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Hebrews 3:1-6 Jesus is Greater Than Moses

• The Jews so highly esteemed Moses.
• He was the man to whom God spoke directly… think about that… direct communication between you and God… Moses did that.
• He was the one who led Israel out of Egypt.
• Moses and the law were one and the same.
• The Jew and the law were the two things that went together. Romans 2:23 (NKJV) 23 You who make your boast in the law, do you dishonor God through breaking the law?.
• Some Jews believed Moses was greater than angels.
• The whole Levitical system, the whole Levitical economy was initiated through Moses.

As great as Moses was, the Hebrews Writer said Jesus is far greater than Moses. Hebrews presents three arguments:

1. Jesus is superior in His office – He is the apostle and high priest
2. Superior in His work – He is the builder of the house
3. Superior in His person. He is the Son.

Jesus is superior to Moses in His office

“Therefore”  means in this verse he’s building on something before this.

The write calls them also partakers of the heavenly calling. In Hebrews, everything about us is heavenly.

• We have a heavenly home, we have a heavenly Jerusalem, We have a heavenly calling and so forth and so on. Ephesians 1:3 ; Philippians 3:

The writer is making a distinction between the superiority of Christianity to Judaism.

• Judaism, was an earthly calling with an earthly inheritance
• Christianity is a spiritual and heavenly calling with a spiritual and heavenly inheritance, superior.

“consider”:

• give careful consideration, consider closely, be concerned about, implying a response, understand completely; notice, discover through direct observation
• This applies to us today… get your eyes off your circumstances, off your flesh, off the world, off your problems, and just “consider Jesus”…

Running the Christian race… your eyes are on the finish line, not on your feet or other runners, or the ground… 1 Corinthians 9:24 ; Hebrews 12:1

When life gets rough, consider Jesus; problems come, consider Jesus; everything goes bad, consider Jesus; things are tempting you, consider Jesus; Put your gaze on Jesus and keep it there intently until all that He is begins to unfold before your eyes.

Jesus is called “the Apostle”.

• Jesus was both apostle & high priest, Moses was not.

What are the characteristics of an apostolas or an ambassador?

• He has all the right and all the power and all the authority of the king in the country who sends.
• An ambassador has to speak with the voice of the one who sent Him.

Jesus is called the “High Priest of our Confession”

• The High Priest topic is covered in Hebrews 4 & 8
• “priest” in the Latin is the word Pontifex, which broken into two words means bridge builder.
• Jesus was the one who built the bridge from God to man. He’s also the bridge.

“of our confession”

• Jesus is the one we confess. You have received Christ, you’ve confessed Him as apostle and your new high priest, you’ve received all that He has. Now gaze on Him intently.

He’s superior in His works, verses 2 to 4.

Moses, the man of God was a great man. He was a dear man of God. A man who stood head and shoulders above all other men. Everything connected with God in the Jews’ mind is connected with Moses.

 

This subject is dealt with very delicately by the Holy Spirit.

• Before taking up Jesus’ superiority to Moses He points up the resemblance between the two.
• Before He talks about the difference, He talks about the similarities. That’s very, very tactful.

Jesus was “faithful to Him that appointed Him”.

• God said, you’re going to go and here’s your work and Jesus did it
• Then tactfully the Holy Spirit says, verse 2, “As also Moses was faithful in all his house.”
• Quote from Numbers 12:7. “My servant Moses is faithful in all mine house.”

The writer emphasizes similarity so as not to isolate, alienate or offend the Jewish person unnecessarily.

“faithful in all his house”.

• Moses is seen as a faithful steward in God’s household. Old Testament: house of David and the house of Israel.
• Who then is God’s household? Believers.
• The Old Testament believers, Israel.

Verse 2 Christ also was faithful to His house. Who is Christ’s household?

Ephesians 2:19 The Church  1 Peter 2:4–5

• Jesus was greater than Moses because while Moses was faithful TO the house, Jesus BUILT the house.
• Jesus created Israel, Jesus created the church.
• Who built all things? Jesus. So who is Jesus? He’s God.

The writer via the Holy Spirit compares Jesus to Moses, thus honoring Moses appropriately to the Jew but then goes on to point out how Jesus is great than Moses by saying that Jesus was not only faithful TO the house, but Jesus BUILT the house, effectively and clearly stating the obvious: Jesus is God.  Moses is not. Jesus is great than Moses

Jesus is superior in His person.

Moses is a servant. Jesus is a Son.  That’s a clear distinction and message.

• There is a certain ranking for the son.
• Servants come and go, sons are sons for life.

Verse 5, ” And Moses indeed was faithful in all His house as a servant ”

• He conducted himself as a servant.
• Moses was as servant, a shadow, a picture of what Jesus would be, what Jesus would fulfill, what Jesus would complete
• Moses was only a servant who pointed to something which would come after that.

But Jesus was the SON: verse 6

• Moses was a servant in somebody else’s house
• Jesus is a Son over His own house.
• So our gaze leaves Moses the Servant and is turned to Jesus the Son

How can we be sure that we’re really His house?

v6b: whose house we are if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm to the end.

• This is not salvation by works… it is salvation is proven by, evidenced by, testimony is given by the fact that we CONTINUE to the end…
• the fact that we continue to the end does not save us, it shows, proves, gives authentication that we were truly saved…

Some who attaches themselves to Christ, but they don’t “hold fast”, they don’t remain, they never were real. 1 John 2:19

God saves us, God calls us, God keeps us. The truly saved will “HOLD FAST” and that is authentication of their salvation.  Your effort to hold fast doesn’t save you. In fact, we alone are incapable of holding fast… but God saves us, and never loses ONE that He saves. We hold fast by God’s power, and that proves God saved us.

Jesus the Person is the SON who saves us. The confidence in this fact is the essence of faith.

Jesus was superior to Moses in his office, his work and his person.

Jesus is superior. That is the message of Hebrews in a nutshell.