Dr. Dan Hayden •
Like water off a duck’s back! That’s what we say when we shrug something off – when we don’t let it get to us. We need to do that sometimes.
Hebrews 12:2 says, “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.”
“Despising” – that’s our word for today. It’s a word that means “to care nothing for; to disregard; to be unafraid of.” It means to look down on something, to have the attitude that it’s nothing.
Remember the disdaining response we would give to someone who was taunting us? “…Sticks and stones may break my bones, but names can never hurt me.” That’s this word. It’s looking down on name-calling. It’s disregarding it. It’s having the attitude that it’s nothing. It’s water off a duck’s back.
Now that’s what Jesus did. The verse says, “…who for the joy set before Him…[was] “despising the shame.” Talk about shame and disgrace. That’s what hanging on the Roman cross was all about. Look at Jesus — stripped of His clothing, a mocking crown of thorns on His head, the crowd jeering and casting disgusting words of mockery in His face. Yet in the midst of it all, He considered all that shame as though it were nothing – He looked down at it. It was water off a duck’s back. He was despising the shame.
So, be a duck – let the mockery slide right off your back.