Hebrews 3:1-6

The GOAT- The Reluctancy to Admit a New One. Lebron MJ, Tiger-Jack, The Babe- Barry, Joe Montana- Tom Brady

In the first two chapters, we really get a good introduction to the book.

Really, coming into a new chapter, we really should know what to expect.

The author of Hebrews is maintaining the theme of “Jesus is Better.”

In chapters 1-2, The author has been making the argument that Jesus is better than the angels.

Now, in this section, he will turn his attention to another respected person in Jewish thought.

This is written to converted or converting Jews.

I don’t think I would be over-speaking to say that Moses, for these Jews, whether they are converted or converting, Moses would have been most respected.

And really the author of Hebrews inspired of the Holy Spirit, takes the best man that Judaism has to offer and sets in comparison to Jesus.

There are not many figures in the Old Testament who are on par with the level of respect with Moses. Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, David, Elijah.

Certainly not Adam. He plunged us all to ruin.

But Moses was greatly respected.

His story is captivating. His accomplishments are great, really from beginning to end.

Moses, born in the middle of a time, where Pharaoh was commanding the mass genocide of all the Hebrew baby boys.

His mother Jochebed places him in a wicker basket and floats him in the Nile.

He is taken in by the daughter of Pharaoh, raised in the house of Pharaoh.

One day, after witnessing the mistreatment of one of his Hebrew brothers, he kills the slave master.

He flees, and then he is called by God through a burning bush to go back to Egypt and get the people of God.

He does. He looks the most powerful man in the world at that time and tell him that he is going to surrender his largest concentration of slave workers.

Its through moses that God pours out the plagues.

And he leads the people out.

God uses Moses to part the Red Sea.

God delivers them the Ten Commandment through Moses.

Through Moses, the whole Levitical system was set up.

Through him, the Tabernacle was built.

God would speak with Moses and the people would see Moses’s face shining.

Moses prays for manna, God sends it.

Moses prays for meat, God sends it.

Moses strikes a rock, God brings forth water.

Sure there are failures recorded, but overall Moses is exemplary. He is Brave. Accomplished. Faithful. Devoted to Israel.

He was beloved and its really not hard to see why.

And these Jews even in this day, respected and revered Moses.

In fact, in John 9 they express their devotion to Moses while being unwilling to submit to Christ.

John 9:28–29 NASB95

They reviled him and said, “You are His disciple, but we are disciples of Moses. “We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where He is from.”

And this is definitely an accurate disposition of most Jews.

They respect and revere Moses.

But here, the author of Hebrews is going to upset that.

He is going to call us and those who will read this letter, to consider someone better than Moses.

Thats what is going on in the next few verses.

The next two sermons would be better to be preached together.

Essentially you can divide this chapter into two parts.

Verse 1-6- is the Doctrinal Statement, Specifically that Jesus is better than Moses.

Verse 7-19 our sermon next week is the application of that Doctrine.

So be sure to be here next week.

But look with me here in verse 1.

Hebrews 3:1 NASB95

Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of a heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the Apostle and High Priest of our confession;

Therefore ties it to the previous section. Remember this is written as a letter, so there wasn’t originally these neat little chapters and verses. So it really should be all one flowing idea to the next.

So the therefore there takes us back to the previous verses where we are told that the Lord is not ashamed to call believers brothers.

So now he address these Jewish believers. And consequently us. As Holy Brethren.

He addresses believers here as Holy Brethren. Sometimes we skip over little descriptors like that, but that phrase Holy Brethren is packed full with theology.

First- We are called HOLY

We have covered this, but for us to be called holy, there has to be a transaction. We are n’t holy in and of our selves. We are sinful.

Its only through Jesus and his righteousness that we are given the righteousness of God to where he can call us holy.

But we are also, brethren- Which means we are siblings with Christ. You and I, if we are saved, we are brothers and sisters with Christ and in turn we are brothers and sisters with each other.

This may be a little rabbit trail, Let me just take a minute to say that this should be reflected in how things work here.

As a local body of believers, look around you, these people are your family. You are not just separate blood families that come to the same church. As believers, we are the family of God. Its not our family and theirs. We are one family. Brothers and sisters in Christ.

In fact the most important blood that unites us is not the blood that we share with our grandchildren.

The most important blood that we have in common is the blood of Jesus Christ that has been applied to every believer’s life.

We are holy brethren.

We are partakers of a heavenly calling.

Our calling has originated from God Himself. It is heavenly calling. it originated there and it will end there.

Now thats how he addresses the believers here.

Holy Brethren, Partakers of the heavenly calling.

But listen here to the command. This is the main thrust of this passage and really the who book of Hebrews.

Here is the command.

Consider Jesus. Thats an unfortunate translation.

Because the word consider has come to mean something altogether weak.

What I mean by that is This word means more than “give a cursory thought.”

just consider it. That’s not what it means here when it says consider Jesus.

It can be translated and even has been translated in some versions, “Fix your thoughts on Jesus.”

In other words, Make Jesus the primary focus of your attention and thought.

Look at Jesus.

The author of Hebrews spends this entire book repeating this command over and over and over again, because it is that important.

Look at Jesus.

Do not become preoccupied with anything less than Jesus.

Not angels! Not Adam! and Now, not Moses.

As Great as Moses was and we have already covered the fact that Moses was probably the most respected Old Testament figure outside of Yahweh Himself.

But as great as Moses was, to become preoccupied with Moses is to miss the better Prophet. To become preoccupied with Moses is to miss the Greater Apostle. The Greater Priest.

To become preoccupied with Moses, which would have been a real temptation to the Jew to whom the author of Hebrews is writing is to miss Jesus. And if they miss Jesus, they will miss the very salvation from God.

Listen to how verse 1 refers to Jesus.

Jesus is THE apostle. Jesus is THE High Priest.

He is not one among many.

He is not an apostle. He is THE sent one. The Apostle. He is THE High priest of our confession.

And verse 2 goes on to expound upon this truth.

Hebrews 3:2 NASB95

He was faithful to Him who appointed Him, as Moses also was in all His house.

What is he saying here?

That Jesus was faithful to the Father. Jesus came and perfectly succeeded in doing everything that the Father planned from eternity past that he would do.

He was faithful. And then he compares his faithfulness to Moses.

He says here As Moses also was in all His house.

Moses was faithful. We’ve talked about all the ways in which he was faithful. But he is not Jesus. Moses does not possess the same glory that Jesus does. He is not the Greatest of All Time.

Look at verse 3-4

Hebrews 3:3–4 NASB95

For He has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses, by just so much as the builder of the house has more honor than the house. For every house is built by someone, but the builder of all things is God.

Jesus is better than Moses.

He is more glorious than Moses.

And he proves this by using a very practical illustration.

The builder of the house has more honor than the house.

What on earth does he mean there?

Lets explain this.

Whenever we look at beautiful house, who deserves the praise for the house?

the builder of the house deserve the praise.

We don’t walk around praising the house, the house being there presupposes a builder.

We praise the one who designed it, constructed it, the one who built it.

Tony who builds cabinets for a living. I’m sure will agree with me here (For all your cabinetry needs, check out tony’s custom cabinetry), that boards don’t just become cabinets. He has to build them.

At the end of the work, the praise would be misapplied if someone were to praise the cabinet rather than the builder.

Having said that, Do you see what the author Hebrews is doing here?

Moses is apart of the house. He is not the builder of the house.

God is. The praise and attention does not belong to Moses. It belongs to God, specifically the author of Hebrews is working to the point that the attention and the praise belongs to Jesus.

Jesus as the author and perfecter of our faith deserves the praise. Not Moses.

In fact the Bible makes this clear for us does it not?

The Bible presents Moses not as the perfect man. We see Moses warts and all. We see his temper flare up. We see God keep him from ever making it into the promised land because he has sinned.

And I believe the bible does this for two reasons

So that we do not become altogether preoccupied with Moses, but that we would look for someone better than Moses.

I believe the Bible does this so that we will recognize Jesus as that better somEone and that we would fix our attention on HIM.

Moses was great, but he is only one portion of the house.

Jesus is the reason the house exist to begin with.

He goes on.

Listen to what he says in verses 5-6

Hebrews 3:5–6 NASB95

Now Moses was faithful in all His house as a servant, for a testimony of those things which were to be spoken later; but Christ was faithful as a Son over His house—whose house we are, if we hold fast our confidence and the boast of our hope firm until the end.

Lets deal with verse 5 first.

Again Moses was faithful in THE house of God as a servant.

How was he faithful? Or probably the better question to ask here for what purpose was his faithfulness?

It says it right there in verse 5

For a testimony of those things which were to be spoken later.

Don’t miss this: What that is saying there is this:

Everything Moses wrote and did was ultimately to testify to something better coming in the future. Moses’s faithfulness as a servant was, according the author of Hebrews, pointing to something coming in the future.

Everything we read that Moses instituted and was apart of pointed to Jesus.

Just think of a few examples:

The Passover Lamb- pointed forward to a true and better Passover Lamb, through who all receive his blood are passed over.

The sacrificial system- pointed forward to the true and better sacrifice.

The priestly system- pointed forward to the true and better priest who was to come.

Mannah

Water from the rock

The deliverance from bondage in Egypt all point to Jesus.

The New Testament affirms this.

I know it has been awhile, but Do you remember what Philip tells Nathaniel in John 1?

John 1:45 NASB95

Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found Him of whom Moses in the Law and also the Prophets wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”

Moses wrote and spoke of Jesus.

The Jews prided themselves on being followers of Moses and his teachings, but the problem was they had become enamored with the house rather than the builder of the house.

Moses wrote about Jesus. You may say, You may even crinkle up your nose, What do you mean? Jesus doesn’t appear on the earth until Bethlehem, but listen to the Lord Himself.

Jesus critiques and warns the Pharisees in John 5 of this very same attitude.

John 5:45–47 NASB95

“Do not think that I will accuse you before the Father; the one who accuses you is Moses, in whom you have set your hope. “For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me, for he wrote about Me. “But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?”

Moses faithfulness is intricately tied to his faithfulness to testify about the coming Messiah, Jesus Christ.

That is why brothers and sisters, we must read the Old Testament in light of Jesus.

The author of Hebrews is blowing these Jewish converts mind here. He is urging them to see what they should have seen through the writings of Moses.

That Moses is not the focus. Jesus is.

Verse 6 tells us Jesus is greater than Moses. Moses was a servant.

Hebrews 3:6 NASB95

but Christ was faithful as a Son over His house—whose house we are, if we hold fast our confidence and the boast of our hope firm until the end.

How is Jesus better than moses?

Moses is a servant in the house.

Jesus Christ is the Son and the builder of the house.

Moses was a man of God

Jesus Christ is God Himself

Moses was a fallen sinful man in need of a Savior

Jesus is the sinless Godman who is the Savior.

Moses was a prophet among many through whom God chose to Speak

Jesus is the Prophet and is the very TRUTH of God Himself

Moses interceded for the people of Israel for a little while until he dies

Jesus lives forever as our interceding Great High Priest.

Moses is called the King of Jeshurun in Deuteronomy 33:5

Jesus is called the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords in Revelation 19:16

Moses delivered the Israelites from Egypt

Jesus delivers all believers across the ages from eternal wrath

Moses leads the children almost to the promised land

Jesus gets us all the way there.

Moses built a tabernacle that housed the presence of God in the midst of the people, but only a few could enter in.

Jesus is preparing a place for us to where every believer will dwell in the very presence of God Himself

Lastly, Moses is buried by God Himself in an unknown location and I believe he did that so that the people would not worship his bones.

It was never God’s intention that we would worship someone dead.

Jesus dies and is buried and resurrects so that we would worship the risen ONE.

Jesus is Greater than Moses.

Fix your eyes on Him. Consider Him.

The end of verse 6 shows us that this is not a one time consideration of Christ, but it is a constant preoccupation with Jesus.

It is not a glance at Jesus. It is a steady gaze. That is how we prove to be apart of his house.

Thats what verse 6 says.

“Whose house we are, IF we hold fast our confidence and the boast of our hope firm until the end.”

The goal this morning is that you find Jesus to be your only hope and that you would fix your gaze on Him.

Constantly.

We need to be a people who are steady.

We’ve all seen those who seem to be on fire for a while, and then they grow cold. Maybe they even leave, and come back and leave and come back.

The Christian life and what the author of Hebrews here is urging is a steady plodding of lifelong preoccupation with Jesus until the end.

AND if we are apart of His house, that is precisely what we will do.