#6: Superior to Moses

I. Introduction
A. Finally, in personal address in Hebrews 3:1, the book of Hebrews distinguishes itself as an epistle and not a theological treatise.
II. Explanation of Hebrews 3:1–6
A. 1 “Therefore, holy brothers, you who share in a heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the apostle and high priest of our confession,”
1. Last week we talked about how Jesus reigns over the world to come (2:5) and how He is not ashamed to call us His brothers (2:11). Now the author brings these two truths together to address his readers: “holy brothers who share in a heavenly calling.”
a. This way of addressing the Hebrews is remarkable in light of the fact that these are people apparently on the verge of falling away from Christ.
b. It is remarkable in that he addresses them in such positive language: “holy brothers who share in a heavenly calling,” not, “You scumbags who are abandoning Christ.”
c. He reaches out to them in the spirit of what the verse right before this said about Jesus: “Because He Himself has suffered when tempted, He is able to help those who are being tempted.” (Heb.2:18) And in the spirit of Matthew 12:20, which says of Jesus, “A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not quench.”
d. He reaches out to them with the tenderness and sympathy of Christ: “Jesus is not ashamed to call you brothers, and neither am I. We share in the same heavenly calling, we are members of the same household.”
e. Don’t misunderstand. He speaks VERY strongly about the consequences of abandoning Christ. But he never speaks unlovingly about those who are being thus tempted. And he NEVER thinks the worst of those being tempted. He always treats them as true Christians who are struggling, not as those who are about to give up on Jesus.
f. There is a strong temptation for Christians to go in one of two wrong directions with this:
(1) On the one hand, to either be too afraid to offend or too cowardly to warn or confront or challenge someone or to plead with them.
(2) Or, on the other hand, to be quick to judge, quick to condemn, quick to jump to unloving conclusions
g. Both of these reactions are failures of love. Not speaking the truth that needs to be spoken is sin, and not speaking it in love is sin. The author of Hebrews hits the bull’s-eye and avoids both sins.
h. So, the challenge for us in this is: How do we treat people? How do we talk to people, people who aren’t doing what they should do, who seem to be making stupid choices?
i. To assume that any man is not one of God’s chosen ones is the epitome of hatred.
(1) You see, love hopes all things (1Cor.13:7).
(2) An important part of loving someone is believing in them. Love believes all things (1Cor.13:7).
(3) He calls them ‘brothers,’ but why ‘holy brothers’? Holy means set apart for God. I.e. you’ve been set aside by Jesus to be His own, you’re not just my brothers, you’re Christ’s brothers!
(4) And so, even if things don’t look good in terms of a person’s relationship with Christ, you never stop hoping and praying and loving and believing.
(5) The fact is that a person might be one of God’s precious ones. And therefore don’t you dare treat a person as a lost cause or unworthy of your love or deserving of your disdain.
2. “Therefore, consider Jesus”
a. Consider has several meanings in English. The Greek word here means to give close attention to, to study, to give focused attention to something with the purpose of understanding it more deeply.
b. ‘Considering’ is not in vogue today.
(1) There’s so much happening, and our lives are so busy. Multitasking is in vogue, but not meditation.
(2) We’re not encouraged to think intensely about things. We’re encouraged to ‘just do it.’
c. “Therefore” means that this exhortation to consider Jesus is based on what he’s been saying.
(1) The first two chapters give us a good idea of what he has in mind.
(2) He’s been talking about Christ from many different angles.
(3) In these two chapters he’s quoted about 15 Bible verses which talk about Jesus.
(4) Additionally, he’s made about 25 amazing statements of truth about Jesus.
(5) And now he says, “In light of all this, give your attention to this Jesus.”
3. “Jesus the Apostle and high priest of our confession”
a. This is the only place where Jesus is referred to with the word apostle, but it’s not as strange as it sounds. The Greek word apostle (APOSTOLOS) is the noun form of the verb “to send” (APOSTELLO). And this verbal form is used of Jesus frequently.
b. Jesus Himself used the word both of Himself and of His apostles in John 20:21 “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.”
c. The author’s reference to Jesus as apostle is a follow-up on Heb.1:1-3 “In these last days He has spoken to us in His Son.”
d. An apostle is someone who represents God to people, whereas a high priest is someone who represents people to God, who intercedes for them and offers a sacrifice for their atonement.
e. In the Bible these two roles are very rarely filled by one person. It seems the author speaks of Jesus in this way to prepare for what he has to say about Moses, who is one of the very few.
f. “High priest of our confession” = the high priest whom we confess
B. 2-6a who was faithful to him who appointed him, just as Moses also was faithful in all God’s house. 3 For Jesus has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses — as much more glory as the builder of a house has more honor than the house itself. 4 (For every house is built by someone, but the builder of all things is God.) 5 Now Moses was faithful in all God’s house as a servant, to testify to the things that were to be spoken later, 6a but Christ is faithful over God’s house as a son.
1. God’s house here refers to God’s people, God’s family. There are OT and NT versions of God’s house, but we see here that there is clear connection and continuity between OT Israel & the NT church.
2. In order to understand v.2-6, we also need to think about Moses and the Jews.
a. Moses was the main man in the OT. Just as NT believers are baptized into Jesus, so OT Israelites were baptized into Moses (1Cor.10:2). OT believers considered themselves followers of Moses like we consider ourselves followers of Jesus.
b. Moses was the one through whom God brought the great deliverance in the OT, the Exodus.
c. He was the one through who God gave the 10 commandments, and the whole law.
d. He was the only one who ever shone with the reflected glory of God (the Transfiguration – Matt.17:2 – shows that Jesus had “more glory than Moses”).
e. Heb.3:5a is actually a quote from Num.12:6–8 “If there is a prophet among you, I the LORD make myself known to him in a vision; I speak with him in a dream. Not so with my servant Moses. He is faithful in all my house. With him I speak mouth to mouth, clearly, and not in riddles, and he beholds the form of the LORD.”
f. You can see that Moses had a unique connection with God and a unique position with the people of Israel.
g. Among the Jews, suggesting there could be someone greater than Moses was virtually heretical.
(1) Diminishing Moses to a Jew was a dangerous business, so the author treads very carefully.
3. He shows the superiority of Christ over Moses by pointing out two things:
a. Jesus is the builder of the house while Moses was a part of the house – an important part, to be sure – but a part nonetheless (3-4).
b. Jesus is the Son of the house while Moses was a servant of God’s house (5-6a).
4. I want to say something about v.5 “Now Moses was faithful in all God’s house as a servant, to testify to the things that were to be spoken later.”
a. There were many things Moses did faithfully in God’s house. Here the author says that one of the main ways Moses was faithful in God’s house was by declaring “things that were to be spoken later,” things which were to come in the future, by which he means pointing ahead to Christ.
b. Moses, for instance, promised Christ in Deuteronomy 18:15–19 that “The LORD will raise up a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers—it is to him you shall listen.” (In Acts 3:22 Peter says that this was referring to Jesus, as does Stephen in Acts 7:37. Cf. John 1:45; 6:14; Mk.9:7.)
c. And Jesus refers to this ministry of Moses to “testify to the things that were to be spoken later” in John 5:46 “If you believed Moses, you would believe me; for he wrote of me.” (See also Luke 24:27; John 1:45.)
C. 6b “And we are his house if indeed we hold fast our confidence and our boasting in our hope.”
1. Remember that the confidence of his readers (in their faith) was getting shaky, they were being tempted to not be boastful about the hope of Christ.
2. And so after speaking to them with such confidence, he gives them this subtle, loving warning.
3. He believes the best about them, but reminds them that their salvation is indeed dependant on persevering in faith. “He who endures to the end will be saved.” (Matt.24:13)
4. But notice two things about how he does it.
a. He doesn’t say, “YOU are His house if indeed YOU hold fast YOUR confidence and YOUR boasting in hope.” He says “we.” I.e. this is true for all of us; we’re in the same boat as you.
b. It also doesn't say, "We WILL BE His house if we hold fast..." but “we ARE his house if indeed we hold fast.”
(1) We prove that we are truly God’s house by remaining faithful to the end. If we hold fast, it shows that we were a part of His house all along.
(2) This implies that if we fall away, we show that we were not His house after all (which is the point made in 1John 2:19).
5. Are you afraid of falling away from Christ at some point in the future?
a. Well, that’s not necessarily a bad thing to be afraid of. God can use that fear as a way to keep us. Otherwise, I don’t know why the Bible keeps saying things like this.
b. Of course, Satan can wreak havoc with that and get you thinking you’re not really one of His.
c. But the fact is, we’re all prone to go astray. And our hope is not in our strength to hold onto Him but in His strength to hold onto us.
d. If all we had was warnings, and no help from the Holy Spirit, every single one of us would turn away from Christ.
III. Jesus + X
A. Why not Moses AND Jesus? Why does it have to be either or? Why does everything need to be so exclusive?
1. Jesus doesn’t share the throne with anyone: “No man can serve two masters.” (Matt.6:24)
2. This isn’t selfish or prideful on the part of Jesus, nor a contradiction of His love. He made us for Himself and He knows that only by worshiping Him alone will we find real life, here and in eternity.
B. The point of this passage for us is not that we should be careful not to elevate Moses to the level of Jesus in our lives. I don’t know if that’s an especially large temptation for any of us.
C. The real point for us is that whatever it is that beckons us away from Christ must be viewed in comparison with who He is.
D. You see, they were being lured away from Christ by the followers of Moses who were urging them to leave Christ and follow Moses instead. And so the author shows that Christ is superior to Moses.
1. Moses was no enemy of Christ, of course — and the author makes that clear. But something doesn’t have to be an enemy of Christ in order to lure us away from Him. Some of Satan’s favorite tools are good things, things which Christ Himself supports, things like marriage and family and love of country, things like work, raising children, success in life, even ministry.
2. Jesus speaks positively about things like this — until these things are compared to Him or put in competition with Him. And then all of a sudden He’s saying things like: “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.” (Luke 14:26)
IV. In conclusion, let’s go back and think for another minute about the command to consider Jesus, which is one of the main themes of Hebrews. (E.g. “Fix your eyes on Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith” – Heb.12:2.)
A. In the case of the original readers of this epistle, the specific issue behind this plea is their drifting, as we can see in Hebrews 2:1 “Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it.”
B. But the fact is that all of our greatest problems come as a result of taking our eyes off of Jesus.
C. The #1 priority of a Christian shuld be considering Jesus, focusing on Jesus, remembering Jesus, realizing the magnificence of Jesus.
1. Not just when you’re drifting from Jesus, but when you’re tempted by sin, when you feel overwhelmed by hardships or by responsibilities, and when you’re afraid (e.g. Peter on the water in Matt.14:22-33).
D. What’s the opposite of considering Jesus? Ignoring Jesus. Neglecting Jesus. Forgetting about Jesus. Losing sight of Jesus. Leaving Jesus out of the picture. Living as if Jesus isn’t there, or as if He’s irrelevant.
E. It’s easy to forget that which is invisible. But the invisible things are the most important things.
1. 2Corinthians 4:18 “We look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.”
2. Col.3:1–2 “If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.”
F. C.S. Lewis said in Mere Christianity that the real problem of the Christian life comes the very moment you wake up each morning, when all your wishes and hopes for the day and all your anxieties and apprehensions about what faces you rush at you like wild animals. And our first job is to shove them all back and listen to that other voice, and take that other point of view and let that other larger, stronger, quieter life come flowing in.
G. You might think Christians would not need to be reminded to consider Jesus. But we do. Like Peter, we are prone to Peter take our eyes off Jesus. And we need to constantly go back and fix our eyes on Him. Every day we need to work to consider Jesus!
1. Jack Miller said, “Get up every morning and preach the gospel to yourself.”
2. The fact is that there is a reality I can’t see. There the Son of God sits at God’s right hand and rules over EVERYTHING. He is my Messiah. He loves me. He died for me. He has forgiven my sin. He is at work preparing me to be with Him in glory! This One who loves me so much has planned out this day according to His perfect wisdom.
3. Satan specializes in erasing Jesus from the picture of the world which we have in our minds.
4. But what is this world? It’s the creation of our Lord, made for His glory. It’s the place He came. It’s the place He died for the sins of many that they might be saved for the world to come. It’s a realm that has been completely subjected to His authority. It’s the place to which He’s going to return.
5. The world looks completely different with Jesus in it than it does without Him.