Jesus, Greater Than Moses

Jesus Greater Than Moses

Intro: Me in the wilderness in Yosemite-How I behave in the wilderness-  My hope was rest and safety.

Central Theme:  How I behave in the wilderness demonstrated…The main point of the document is that Jesus is greater than Moses and we should hold fast to our faith in Him, lest we harden our hearts and rebel against God as the Israelites did in the wilderness.demonstrated Application: The God who led you into the wilderness, is still the God of the wilderness, and he wants you to trust him to see you through the wilderness. 

t/s: We’ll see this in the following 3 scenes.

 Scene 1- Jesus Is The Owner of The House  (1-6)

Therefore, holy brothers,[a] 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[b] 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, 6 but Christ is faithful over God's house as a son. And we are his house, 

You who share in a heavenly calling 

Consider Jesus- this word “consider” means.  consider carefully as if laying out an argument…

Apostle (one who is sent) High Priest (one who mediates)- These are offices held by Jesus. 

He is the one Who was Faithful (2-3) -  How faithful was he?  Well, by comparison, he was faithful as the epitome of faithfulness in all of Israel’s History.  

ILL:   There are certain things, when you hear it, correlates to an image.  Don’t believe me?  Here’s proof:

I love what you do for me….

Why pay more when you can…

Golden Arches

Let’s try one more and just use one word.  Always…

Faithful- Moses, the giver of the most precious, convental, culture making article of our the Jewish faith, the Law of God.  

The author illustrates this point of faithfulness through a house motif.  Moses is the faithful builder of the house.   However, the one I want you to consider; the one I’m placing before you today is actually counted worthy of more glory than Moses; and not just more glory, but (Greek?) much more glory is not the builder of the house.  Who’s worth more glory than the builder of a beautiful house?  Is it not the owner of the house?  Does not the greatness of the thing built reflect more significantly the greatness of the owner, and not the builder as it was built in his honor.  

ILL:  Cribs & Mansions

This is Hyperbole. And in this Comparison and Contrast the Author wants you to know that Jesus is Greater than Moses.  

4-6

Jesus is the Greater Moses in that he’s the Owner not the builder. 

Jesus is Greater than Moses in that Moses testifies about the things coming later, namely about Jesus himself- referring to Deut. 18:15, 18, 19

Jesus is the Greater Moses in that, Moses is faithful as a servant or steward of the house, yet Jesus is faithful as the faithful son of the house.  

ILL: 

What’s the point?  This comparison highlights Jesus's superior position and authority. When the document says that Jesus is the "faithful son" over God's house, it means that he has a unique and intimate relationship with God, who is seen as the builder and owner of the house. Unlike Moses, who was a faithful servant within God's house, Jesus is the heir and ruler of the house. This emphasizes Jesus's higher authority and position in relation to God and His people.

And then he states, we are his house 6b if indeed we hold fast our confidence and our boasting in our hope.[c]

Again in verse 14,

14 For we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end. 

What’s the Context Again?  

Context: 

Nero is on the throne

In 64 Ad Nero blamed the Christians for the fire that ravaged most of Rome.  Paul was killed a year later in AD 65.

People are outing their relatives as Christians

The Capital City of Judaism is being laid siege to by the Roman General Titus-

This letter is likely sent to a Jewish Christian community, possibly in Rome.  These believers seem to have wavered in their faith when they faced suffering and adversity because of the gospel.

Hold fast means- katecho (κατεχο). Among its meanings is one that vividly illustrates its use here. It is used in nautical circles in the meaning of “holding one’s course toward.” Or, “to make toward shore.”

Hold fast towards what?

To our confidence and boasting in our hope.  

It wasn’t just Hebrew Christians being persecuted; what do people tend to do when they start not to believe that being a Christian is worth the social, political familial or personal inconvenience that it’s causing?  They go back to what they came from. 

Application: Consider the tremendously worthy Jesus, the one who is the faithful son of the people of God.  And you will Benefit and Belong to this worthy one if you hold fast to the Gospel that saved you.  

t/s:  now what’s the benefit?  We learn the benefit to holding fast to Jesus as well the primary threat to that benefit in verses 7-16.

Scene 2- Consider What Happened In The Wilderness (7-11; 15-19)

Quoting Ps. 95:7–11, verse 7-11 reads,

7 Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says,

“Today, if you hear his voice,

8 do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion,     on the day of testing in the wilderness,

9 where your fathers put me to the test     and saw my works for forty years.

10 Therefore I was provoked with that generation, and said, ‘They always go astray in their heart;     they have not known my ways.’

11 As I swore in my wrath,     ‘They shall not enter my rest.’”

Explain: There was a Divine promise of rest for those who Hold Fast in the Wilderness.

The Wilderness- So what is the Wilderness?  

In the Old Testament it would have been the place the Israelites wandered between the time they left slavery in Egypt and entered the Promised Land of Canaan.  

For The Christians In This Context, It Would Have Been Everyday Life Under The Rule of Nero.

The wilderness symbolizes a place of testing and rebellion. The Israelites, led by Moses, rebelled against God in the wilderness and failed to enter His rest. 

Flourishing in the Wilderness- Means Trusting The Owner of the House.  Jesus.  

Rebelling in The Wilderness-  Means Disobedience and Unbelief

As he transitions from this section to introduce this idea of rest, he references the wilderness again down in verses 15-19 saying:

15 As it is said,

“Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.”

16 For who were those who heard and yet rebelled? Was it not all those who left Egypt led by Moses? 17 And with whom was he provoked for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness? 18 And to whom did he swear that they would not enter his rest, but to those who were disobedient? 19 So we see that they were unable to enter because of unbelief.

Application: Verse 7-11 quoting Psalm 95 is a warning for us not to harden our hearts and rebel against God in our own "wilderness" experiences. It is a place where we can either flourish by trusting God or rebel and suffer the consequences.

The God who led you into the wilderness, is still the God of the wilderness, and he wants you to trust him to see you through the wilderness.  

 Scene 3-Take Care in the Wilderness

12 Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. 13 But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. 14 For we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end. 15 As it is said,

“Today, if you hear his voice,

do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.”

Look into Yourself-Some may say, that sounds like new age self-help rhetoric.  No it’s not.  The word literally means to “have the power of sight; perceive, be aware of; see” It means Self-Evaluation.

What are you evaluating for? For an evil and unbelieving heart that leads you to fall away from “the living God” (12)

Exhort One Another (13) This happens with community-

Daily- as long as it is called “today” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin- 

Self-evaluation: We should examine ourselves for an evil, unbelieving heart that might lead us away from God. (some of us are coddling what God has called us to destroy; and others are living in a way that is not self-reflective, or self-evaluative and the impact of this is leading them from the “Living God.”  They’re experiencing death like systems the further they float away from the radiant heat of Life that only comes from The Living God. 

 Encouraging one another daily: We should exhort each other daily, as long as it is called "today," so that none of us may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. Because apart from Christian fellowship wet cement hardens in the heart. because we need it.  Sin is deceitful- it will try to convince you that wrongdoing is right doing.  

Translation: We do this so we can guard against the hardening influence of sin and remain faithful to God in our "wilderness" experiences and we’re all susceptible to it.  

Conclusion: 

Jesus is greater than Moses because Moses was a faithful servant in God's house, while Jesus is the faithful son over God's house. 

We are God's house if we hold fast our confidence and hope in Jesus. 

Let us not harden our hearts and rebel in the wilderness as the Israelites did when they were led by Moses out of Egypt. 

Instead, let us examine ourselves for an evil, unbelieving heart that will lead us away from God, and encourage each other daily so that we are not hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. 

Questions 

In What Ways Might Jesus Being Owner of the House Shape Your Time At Work or At Home? 

What Areas Are Testing You The Most To "hold fast" to The Gospel? 

Have Encouraged The Christian Community? Have You Been Encouraged By The Christian Community?  Have You Brought Your Stuff Before Your Christian Community?

If you feel like you’ve been in the "wilderness" are you flourishing in faith are wavering in doubt and disobedience?

Communion:  The Author is leading us to Truth Jesus.  Even this act of partaking of his body is a declaration of trust in Jesus, even while we face the wilderness experiences of the soul.  But we take the body and drink the cup, that we too may receive as a means of grace the assurance we need reminding of.  And so we look to his body broken for us; and the new covenant he made with us.  He won’t leave you or forsake you, lo he is with you even until the ends of the world.