Consider Jesus

Hebrews 3:1–6 ESV

Therefore, holy brothers, you who share in a heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the apostle and high priest of our confession, who was faithful to him who appointed him, just as Moses also was faithful in all God’s house. 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. (For every house is built by someone, but the builder of all things is God.) Now Moses was faithful in all God’s house as a servant, to testify to the things that were to be spoken later, 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.

Introduction:

We have an enemy that desperately wants to shipwreck our faith and ruin our lives.

We are introduced to the tactics of that enemy in the book of Job… He is an enemy that believes that the only reason why your faith and trust in God abide is because the circumstances of your life are good. He believes that the fundamental reason why you trust in God is because God has been good to you. Satan believes that you are nothing more than a spiritual dog. That the only reason why you don’t bite the hand of God is because God has been feeding you.

On the other hand we serve a wonderful and gracious Savior who uses all things and circumstances in life to grow and mature us into a perfect, complete, and holy brethren. We serve as Savior who is daily preparing us for tremendous weight of glory.

On this side of eternity we experience pains, sorrows, loss, and (for the recipients of this letter) persecutions. But what is their point?

Well, we know, revealed in the pages of Scripture that one point of those sorrows, tribulations, and persecutions is a work of the enemy to uproot our faith. Jesus makes this plain in the Parable of the Sower in Matthew 13:18-23.

Another point revealed in the pages of Scriptures to the sorrows, tribulations, and persecutions is a work of God to ground us in our faith. James makes this plain in James 1:2-4.

Here again the author to the Hebrews is desiring to strengthen and establish the faith of Jewish Christians during a season of great persecution and trial.

Theme: May we confidently hold fast to the hope of our calling through consideration of our Savior.

Consider Your Holy and Heavenly Calling

Hebrews 3:1a (ESV)

Therefore, holy brothers, you who share in a heavenly calling […]

“Holy Brothers”

Author begins by helping us to understand who we are...

We are a holy brotherhood.

We are set apart for a spiritual purpose by your savior.

“You Who Share in the Heavenly Calling”

We are called to consider our heavenly calling.

Cf. Philippians 3:14-20; Ephesians 2:6; Colossians 3:1-4

Or Consider Hebrews 11:13-16

Application: The vital importance of understanding who we are in Christ to endure the trials and difficulties of life.

Consider Your Exalted and Faithful Savior

Hebrews 3:1–6 (ESV)

[…] consider Jesus, the apostle and high priest of our confession,

who was faithful to him who appointed him, just as Moses also was faithful in all God’s house.

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.

(For every house is built by someone, but the builder of all things is God.)

Now Moses was faithful in all God’s house as a servant, to testify to the things that were to be spoken later,

but Christ is faithful over God’s house as a son […]

“Consider Jesus”

Consider/κατανοήσατε

The Letter to the Hebrews Greater than the Greatest (Hebrews 3:1–6)

The word he uses (katanoein) is significant and full of meaning. It does not mean simply to look at or to notice a thing. Anyone can look at a thing or even notice it without really seeing it. The word means to fix the attention on something in such a way that its inner meaning, the lesson that it is designed to teach, may be learned.

The text puts the name of Jesus at the very end of the command to punctuate the person and work of Christ. It literally reads, “Consider the apostle and high priest of our confession Jesus.”

The importance of considering Jesus in the Christian Life.

The table calling us back to consider Jesus.

The presence of four Gospel witnesses to the life of Christ.

The overwhelming reference to the person of Christ in the NT.

The calling to discipleship as being that of a follower.

“Apostle and High Priest”

The word “Apostle” means “sent one” or “delegate” and its usage here may initially confuse the reader. The title apostle is used in a couple of different ways in our NT.

One being what we typically think of as an Apostle, an individual who was present for the life and ministry of Jesus and had a special relationship with Christ.

Another way in which it is used is of individuals sent by another.

Here, it is used of Christ, speaking of his being sent by God the Father to accomplish a specific task.

The title given to Christ of “High Priest” is one that is used of an intermediary between God and Man and we have already examined this title in the preceeding text, and will certainly return to it later.

The Letter to the Hebrews Greater than the Greatest (Hebrews 3:1–6)

The Latin for a priest is pontifex, which means a bridge-builder. The priest is the person who builds a bridge between men and women and God. To do that, the priest must know both human nature and God, and must be able to speak to God for men and women and in turn to speak to them for God.

Moses

One of the primary ways in which the writer of Hebrews wants us to consider/contemplate Jesus is by considering him in relationship with Moses.

Important because of the Jewish background of the book and also because of the temptations to fall back to Judaism because of persecution.

Moses was incredibly important in the Jewish mind.

He is given an incredible place of prominence in the OT (as we will see as we explore the text that the writer of Hebrews is expositing in this section).

Moses was the instrument through which God rescued Israel out of Egypt and formed them into a people.

Moses was one of the very few men in the OT era who were given an experience of God’s presence. (Moses seeing the backside of God’s glory in Exodus 33:17-23.

God spoke to Moses directly in a way unlike any other prophet before him as declared in Numbers 12:8.

It was through Moses that Israel received the OT law, essentially their constitution.

Illustration: Abraham Lincoln portrait in MN State Capital Building House Chamber… “Why?” Someone put up the portrait and the tour guide said that “once you put up a picture of Abraham Lincoln it is very hard to justify ever taking it down.”

Argument from Moses: His argument about Moses essentially takes two tracks:

A Builder is Better than a Building

A Son is Better than a Servant

The author desired for his original hearers to see through this argument that to fall back into judaism because of pressure and persectuion was to trade the builder and son for the structure and and the slave.

Numbers 12:7-8

Numbers 12:7 (ESV)

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

Hebrews 3:2 is the first introduction to a passage that the author of Hebrews wants us to consider as we examine how Christ is better than Moses. This passage he will also return to quoting in Hebrews 3:5 as well. This helps us to see the structure in his argument I noted earlier.

The author builds his argument for the superiority of Christ upon this text. Before fleshing out his argument, he wants us to consider what these two men share in common, their faithfulness.

Two Faithful Ones

“Who was faithful to him who appointed him, just as Moses […]”

The author starts with a place of commonality. Moses and Jesus were both men who stand apart from others who proceeded and come after them in that they were both uniquely faithful to the work God had called them to do.

Obviously, Moses’ faithfulness is tempered somewhat by occassional transgressions in a way that Christ’ ministry was not. However, the author’s point is that both of these men stand uniquely to have been declared faithful.

The faithfulness of Jesus is boldly declared in the Gospel of John where he says, Jno. 6:38–40; 8:29; 12:27-28; 15:10; 17:4.

A Builder is Better than the Building

Verse 3 begins to distinguish between Moses and Jesus.

“For Jesus has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses”

Moses did experience and receive something of God’s glory if you recall Exodus 34:29-30, 35 and its quotation in 2 Corinthians 3:12-18.

Yet, Scripture unequivocally places more glory on Christ.

This can been seen in John 12:27-30 where it is said from heaven that Jesus will receive Glory from the Father.

This can been seen in the transfiguration of Matthew 17 where the two greatest figures of the OT appear with Christ (Moses and Elijah) and they converse with Christ. There when the disciples wish to honor Moses, Elijah, and Christ these other two OT figures are immediately overshadowed by bright cloud which declares that the disciples were to listen to the Son.

Application: Perhaps no greater application can be made from this text than that which the Apostle Paul applied in 2 Corinthians 3:17-18. The greatest source for the sustaining of the believer in the trials and tribulations of life is get our eyes on Christ. To allow ourselves to be transformed by Christ through the trials and circumstances of life.

...Something akin to the testing of Peter when he stepped out on the water with Jesus. When he took his eyes off Christ he was overwhelmed by the sea. But how did he fail, was it the heights of the waves that overtook him or was it his failure to look to Christ?

“As much more glory as the builder of a house has more honor than the house itself. (For every house is built by someone, but the builder of all things is God.”

Here the author uses an illustration that not only helps us to understand how Jesus’ glory is better than Moses’ glory, but also helps us to understand why Jesus’ glory is better than Moses’ glory.

The how of Jesus’ greater glory is communicated to us through the illustration of a builder and a building.

Illustration: Mystery of the Pyramids. The Pyramids were grand, architectural feats in and of themselves are impressive, but what is more impressive about those ancient buildings is that a people built those structures without modern engines, vehicles, or electricity.

The why of Jesus’ greater glory is communicated to us through the commentary on builds that clearly states that God is the builder of all things. Thus tying together this text with the opening pages of Hebrews 1.

A Son is Better than a Servant

Verse 5 returns to the quotation from Numbers 12:7, but here the author wants to explore another facet of this text. This facet that he wants to explore can be summed up by the prepositions that he uses to contrast Moses and Christ.

Numbers 12:7 says that Moses was faithful in the house. Whereas the author of the Hebrews declares that Jesus was faithful over the house.

Moses was a part of the house that was being built, whereas Jesus stands outside of the house that was built. Moses was in need of the saving work of Christ, whereas Jesus was the one working and building.

Moses was faithful “as a servant to testify to the things that were to be spoken later.”

Moses had a fundamental role in the establishment of Israel, but he nevertheless should be considered but a servant.

Moses has a forward pointing, service ministry as evidenced by Deuteronomy 18:15-19.

Christ was faithful “as a son”

Christ is here declared to be faithful as a son.

Harkening back to Hebrews 1:2, 5, 8-9.

Application: The vital importance of keeping our eyes on Christ in the trials and difficulties of life.

Consider Your Confident Hope

Hebrews 3:6 (ESV)

[…] And we are his house, if indeed we hold fast our confidence and our boasting in our hope.

“We are his house.”

The author returns to joyous words about our status… “We are his house.” We belong to him.

The author wants his original hearers to understand that to return to the house of Israel, as though by doing so you would earn a good standing with God is absolute folly.

The church of Jesus Christ is God’s house.

“If Indeed we hold fast our confidence”

“Confidence” conveys courage and boldness.

Illustration: Carl Trueman Book.

the world desperately needs to see believers who will boldly stand for Biblical principle because those same Christians truly know and believe that it is the only hope for humanity.

“And our boasting in our hope.”

This word “boasting” does not convey the sense of arrogance in something we have earned, but rather conveys the antonym of shame.

In a world which seeks to shame Christians into submission to their mold, we need Christians who will boast and have boldness in their hope.

Application:

The vital importance of keeping our hope, courage, and confidence fixed in the trials and difficulties of life.