Greater than Moses - the Son builds the father’s house

Our reading this morning is from Hebrews chapter 3, verses 1 through 6.

Hebrews 3:1–6

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 honour 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.

The word of the Lord.

Well, good morning, everyone.

For those who don't know me, my name's David, and I'm a sort of part-timer here.

Well, I am.

Sort of.

Yeah.

I'm actually not sure how to introduce myself these days.

All right.

Into God's word.

It's really common, I think, for people in tough circumstances.

That is, when life's confusing, when life's hard, sometimes when life's out of control,

really far removed from what we'd consider normal.

It's common for people in those sort of circumstances to look back to familiar people and things.

Things that, in their mind, were lodged in there, but actually come to the surface in tough times and

remind them or become the indicators that, well, life was secure.

Life was normal.

Everything was well in the world back then.

And so they sort of come to the surface.

It's a little bit like, in computer terms, returning to default settings.

Things that, as I say, buried in our hearts and minds, oftentimes we don't even know they exist

until tough circumstances trigger the reset.

For example, a child, a lump of a child, struck down by illness or some other trauma

might actually go back to sucking their thumb or cuddling a soft toy that they haven't done for years

because it's an indication that, you know, life is okay.

We saw during the COVID pandemic some of the random things adults did.

Toilet paper, for goodness sake.

Somehow or other, for so many people, that became the indicator that life was going to be okay.

It was random, but it was worth fighting over, apparently.

But even other things, like some people would go and do religious things that hadn't done since childhood,

maybe offer a prayer or actually go and sit in a church building somewhere.

Again, where does that come from?

The other big thing during the COVID pandemic was just that demand to be able to see family members,

visit them freely.

And that from people who often would have been careless about those same family members.

Prior to COVID.

It's that sort of thing, I think, that helps us understand what's going on behind the scenes here in this letter to the Hebrew.

It seems like many Christians to whom the letter to the Hebrews was addressed were doing the same sort of thing.

When they first encountered Jesus, they identified really strongly with him.

They were totally thankful for what he had done for them.

They were excited for the fresh start they had in him based on grace alone.

And with total conviction, they turned away from their old Jewish religion and Jewish religious practices,

which was all about priests and sacrifices and celebrating special religious days and special religious holidays.

They had gladly turned away from that saying something far, far better in Jesus.

But it seems like when commitment to Jesus got really tough,

and as their daily lives felt more and more out of control,

they found themselves excluded from their family.

They found themselves excluded from the local synagogue and oftentimes from the local community even.

And then on top of that, they were starting to experience in very real terms persecution from the Roman Empire, the Roman authorities.

And there's all these things built up on them and unsettled them.

It seems like they were tempted to default back to the old, familiar, comforting Jewish religious practices.

It feels normal again.

And as they did that, then they also had to convince themselves that the Jewish religion,

which after all had served their ancestors well for centuries,

and after all there was a lot of overlap with Christianity,

they had to convince themselves that there wasn't really that much difference.

It was a difference of emphasis, perhaps.

And on top of that, they would have the added bonus of renewed acceptance with family in the synagogue,

their local community.

And they would be tolerated once again.

They'd be free from persecution because the Roman Empire tolerated the Jewish religion at that stage.

So all of that means the main challenge of the letter to the Hebrews is this.

Don't allow yourself to drift away from Jesus because serving him in a hostile world is really hard.

It's too hard.

And repeatedly, we've seen it several times already, and we're only in chapter 3.

Repeatedly, the writer is saying, think deeply and carefully about Jesus.

Pay attention to what he says.

Consider him.

Reflect upon him.

Meditate on who Jesus is and what he has done.

Think about what drew you to Jesus in the first place.

Put serious time into, and this isn't superannuation ad, comparing the two.

What the old Jewish religious practices offer you and what Jesus offers you.

Both offered a pathway to salvation and heaven.

But when you look at it, the writer's saying, you'll see that the pathways, the differences, are neither minor nor cosmetic, but they're fundamental.

So consider Jesus.

Fill your mind with who he is.

Fill your mind with what he has done uniquely to make you acceptable before God and qualify you for a place in heaven.

And if you do that, the writer's saying, if you do that constantly, then you'll find you've got a whole new perspective in any time of suffering.

In any short term of suffering.

Because, and this is the first main point I want to make, moving us into the chapter today.

Because it's only as we understand who Jesus is, that we understand who we are in him.

So this is really, the first point is just all verse 1, and then the second point is verse 2 through to 6.

You look at verse 1, it's introduced by a connecting word, therefore.

That tells us that the writer is now summing up the argument in chapter 1 and 2.

And we've seen so far in the three sermons we've had so far that every encouragement by the writer here for people to persevere with Jesus,

every encouragement is focused on who Jesus is.

And then the direct consequences for believers, those who are united to him.

Because Jesus is this, then we're that as we're united to him.

Now here in verse 1, Jesus is described in an unusual term called the apostle of our confession.

It's the only place where Jesus in the Bible is described as an apostle.

And the word itself isn't too fancy.

It's just one who's been commissioned, called and commissioned, or set apart for a unique task.

In this case, we've seen in chapter 1 and 2, that Jesus was called and commissioned, set apart,

come into the world for the unique task for which he was uniquely equipped or credentialed,

that of effecting or implementing God's salvation plan in history.

And so, like the prophets before him, Jesus comes into our world speaking God's word to God's people.

Similarity.

But, when you consider Jesus, you realize that he quickly redefines the category of prophet.

Being God, we're told in chapter 1, Jesus spoke with a unique clarity.

Who else knows God's mind better than God himself?

And he spoke, Jesus spoke with a unique authority.

And we saw in chapter 2, since he came in, since he is God, come into the world in true human form like us,

he also models or demonstrates how image bearers should live.

He demonstrates the good life of obedience and worship, which God's image bearers were designed to live.

And so, when you consider Jesus, yes, he's like the Old Testament prophets, but then you realize he's in a category by himself.

He speaks with clarity and he speaks with authority, but even more important, his life was totally consistent with what he said.

Unlike any other prophet before him.

Jesus is also described in verse 1 as the high priest of our confession.

Now, remember I said last week the priest has two main responsibilities.

On the one hand, he has to offer appropriate sacrifices to deal with God's anger because his creatures had rebelled against him.

And also then to deal with the guilt that comes as a natural consequence of that rebellion, the guilt of sin.

So the priest had to offer sacrifices to deal with that.

But he also had another important responsibility, as we talked about last week.

He had to pray for God's people.

And he had to pray for God's people because he, above all else, as a priest, would know, because he's in constant rubbing of it,

people's natural inclination to continue rebelling against God,

even when they're experiencing God's grace and forgiveness through sacrifice and restoration.

The priest was meant to see how broken God's people were,

and not just blandly offer a sacrifice, but actually pray for them.

Priests were notorious for not doing either very well.

Things haven't changed over the generations, have they?

But again, you see, Jesus refines or redefines the category of priest

because he perfectly fulfills both responsibilities.

And he achieves, we're told in chapter 1,

he achieves what not even the angels,

with all their involvement over the generations in implementing God's plan in the world,

Jesus achieves what they couldn't have done ever and didn't do ever.

And so we got last week that Jesus is our trailblazer, our champion.

And he cuts a nice, neat pathway through God's wrath,

through the penalty of our sin and the guilt that comes with it,

through our broken humanity,

praying for us in our weaknesses and struggles.

And he leads us down that pathway, as it says last week,

that beautiful little phrase,

taking many sons and daughters to glory,

which is heaven, a place of blessing.

Amen.

For every relationship with God.

So that's the summary.

And the consequences out of that, verse 1,

are just incredible.

We have been reunited to God's forever family.

That's where we were created to be, image bearers, Genesis 1 and 2.

Pushed away by God because of rebellion.

Now in Jesus, reunited.

We're holy brothers and sisters of Jesus and of one another.

Reunited to God's forever family and to every other believer.

Reformatted.

Holiness.

We're reformatted for a life of obedience,

as we were originally created to be but couldn't be.

Now we can be in Jesus.

Restored to the enjoyment of all God's blessings and privileges,

which Jesus enjoys.

fellow heirs.

And not only that, but redirected to our heavenly calling.

In other words,

our orientation

to life is so completely different now.

Our motivation for living is so completely different now.

We look ahead

to that moment of glory.

And that

is what gives us the perspective

and the confidence

and the courage

and the hope

to live well now.

No matter

the cost.

Here,

we're part of the world

that said in chapter 1

that will be rolled up eventually.

In other words,

it's just temporary.

Looks very permanent,

but it's just temporary.

But in Jesus,

we're part of that world

that will be forever.

Forever.

Hang in

with what is lasting

and hang in

with the one

who's leading you

home to glory.

So,

the point's so clear.

Jesus has done for you.

He said to these guys

that come out of the Jewish religious practices,

he said,

Jesus has actually done for you

that which the Jewish religious system

could never have done for you.

And he's done all that

at such huge cost to himself

and you get it

as a free gift

of God's grace and mercy.

So,

no wonder,

he says,

for goodness sake,

if only you would consider Jesus,

that is,

if only you would just stop

and think carefully about Jesus,

think deeply about who he is,

think expansively

about what he has done for you,

just savor

the privileges

and the benefits

that have come to you

through Jesus.

Then he's saying,

I think you will realize

just how insulting

and offensive it would be

to Jesus

and to God

to say,

well,

actually,

sorry,

Jesus,

I'm just going to put you back on the shelf.

I'm not ignoring you completely,

but I'm going to just play you down

because it's going to make my life

a bit easier.

And isn't that what we do

when the push comes to shove?

That's the decision we make.

If I identify with Jesus here,

my life in the next two minutes

might just be a bit tough.

So many of us

struggle with assurance,

struggle with just knowing,

are we safe in Jesus?

Are we in Jesus?

Are we totally safe?

Well,

I would say to you,

and I don't want this

just to be a sort of platitude

or a cheap shot,

but I think it's something we miss.

I'd say to you,

genuinely spend time

filling your mind

with who Jesus is.

Filling your mind

with what Jesus has done for you.

Filling your mind

with who you are in Jesus

from Jesus' own words.

Fill your mind with that

because we struggle with assurance

so often

because we allow our mind

to be filled

with our own imperfections.

with our own failures.

Sometimes our mind

is not filled with anything

other than the last argument

we had with our wife

or our husband

or our children

or whatever.

Consider Jesus.

That's not going to be

a be-all and end-all.

It'll sure help.

I went to the,

for those who are following

the script,

I'm off script at the minute,

went to the dentist this week

and it just occurred to me

that there on the ceiling

randomly

is a TV screen.

I think,

why on earth

would you have a TV screen

on the ceiling

in the dentist surgery?

And of course,

when I ask,

like a fool,

I had to ask,

he said,

well,

it's to distract people

who are fearful.

Now,

I wanted to say,

listen,

you're going to have to

find a different channel

because it wasn't distracting me,

it was annoying me.

But anyway,

some people might have

been distracted,

but that's the purpose.

So,

if you're filling your mind

with that,

you're not thinking

about what the dentist

is doing to you.

Second point,

as we understand

who Moses is,

we understand more

of why we need Jesus

and that's verses 2-6.

So,

we're moving into

new territory now.

So,

there is a connection

because the faithfulness

of Jesus

in his mission

connects

into

the next phase

of the writer's argument.

So,

verse 1

is actually

both a summary

and also a segue

into his next

line of argument.

So,

he's now going to

compare Jesus

and Moses.

Now,

who was Moses?

Well,

Moses was the most

significant figure

in Jewish history.

he was really

considered to be

the architect

of the Jewish nation

under God,

that is.

He rescued

God's people

from Israel

in the event

we call Exodus.

Go back and have a look

at Exodus chapter 3.

Exodus 3 · chapter mention

It actually uses

the word rescue

and redemption there.

God's people

were in a terrible

predicament

and they cried out

to God

for rescue

and God

responded

and sent

a rescuer,

a redeemer.

And that

was Moses

in the event

we call the Exodus.

And Exodus

was leading

God's people

out of Egypt

to Mount Sinai,

God's place.

And at Mount Sinai,

God reaffirmed

his relationship

to his people.

Here you are

gathered

and the word

in Exodus

is oikos,

which is a house.

Here you are

churched.

Ecclesia,

sorry,

not oikos.

Ecclesia,

churched.

You're gathered

in front of me.

You're my household.

You're my community,

my family.

All those words

sort of overlap.

And you're

governed

by my law,

which I'm about

to deliver to you

through Moses.

Moses led

God's people

through the 40-year

period of punishment

for the rebellion,

rebellion against

God's grace

and mercy

and the rejection

of God

even after

experiencing

his grace

and mercy.

Moses supervised

the construction

of the tabernacle,

which was the place

to deal with sin

and meet with God.

He led

the vast nation

of Israel

to the very edge

of the promised land.

Moses was a huge,

huge character

in Jewish history

and in the Old Testament.

And I think

the writer again

is anticipating

the response

of his readers.

It might go

something like this

and this is my

spin on it.

So, you know,

dismiss it

if you think

it's just weird.

I can sort of

imagine the writer

thinking,

okay,

these guys

are going to

agree wholeheartedly

that Jesus

was a great rescuer,

that Jesus

was a great

achiever

of God's

salvation plan,

that he was

a great trailblazer

leading people

back to God

and God's place

of forever blessing,

that he was

a personal champion

who identified

with and sacrificed

himself for the

good of God's people

at great cost

to himself.

Yes,

we can see all that

and that's lovely.

We appreciate all that

about Jesus,

but

wouldn't it be true

to say that

all that same stuff

was said about Moses?

And if following

the model of

obedience and

worship

demonstrated by

Moses

was the designated

pathway to life

and relationship

with God

for generations,

then surely

it'll be good

enough for us.

Surely it'll be

an acceptable

pathway to heaven

for us too.

perhaps they were

saying even more

than that.

You know,

now that we

were in this

position,

we're starting

to realize

how much

we miss

some of the

practical aspects

of our old

Jewish religion.

Things that were

visible,

things that were

tangible,

things that were

familiar,

things that were

grounded in history,

things that made

us feel comfortable,

things that made

us feel safe,

things that gave

us a really

nice rhythm

in life,

within which we

could say,

yes,

everything is

well in our

world.

In contrast

to what we're

now experiencing

with this

perhaps over

identification

with Jesus.

Jesus.

And so the

writer launches

into a

comparison of

Jesus and

Moses,

and he

concedes

that Jesus

and Moses

are alike

at key

points.

Each was

a specially

appointed

rescuer

or savior

figure.

Each

spoke God's

word clearly

and authoritatively

to God's

needy people.

And each

were described

here,

each were

told here,

was faithful

in carrying

out their

mission.

They cared

for God's

people.

They did

what they

were asked

to do

by the

Lord.

They were

serving

God's

house,

God's

household,

God's

nation,

God's

family,

God's

community.

I think

any of

those words

can just

be

plugged

in

here.

And as

I said

before,

check out

Exodus 2

for that

language.

But also

Numbers 12,

that's a

phenomenal

thing that

was pointed

out at our

small group.

I hadn't

picked that

verse up

before.

Numbers

Numbers 12:1–9

chapter 12

verses 1

to 9.

There's

an incredibly

extravagant

description of

Moses by

the Lord

himself in

the context

when Aaron

and Miriam

got sick

of Moses

and were

trying to

sort of find

a way to

shove him to

the side

and get

around him.

And the

Lord appeared

to them and

said,

this is my

servant

Moses.

And it

was extravagant

terms he

described

Moses.

But,

equally

true,

Moses and

Jesus

contrast at

key points.

In fact,

it's not

their similarities

but their

differences

which ultimately

form

final evaluation

of the two.

Jesus

is in a

category by

himself in

terms of

status before

God.

His part

in God's

salvation plan

is unique.

His

achievements

as a

savior figure

are unique

and complete.

And we're

told here

for that

reason,

at those

key points,

he is just

so totally

different from

Moses.

And for that

reason,

he deserves

far, far

greater glory

and honor

than Moses

does.

So,

God's

community.

And here's

the point of

contrast.

Moses was

never able to

be more than

a servant

to God's

community.

He was a

good servant,

but he was

never more

than a

servant.

Jesus

established

God's

community.

Jesus

owned God's

community.

Jesus

defined

God's

community.

Moses

was

used by

God to

establish a

clear pattern

of God's

rescue or

God's

redemption or

God's

salvation.

But in

the end,

Moses was

not able to

achieve anything

lasting.

He was

not actually

able to

deliver God's

people from

the very

basis of

the rebellion.

That is,

their bad

hearts,

their bad

track record

against God.

He could

speak God's

word to

them and

he did so

faithfully,

but he

couldn't make

that word

penetrate to

their hearts

and change

their attitudes

and their

minds.

Which,

of course,

is exactly

what Jesus

does.

Moses was

unable to

lead God's

people

consistently.

He was a

brilliant

leader.

but he

wasn't

perfect.

He was

prone to

anger and

prejudice.

He just

got sick and

tired of

the whinging

about God's

people.

He would

have given

up on them

at times.

But not so

Jesus.

Even more

important,

Moses was not

a priest.

His brother

Aaron was a

priest.

priest.

So,

ultimately,

Moses

wasn't

actually

able.

He

wasn't

qualified.

He

didn't have

the opportunity

to deal

with the

sins of

God's

people.

He

didn't have

the

qualification

to deal

with the

sins of

God's

people.

people.

He could

point out

their sins.

He

himself,

of course,

not only was

another priest,

but he

needed a

priest for

his own

sins.

Jesus.

The point

of comparison,

contrast,

Moses set

up there

as a

way,

the

template

for God's

savior figure,

for God's

plan of

redemption,

but he

couldn't

actually

deliver it.

So,

as we

saw that

template in

Moses,

we thought,

ah,

we've got to

wait for

someone better.

And Moses

himself knew

that he was

waiting for

someone better.

Moses could

only point

to God's

real savior,

real

deliverer,

the real

crusher from

Genesis chapter

three,

the salvation

trailblazer,

the champion.

Moses loved

God,

and Moses

longed for

the deliverance

of his

people from

rebellion to

the good

life of

God's

blessing.

Of course

he did.

But Jesus

loved God

and then

delivered that

which Moses

could only

long for.

Moses was

significant to

the people of

Israel and

the history

of Israel.

No,

sorry,

Moses was

significant to

the people of

Israel and

the history

of Israel

because his

life and

ministry

shaped or

became the

model for

or the

type of

God's

rescue plan,

not because

he achieved

it.

And Jesus

affirms that

understanding in

his own

ministry.

If you read

the Gospels,

particularly in

Matthew 5,

6,

7,

the Sermon

on the

Mount,

Jesus casts

his own

ministry in

terms of

being a

new and

better

Moses,

with a

new and

better

exodus or

a new and

better rescue

of God's

people to

a new and

better promised

land.

therefore,

the argument

is to

put Moses

and Jesus

on the

same page

in terms

of glory,

in terms

of confidence

you would

invest in

each for

salvation,

in terms

of praise

offered them,

to do

that is

to display

a shocking

lack of

understanding.

And

ultimately,

as I said

before,

to insult

the

achievements

of

Jesus.

To drift

away,

or to

deliberately

abandon

the way

of Jesus

for the

way of

Moses,

is silly,

according to

the writer,

because it

goes from

the superior

to the

inferior.

It goes

from reality

to incomplete.

It goes

from reality

delivered and

tangible to

the prototype

drawings.

And verse

six delivers

the logical

conclusion of

all this

argument.

Delivers it

as a

warning.

we are

his

household,

his

house,

his

family,

his

community,

his

died-for

resurrection

community,

the church.

We are

his

house,

if indeed

we hold

fast our

confidence

and are

boasting

in our

hope.

Very

simply as

this,

turn your

back on

Jesus,

and you've

really turned

your back

on salvation.

since

Jesus is

greater than

Moses,

then his

call to

hear God's

word and

follow him

to life and

blessing is

more important.

And therefore

failure to do

so will have

more severe

consequences,

even than

what God's

people experienced

under Moses.

we

demonstrate

the reality

of our

heavenly

calling in

verse 1.

We

demonstrate

that we're

the new

salvation

community of

Jesus.

We

demonstrate

that we've

been part

of this

knock-down

rebuild

project,

which Jesus

came into

our world

to do.

We

demonstrate

all of

that

very

simply

by being

faithful to

Jesus.

Jesus was

faithful to

his purpose.

The challenge

to you and

me is,

will we be

faithful to

Jesus?

I don't

know what

default

settings are

in your

central

processing

unit,

but they

will be

there.

They

will be

there.

They'll

come out

at random

times.

will