Heb.12 :1-3, Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
3 For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
This whole section of Hebrews is concluding what was talked about in Chapter 11 about men and women who faced great adversity, even martyrdom, by faith. Chapter 11 is considered the faith chapter but it continues here in the first part of chapter 12. The great cloud of witnesses referred to in verse one is not speaking about the saints in Heaven praying for us, though they do; but instead is talking about the witness, or testimony of those who came before us who lived and even died by faith. Jesus carries the ultimate faith testimony because he was the perfector of faith, and his greatest expression of faith was as he hung on the Cross. As the Son of Man, instead of complaining, or spewing out bitterness, or being crippled by fear, he endured, and despised the shame, fixing his eyes on the joy set before him. The joy set before him was the purposes of the father being accomplished through his crucifixion burial, and resurrection. His faith had a foundation, and that foundation was Psalm 40:8, which says “I delight to do Thy will oh my God,” and Psalm 31:5 which says, “Into Your hand I commit my spirit; You have ransomed me, O LORD, God of faithfulness.” On the cross, Jesus, being fully yielded to his Father’s will, had absolute faith that God’s purposes, not the Devil’s, was being accomplished, because God is faithful, and He always wins.