Faith: Sacred Sight - Hebrews 11:1-6

The author began a discourse on the perseverance of faith in the face of persecution in order to persuade the readers away from apostasy; in their case, relapsing into the habits and rituals of their former Jewish lifestyle. He brings faith to the fore by attaching it to earlier discussions about spiritual realities that are shadowed by the physical rituals in the Old Testament. Having called the readers to remain firm in Christ in the face of persecution, he now re∙collects testimony from past disciples of faith. Their examples culminate in Jesus who is the perfect example of faith as well as faith’s perfecter. The culmination is found in the pivotal verses that sum up the basic purpose of the book, that is, ‘to cast off any weight or entangling sin by fixing the reader’s eyes upon Jesus, the initiator and perfecter of faith’ (cf. Heb. 12:1-3).