1 JESUS’ SUPERIORITY OVER MOSES Hebrews 3:1-6 In Hebrews 3, the writer turns from the angels to compare Jesus to Israel's great and revered leader, Moses, the Lawgiver. This next section (3:1-6) stresses Jesus’ superiority over Moses. He puts it this way: “Therefore, holy brothers, who share in the heavenly calling, fix your thoughts on Jesus, the Apostle and High Priest whom we confess” (3:1). Although Jesus is above angels in rank He lowered Himself to become a man so He could be a merciful and faithful High Priest, to destroy the power of Satan, to deliver those in bondage to sin and to help those who are tempted (Heb 1 & 2). Based upon these things (3:1), the writer calls upon his readers to "consider the Apostle and High Priest of our confession, even Jesus," He wants them to fix their attention on Jesus and come to understand some important things about Him. The first word “Therefore” is a connective meaning “Since we have such a sympathizing Helper we ought to ‘pay attention’ or ‘listen attentively’ to such a Helper.” As in many chapter divisions in the New Testament, the opening words could as well have been the closing words of the previous chapter. The therefore ties them together and introduces a fifth title for Jesus. So far in Hebrews the author has referred to Jesus as “Son,” “Firstborn,” “Lord” and “High Priest.” Now he adds “Apostle.” Holy brothers means that as believers we have been set apart for God and “brothers” means that we have a common bond in Christ. We are literally “blood brothers” since our bond is the result of the shed blood of Christ on the cross. The “heavenly calling” is the invitation that comes from heaven and leads to heaven. In Philippians 3:14 Paul calls it “the high calling.” This is the only place in Scripture where Jesus is called “apostle,” a designation which means “one who is sent.” It is not surprising that Jesus is given this designation since He spoke repeatedly of Himself as having been sent into the world by the Father (Mt 10:40; 15:24; Mk 9:37; Lk 9:48; Jn 4:34; 5:24,30,36-38; 6:38). He is the supreme apostle, the one from whom all other apostleship flows. An apostle pleads the cause of God whereas a high priest pleads the cause of man. What God proclaims we confess. Jesus is the Living Word that we confess. Paul put it: “That if you confess with your mouth, Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved” (Ro 10:9-10; see also Mt. 16:16).

2 FIX YOUR ATTENTION ON JESUS The phrase “fix your thoughts” is a translation of the Greek word katanoeo, which is made of two words, "mind" and "down upon." It is an intensified version of the word noeo, which also means to consider. Thus, the word here means not simply to think, but to think deeply, to strongly consider, to understand fully, to perceive clearly. It is often used by Luke and is sometimes translated “consider” or “ponder.” It expresses careful attention and continuous observation and regard of something. It is translated in the New Testament as to look more closely, to fix your gaze upon, to observe, to contemplate (Ac 7:31, 32; 11:6; 27:39; Ro 4:19). Jesus uses this word by asking us to “consider how the ravens do not sow or reap, yet they are taken care of (Lk 12:24) and also in the case of how the lilies grow without laboring or spinning (Lk 12:27). It has the idea of contemplation, reflection, of immersing ourselves in this effort. How do we go about doing this?    

Read the gospels since they are a record of Jesus’ life and ministry. Meditate and reflect on His life, ministry and teachings. Think about Jesus in various situations, whether sitting or walking, whether at home or somewhere else. Write down thoughts about Jesus since writing can help with focus.

We always live with the danger of stopping to consider Jesus by becoming more interested in other things. How easy it is to simply drift away from the written and Living Word. This is why we are told again and again to "Consider Jesus." It was the godly Scottish preacher Robert Murray McShane who said: “You lack joy. Where are you focusing your attention? Take ten looks at Christ for every one look at yourself.” McShane died at the young age of 29 and people who knew him said that it seemed that he always lived with one foot in heaven. A COMPARISON BETWEEN JESUS AND MOSES (3:2) In verse 2 we see a comparison between Jesus and Moses: “He was faithful to the One who appointed Him, just as Moses was faithful in all God’s house” (v. 2). Moses' faithfulness in God's house refers back to Numbers 12:7-8 where God describes to Aaron and Miriam how He spoke to prophets in visions and dreams: "But this is not true of My servant Moses; he is faithful in all My house. With him I speak face to face, clearly and not in riddles."

3 GOD’S HOUSE While "God's house" may apply to the nation of Israel and eventually the Church, here it more likely is a reference to the tabernacle. It is actually the Tent of Meeting where God spoke these words. The author of Hebrews develops the typology more expansively in Hebrews 9. The tabernacle is called "the house of God" at least six different times in the Old Testament, and its successor, the temple, is so designated 43 times. Moses is especially connected with the tabernacle as the one who received its design on Mount Sinai and oversaw its building and ritual. If the tabernacle was the symbol of the dwelling place of God in the midst of his people, as will be seen more clearly in Hebrews 3:6, then it makes sense to interpret the phrase “God's house” as referring both to Israel and to the building itself, each standing for the other. Moses himself told his people that in the future other prophets would follow him to proclaim God’s message: “The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own brothers. You must listen to him” (Dt 18:15). A series of prophets is meant. And Jesus is the final Prophet to appear Both Jesus and Moses were sent by the Father to lead His people—the one to lead them from bondage under Pharaoh to the promised land, the other to lead them from bondage under the devil (Heb 2:14-15) to the Sabbath-rest promised to those who believe (4:3,9). Then Jesus’ explicit superiority is stated: “Jesus has been found worthy of greater honor than Moses, just as the builder of a house has greater honor than the house itself. For every house is built by someone, but God is the Builder of everything” (3:3-4) The house is only the product of the builder's skill and wisdom. The conception and the design of all the details originates in the mind of the architect-builder. In reality, the house simply makes the design visible. As the agent of God in building all things, Jesus is more worthy of honor than Moses, who was just a servant in the house. Jesus is the actual Builder of the house (or household), whereas Moses was simply a part of it. In fact, Jesus is here equated with God, making it beyond question that Christ is greater than Moses. This is support for the argument of the existence of God. Cornell University astrophysicist Carl Sagan and many others today insist that we are alone in the cosmos. Their motto is: “The cosmos is all there is.”

4 If every earthly house shows the design and craft of a builder, how much more does the universe reflect, in its complexity and interrelatedness, a Mind and Hand that put it all together? Undoubtedly the greatest scientist who ever lived, Sir Isaac Newton, disagreed with Sagan and others like him. He is called “The Father of Modern Science and The Industrial Revolution.” A 2005 survey of scientists in Britain's Royal Society asked who had the greater effect on the history of science, Newton was considered much more influential than Albert

Einstein God chose Isaac Newton to impart many of His deepest secrets as he discovered numerous scientific laws. He was accomplished in      

Physics Mathematics Astronomy Natural Philosophy Alchemy (Chemistry) Theology

He is known for    

Newtonian mechanics Universal gravitation Calculus Optics

The story is told of an atheist scientist, a friend of Sir Isaac Newton, who knocked on the door and came in after he had just finished making his solar system machine (i.e. one of the machines like the one in the science museum where you crank the handle and the planets and moons move round). The man saw the machine and said “how wonderful” and went over to it and started cranking the handle and the planets went round. As he was doing this he asked, “Who made this?” Sir Isaac stopped writing and said 'nobody did'. Then he carried on writing. The man said, “You didn't hear me. Who made the machine?” Newton replied, “I told you. Nobody did.” He stopped cranking and turned to Isaac and said, 'Now listen Isaac, this marvelous machine must have been made by somebody—don't keep saying that nobody made it.”

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At which point Isaac Newton stopped writing and got up. He looked at him and said, ‘Now isn't it amazing. I tell you that nobody made a simple toy like that and you don’t believe me. Yet you gaze out into the Solar System—the intricate marvelous machine that is around you—and you dare say to me that no one made that. I don’t believe it.’” As far as the record goes the atheist went away and he was no longer an atheist. He was suddenly converted to the idea that God was behind the laws that were found in creation. Newton’s statement on atheism still rings true: “Opposition to godliness is atheism in profession and idolatry in practice. Atheism is so senseless and odious to mankind that it never had many professors.” JESUS’ SUPERIORITY (3:5) The superiority of Jesus over Moses is shown in two comparisons: 1) Moses was a servant, whereas Christ is a Son, and 2) Moses was in God’s house, that is, a part of it, whereas Jesus is over God’s house. “Moses was faithful as a servant in all God’s house, testifying to what would be said in the future. But Christ is faithful as a Son over God’s house” (v. 5). PERSEVERANCE (3:6) The writer ends this section by identifying believers as God’s house and by showing that they are the ones who “hold on to [their] courage and hope”: “And we are His house, if we hold on to our courage and the hope of which we boast” (v. 6). This concept of God’s house is further developed in chapter 9 where the tabernacle pictures human beings themselves. It is human beings redeemed by Christ who are the dwelling place of God (1 Co 6:19; Eph 2:19,22; 1 Pe 2:5; Rev 21:3). God’s intent is that we may be indwelt by Him. Jesus put it: "On that day you will realize that I am in My Father, and you are in Me, and I am in You" (Jn 14:20). The phrase, “If we hold on to our courage and the hope” means that failure to persevere either means that a person falls away from genuine faith or it reveals that a person was never truly a child of God. Either way, perseverance is the hallmark of God’s children.

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Courage, boldness or confidence (parresian) signifies freedom of speech and liberty of access to God. And the demonstration of hope in word and deed are the continuing marks of those who belong to Christ. This does not mean that there are not difficult periods where faith may waver. Biblical scholar F. F. Bruce puts it this way: "Nowhere in the New Testament more than here do we find such repeated insistence on the fact that continuance in the Christian life is the test of reality."1 Under the old testament no man was permitted to approach to God: even the very mountain on which God published his laws must not be touched by man nor beast; and only the high priest was permitted to enter the holy of holies, and that only once a year, on the great day of atonement; and even then he must have the blood of the victim to propitiate the Divine justice. Under the Christian dispensation the way to the holiest is now laid open; and we have the liberty of access, even into the very presence of God, by the blood of Jesus. The reality of our faith is shown by holding on to courage and hope. Stumbling from faith "is precisely what our author fears may happen with his readers; hence his constant emphasis on 2 the necessity of their maintaining fearless confession and joyful hope.” Having such access to God, by such a Mediator, we may obtain all that grace which is necessary to fit us for eternal glory. But if we retain not the grace, we shall not inherit the glory. APPLICATION While the pressures we experience in our modern Western world are not usually the same as the persecutions faced by the first readers of Hebrews, the confident assurance of our hope can be the same. Whatever the pressure, whatever the difficulty, Christ's faithfulness and His victory over the one who holds the power of death provides us with the confident assurance that He is capable of meeting our needs also. 1. We need to examine ourselves and make sure our faith is genuine (2 Co 13:5). Our Lord warned: “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven. Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ Then I will them plainly, ’I never knew you. Away from Me, you evildoers!’” (Mt 7:21-23)

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2. We need to live our whole life focusing on Jesus. He is all we need. Paul said it well when he said this: "You are complete in Him" (Col 2:10).

NOTES 1 F. F. Bruce, The Epistle to the Hebrews, New International New Testament Series (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1964), 59. 2 Ibid.

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