Jesus: Greater than Moses

Introduction

Who Am I?

Main Passage: Hebrews 3:1-6

Jeremy has commented that the book of Hebrews is a very difficult book to preach through. Why is that? What makes Hebrews different than other books of the Bible? They were all, except for maybe one book, written by Jewish people. Most of them are even written to Jewish people.

Hebrews is different because it assumes you know Jewish culture and history. So we’re going to dive into a good deal of history tonight. Buckle up!

I. Meditate on Jesus’ faithfulness(vv. 1-2).

Hebrews 3:1–2 ESV

1 Therefore, holy brothers, you who share in a heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the apostle and high priest of our confession, 2 who was faithful to him who appointed him, just as Moses also was faithful in all God’s house.

There are a few things we must notice here.

It’s really important to pay attention to what biblical authors call their readers. The author calls readers holy brothers. The author, speaking to both men and women as his siblings in God’s family, calls them holy.

The Bible often calls us as readers to remember God’s goodness and faithfulness in the past. Here, the author of Hebrews calls us to remember Jesus and Moses. Remember, the author is speaking to people who understand Jewish history, something we don’t naturally get. So, how should we think about Moses?

Illustration: The New George Washington. Who is Moses to the Israelites? Well, the Exodus was almost certainly one of the greatest triumphs in the history of the nation of Israel. Let’s navigate the history of Israel a little bit. The nation began with God’s divine and personal intervention in the life of one man: Abram. All the way back in Genesis 12, probably around 2000 (1996 BC?), YHWH called one unassuming man, Abram, out of his home country and out into the unknown. Abram and Sarai, later renamed Abraham and Sarah, miraculously had a son, Isaac, at the ages of 90 and 100. Isaac later had a son named Jacob, who was renamed Israel. Jacob had twelve sons, one of the younger ones of whom was named Joseph. Joseph was miraculously brought up from the pit—literally—and into a position of authority in Pharaoh's house so that he could provide for his family when a massive famine would strike the land later. This was God’s provision, protecting the line of Abraham that He had promised to make great. Fast forward more than 400 years and we see that Israel has grown dramatically; so much so that the Egyptian Pharoah, who has forgotten his family’s prior kindness to Israel, is deeply afraid of them. He enslaves them, beating them, torturing them, killing them. The people of Israel cry out to their God, and He hears them, and sends Moses. For the nation of Israel, the Exodus was the beginning of their nation. Compare this to George Washington and the American Revolutionary War. Nearly every person in the United States of America knows this man’s name. He served as the U.S. President only a little over 200 years ago. Imagine if a new U.S. President, say Trump or Biden, were to go up during a State of the Union and claim that they were the new George Washington. Not only were they his equal, but they were also his better. To a Jew, that’s what this would sound like! Scandalous, incredulous, wrong.

The author is calling us to seriously consider who Jesus is and how He was faithful to “him who appointed him,” that is, God the Father. This consideration carries with it the idea of “meditation,” mulling it over and over, over a long period of time.

II. Jesus is the Creator of all (vv. 3-4).

Hebrews 3:3–4 ESV

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.)

Jesus is different! Other world religions try to make him out to be just like us—sometimes Christians do this. Jesus is human, yes. But He is the Son of God. He is more glorious, more worthy of praise and honor, than anything else because He is the Creator of everything else!

Illustration: Pictures of (1) the Mona Lisa, painted by Leonardo da Vinci; (2) “Starry Night” by Vincent van Gogh; the sculpture “David” by Michelangelo. Who receives the honor, the artwork or the artist?

Paul says that God’s wrath is revealed against those who “exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things… they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever!” (Romans 1:23, 25)

III. Jesus is faithful as God’s Son(vv. 5-6)

Hebrews 3:5–6 ESV

5 Now Moses was faithful in all God’s house as a servant, to testify to the things that were to be spoken later, 6 but Christ is faithful over God’s house as a son. And we are his house, if indeed we hold fast our confidence and our boasting in our hope.

What is “faithful”? (Gk. pistŏs (pis-tos’): trustworthy, sure, true).

def: trustworthy; characterized by steadfast affection or allegiance; reliable, worthy of responsibility

How was Moses faithful?

The author tells us that Moses was faithful “in all God’s house as a servant” (v. 5, emphasis mine). A while back Jeremy took 6:33 on a winter retreat to a camp at Big Bear Christian Camp. The theme was awesome: “Slave of God.” He talked about the Greek word doulos, what it meant for us as Christians, and how we are, as Christians, slaves of God.

This is not the word doulos. This is a different word, the word thĕrapōn (pronounced ther-ap’-ohn). It has a meaning more like “attendant” or “aide,” nothing like a lowly servant. It’s not used very often in the Bible.

Now, remember, the author is assuming you understand Jewish history intimately. Let’s go back and look at some of the ways that Moses was faithful in God’s house, to do what God called him to do.

Numbers 12:7 When confronting Miriam and Aaron, who were opposing Moses, YHWH Himself stands up for Moses against them, defending his faithfulness.

Numbers 12:7 ESV

7 Not so with my servant Moses. He is faithful in all my house.

2. Hebrews 11:24-28. The topic of faithfulness is massive for the author of Hebrews, particularly that of those saints who have gone before. In Hebrews 11:24-28 the author recounts the faithfulness of Moses in each part of his life. Moses was faithful as a boy, forgoing comfort for the sake of God’s people. He was faithful as a man, leading God’s people out of the land of Egypt and to the foot of Mount Sinai.

Hebrews 11:24–28 ESV

24 By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, 25 choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. 26 He considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward. 27 By faith he left Egypt, not being afraid of the anger of the king, for he endured as seeing him who is invisible. 28 By faith he kept the Passover and sprinkled the blood, so that the Destroyer of the firstborn might not touch them.

However, the author notes that Moses’ faithfulness served as a testament “to the things that were to be spoken later” (v. 5b). This is a great example of the Bible interpreting the Bible—the book of Hebrews does that a lot—and it’s super helpful for us today! Moses—his life, successes, and faithfulness—serve as a typological prophecy for the Messiah. Moses is held in incredibly high esteem in Jewish history, but even in Deuteronomy 18:15-2, the second giving of the Law to Israel, Moses gives Israel a promise:

How was Jesus faithful?

In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus tells a parable that is, honestly, very scary: the Parable of the Tenants. Turn to Matthew 21:33-41 with me.

Matthew 21:33–41 ESV

33 “Hear another parable. There was a master of a house who planted a vineyard and put a fence around it and dug a winepress in it and built a tower and leased it to tenants, and went into another country. 34 When the season for fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the tenants to get his fruit. 35 And the tenants took his servants and beat one, killed another, and stoned another. 36 Again he sent other servants, more than the first. And they did the same to them. 37 Finally he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ 38 But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and have his inheritance.’ 39 And they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. 40 When therefore the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?” 41 They said to him, “He will put those wretches to a miserable death and let out the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the fruits in their seasons.”

In this parable the father who sends his son seems to be a bit naive and silly, but that is absolutely not what the Father did to Jesus, His Son. Some “progressive Christians” have levelled attacks at Christians, calling the Father sending His Son to die something like “cosmic child abuse.” Not so—Jesus was sent willingly and without protest.

The author of Hebrews says that Christ is “faithful over God’s house as a son” (v. 6, emphasis mine). Jesus was faithful to obey His Father and go to the Cross. And thank God that He did, because if He didn’t we would still be stuck in our sin. He is faithful yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8). He is over the house of God, the Head of the Body of Christ.

God’s faithfulness in my life was really demonstrated at my 2017 mission trip to Ecuador, but I need to give you some more context to understand this story. I grew up as a gymnast—for almost a decade I flipped and twisted around, and it was awesome. I love gymnastics and loved it, but, spoiler alert, gymnastics can ruin your joints. I ended up quitting for a few reasons, but one of them was my awful knee pain. Gymnastics really messed them up, and some days I could hardly walk because it hurt so bad. It was caused by some pretty nasty growth plate issues, alongside other injuries. I went on this month-long trip to Ecuador a year or so after I stopped gymnastics. On this trip we had a great deal of work to do. Our primary goal was to poor concrete for a 40x60ft outdoor space for the organization we were working for. Thing is, we had no concrete mixers. We were the concrete mixers. So we got plywood, shovels, and lots of 5-gallon buckets to move materials around. As I was working—moving 5-gallon buckets full of heavy rocks and water, shoveling for 7-hours a day—my knees were in a ton of pain. I couldn’t do it anymore. After carrying a heavy load of stuff to the people mixing the concrete, I told God that I couldn’t do it. I was frustrated—God had called me to do this mission trip, something I didn’t really want to do, and now I couldn’t even do what He was asking me to do. I told God, “if you want me to do this, I will. Just take away my knee pain, and I’ll serve You.” And He did. After that prayer, my knee pain immediately left, and it never came back. That’s how God has been faithful to me, and He’s been faithful in many other ways.

God’s been faithful to me in every area of my life, and I’m confident that He will be in the future. And if He decides that it’s time for me to come home… well, I’ve got no problem with that.

What’s the difference?

The comparison between Moses as a thĕrapōn in God’s house and Jesus as huiŏs is clear: Jesus is greater than Moses in honor, glory, and praiseworthiness.

Conclusion

What Now?

Moses is brought up as an example of a man who was faithful in God’s house, but we can bring up so many examples of his failures, his complaining, his cowardice. We see it is Exodus 3:11 and Exodus 4:10-14 where Moses begs YHWH to send someone else to Pharaoh. YHWH gets angry at Moses! Yet he is still remembered as a faithful servant.

This passage calls you to remember and meditate on the faithfulness of Christ Jesus. How has Jesus been faithful to you?

Discussion Questions

The author is speaking to their “holy brothers.” Who exactly is he speaking to? Why does the author call them “holy”?

Why is Jesus referred to as the “Apostle” (v. 1)? “High Priest”?

What does it look like to “consider” or to meditate on Jesus’ faithfulness?

Tell a story of Jesus’ faithfulness in your life.

What is the difference between a servant and a son?

What is the house of God? Who is a part of it?

Describe Jesus’ faithfulness. How was He faithful over God’s house as a Son?

What does it mean to “hold fast our confidence and our boasting in our hope” (v. 6b)?