Jesus Greater than Moses
Hebrews 3:1-16
Intro
Up to this point the writer of Hebrews has been doing his best to convince the non-believing in the area of the necessity of receiving Christ. The people are still stuck on their traditions and some see Jesus as equal to, or less than Moses. They still refer to God as the God of Moses, even after God himself, in the form of His son has been in there midst.
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I. The Greatness of Moses
a. To understand the rest of this chapter we must review the thought process of the people towards Moses.
b. Moses was esteemed by the Jews far above any other Jews who ever lived.
c. He has been protected by God at birth and personally provided for his burial
i. Between those two dates in Moses life, there were miracles after miracles after miracles.
ii. Moses had even spoken to god face to face.
iii. He had been in the glory of god and it even reflected in his won face when he came down from Mount Sinai.
d. The Jews had great confidence in the law.
i. The Old Testament commandments and the rituals were their supreme priorities and to them Moses and the Law were one.
ii. The New Testament (Luke 2:22, Acts 13:34, etc.) often refer to the commands of God as the Law of Moses.
e. Moses not only brought the Ten Commandments to the people from God, but he also wrote the entire Pentateuch, which lays out the Levitical and other laws the governed everything in a Jewish persons life.
f. Some Jews believed that Moses was greater than angels.
i. God spoke to the prophets in visions.
ii. Moses spoke to God face to face.
g. In this passage though the writer of Hebrews is calling the people to look to Jesus.
i. Moses was great by all means.
ii. But Jesus was far greater.
II. Jesus Superior Office: As Apostle & High Priest (v. 1)
a. The Holy Spirit here is talking to those people who were looking at Jesus with one eye, but also glancing back to Judaism with the other.
b. The expression of ‘consider Jesus” implies the idea that people should put their mind on Jesus and let it remain there, that they may understand who he is and what he wills.
i. They had a new High Priest and a new Sent-One from God in the Holy Spirit.
ii. H is all anyone will ever need.
c. Holy Brethren are Fellow Brethren
i. As believers we are brothers with Christ
ii. This section of scripture is written to the partakers of the heavenly calling.
iii. The writer is saying to his Christian Jewish readers, “You are citizens of the heavenlies, so why don’t you let go of the earthly things.
iv. As Christians we do not need religious ritual because we have spiritual reality
v. For Christians to hand on to earthly religious trappings not only is unnecessary and pointless but also spiritually harmful
1. To do so keeps us from fully experiencing God.
d. Keep your eyes on Christ
i. Why do we need to keep considering Christ, if He is already in us?
ii. Simply, because all of us are far from fully discovering all of His glory.
iii. The reasons so many Christians are weak and worried is that they do not keep considering Christ.
iv. If you want to enjoy Jesus, you have to stay with Him until you learn to enjoy Him.
e. Christ an Apostle
i. Jesus is to be considered as the apostle and high priest of our confessions.
ii. This is the first reason why Christ is superior to Moses.
1. Christ brought the better covenant
2. Christ himself was the sacrifice.
f. Christ the High Priest
i. He is our mediator between us and God.
ii. He brings men to God and God to man
iii. Hebrews 4 and 5 talks more about this in detail.
III. Jesus Superior Works: As Builder (vv. 2-4)
a. Here is a brief comparison of the work of Jesus with that of Moses.
i. It is hard for us to understand the affections of the Jewish people had for Moses.
ii. Almost everything of importance to them about God was connected to Moses.
b. Both Moses and Jesus were very similar in there eyes.
i. They were faithful
1. Both Jesus and Moses were faithful to their calling
2. They were also faithful to the one that had called them.
ii. Trustworthy in His House
1. The writer here is not talking about the house, but rather the people within the household itself.
2. Moses was a trustworthy manager of God’s house and responsible for dispensing to the people the truths, commandments, requirements, and promises from God.
3. Christ was also faithful in His house the church.
a. As Christians we are the household of God and Jesus is our care taker
b. Moses was faithful but he was part of the household
c. Jesus was the builder of the house.
IV. Jesus Superior Person: As Son (vv. 5-6)
a. Here is the climax of this passage.
i. We have seen that Moses is by person a servant, while Jesus is by person a Son.
ii. There is a great difference between a servant and a son.
1. John 8:35, “And the slave does not remain in the house forever; the son does remain forever.”
2. Servants come and go; but sons are sons for life.
3. Moses was a faithful and obedient man to God’s ever command; but he was not the Son.
b. To accept Moses is to Accept Jesus
i. Moses faithfulness had an important and special reason: “to be a testimony of those things which were to be spoken later.”
1. Judaism did not understand then or now, that Moses was faithful primarily as a testimony to things which were yet to come in Christ.
2. Judaism without Christ, is like the Old Testament without the New Testament; incomplete.
ii. Moses was the shadow of the perfect substance yet to come.
1. If you reject the substance, the shadow is worthless.
c. The Mark of True Believers
i. So how can we know that we are really God’s house?
ii. By holding “fast our confidence and the boast of our hope firm until the end.”
1. This does not mean you are saved, if you can hold on till the end though.
2. We can tell if we are really the house of God because we stay there.
iii. The one who falls away never belonged in the first place
iv. The true saints will persevere and their perseverance will be evidence of their salvation.
Closing
This passage of scripture says two important things to us. First, we should be sure we are real Christians. Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Second, when we know we are in Christ, we should keep our eyes on Him. He is al we need. We are only complete in Him.
