our endurance, we will be able to enter that city with joy and victory.
We have our share of "sufferings," but we will share in his glory as well.
 
Conclusion
 
As we journey together in 2025, may I encourage all of us to make this journey, not so much with a burden on our back, but with the help and hope we have in Christ.  As we have our AGM in March, may we be thankful for the leaders who have served and pray that more will also rise to serve and lead