Greater Than Moses

Well, as you've taken in these first few messages that Pastor Mike has delivered us from the letter to the Hebrews,

you've probably seen that the author was methodically making the argument that Jesus is better.

Better than everything. He's better than the angels. He's better than Moses. He's better than Joshua.

He's better than Aaron in the Old Testament priesthood. Jesus is better than the Old Covenant.

He's better than the sacrifices and on and on. Jesus brings his people a better hope.

He brings them a better sacrifice. He brings them a better substance, a better country, a better resurrection, a better everything.

He is preeminent over everything. Jesus is better.

However, the pattern of this letter seems to go something like this.

The author begins by declaring Jesus is better, but then the objection comes.

What about this?

And so the author answers the objection, providing an argument that Jesus is better than the challenge.

And then often after the challenge is made, after the argument is made, proving that Jesus is better,

then the author actually then provides a warning.

And that warning calls professing believers not to drift from the Word, not to doubt the Word,

not to become dull toward the Word, not to begin to despise the Word,

and certainly not ultimately to defy the Word.

So that's how this whole thing goes.

Jesus is better, argument, what about this?

And then comes the explanation, and then the warning.

Now today, the question, as you gather, is what about Moses?

I think we have a tendency to hold certain people in high esteem.

It could be a statesman.

It could be an author.

It could be a humanitarian.

It could be a teacher.

It could be a theologian.

For a Jew, the person who was held high above all others was probably Moses,

with the possible exception of Abraham.

I mean, the Jews identified with Abraham in their heritage.

I think it was in John 8 where it was said,

we are offspring of Abraham, and Abraham is our father.

But according to Jesus, they had set their hope on Moses.

John 5, verse 45.

John 5:45

And the Pharisees even identified themselves as disciples of Moses, according to John 9.

Before we actually consider Moses and how Jesus is better than Moses,

notice the first word in the text.

And by the way, the text is on the back side of your bulletin, so you can follow along there.

But in the first part of that, what's the first word?

Therefore.

The author of Hebrews pulls in the argument that was stated in chapter 2, verses 10 to 18,

regarding why Jesus came in the flesh and what he accomplished for us.

The author of Hebrews had argued that Jesus was a merciful and faithful high priest,

who had tasted death for everyone and is the sole source of our salvation.

But many were thinking, okay, but what's the question?

What about Moses?

Could anyone else be greater than Moses?

Well, let's consider Moses for a moment.

God miraculously protected Moses at birth.

You know the story from the early chapter of Exodus,

how God protected Moses from being killed.

Amazing story.

And then, how about the death of Moses?

That was marked by provision for his burial by God himself.

That was unique.

And then the life between his birth and his death was marked by all kinds of miracles.

He was a divinely chosen instrument of God for the task of delivering God's people from Egyptian slavery,

which would actually serve as a picture, if you will, of our deliverance from our sin.

Amazing picture of our salvation.

It was to Moses that God with his fiery finger wrote in the tablets of stone the law.

People were introduced to the glory of God from a distance.

What about Moses?

Oh, he was introduced to God practically face to face.

In fact, Moses' skin actually reflected the glory of God.

Moses was an amazing person.

From his pen came the plans for the tabernacle and the Ark of the Covenant,

not to mention the entire book of the law.

The first five books of the Old Testament often referred to as the books of Moses.

So, you can understand why the Jews held Moses in such high regard.

In the minds of the Jews, was there anyone greater?

In fact, many Jews believed that Moses was even greater than the angels.

Beyond what has already been said, God had spoken to Moses directly.

Remember at one point on the backside of the Midian Desert,

Moses is watching sheep by himself and he sees a bush burning.

And remember what happened?

The bush spoke.

Well, not really.

God did.

From the bush.

God spoke from the mountain.

God spoke from the heavens.

As one writer declared,

Moses was the, quote,

incomparable deliverer, the unparalleled prophet,

the sole lawgiver, and the great historian.

Certainly, this was the man.

This was God's man.

So, the challenge of the author of Hebrews

was to demonstrate that as important as Moses was,

and as great and appropriately honored as Moses was,

Jesus was better.

Jesus is far greater.

The challenge was not just, not really to take anything away from Moses,

but to demonstrate the absolute superiority of Jesus.

So, keep in mind what's at stake.

You've been around here for a while.

Know that Christ the King Church has a motto.

Three words.

What is it?

Together, following Jesus.

All right.

Why should I follow Jesus?

By the way, that was a little weak.

But, together, following Jesus.

Why should I follow Jesus?

I mean, why not fall back on somebody else?

Like Moses.

Isn't that good enough?

Might be safer.

But, the author of Hebrews would shout,

No!

No, never!

Never let that be.

A greater than Moses is here.

Therefore, he says, consider Jesus.

I think the NIV translates that,

Fix your thoughts on Jesus.

Focus on Jesus.

So, this morning, by comparing and contrasting Jesus with Moses,

we're going to do what the author of Hebrews commanded us to do.

We're going to consider Jesus.

We're going to fix our thoughts on Him.

Before we look at that exactly,

first we're going to consider the readers for a moment.

The author of Hebrews addresses them as holy brothers,

and as those who, quote,

share in the heavenly calling.

So, I take it that these were assumed to be true believers.

They were not just fellow Jews.

They were true believers.

Again, holy brothers who share in the heavenly calling.

The author's not speaking to them in terms of ethnicity, exactly,

but rather spiritually.

He's looking at them as believers in Jesus.

So, we're reminded of this special relationship that we have in chapter 2.

Mike brought that out last time.

The author is going to support his argument that Jesus is better than Moses,

and he's going to use three lessons to do that.

The first one is a lesson in character,

and the character quality he's going to look at is faithfulness.

Here's the text, verses 1 and 2.

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.

So, we're going to look, first of all,

at faithfulness to the Father,

and see Moses as faithful to the Father,

and then see Jesus as faithful to the Father.

Before the author of Hebrews demonstrates the superiority of Christ,

he's going to speak of the similarity in faithfulness to the Father

by both Moses and Jesus.

This was done to, I think, recognize the strong affection

and the significance,

the significant connection of Moses to the Jews

and almost everything else Jewish to Moses.

So, both Moses and Jesus were faithful to the one who had called them.

At one point, God was speaking to Aaron and Miriam,

and as he was speaking to them,

he was,

it was almost like Miriam and Aaron were having a family coup against Moses.

In fact, they were about ready to take over.

And in Numbers chapter 12,

Numbers 12 · chapter mention

God speaks to those two,

and he says about the prophets in the past and so forth,

and how God used prophets,

but not with Moses.

Not so with my servant Moses,

says God.

He is faithful in all my house.

With him I speak mouth to mouth,

clearly and not in riddles.

And he beholds the form of the Lord.

Why then were you not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?

So, he makes the case about the significance of Moses there.

Moses carried out God's plan,

mostly in God's way.

He was used by God to deliver the people

out of 400 plus year slavery or bondage in Egypt.

He was a faithful person to lead them,

to secure provisions for them,

with what would ultimately become a 40 year journey.

Moses was faithful.

Obviously, Jesus was faithful to the Father.

Jesus was the one who was called by him

to come and redeem his people from their sins.

He led his people out of bondage,

the bondage of sin.

Jesus was also the good shepherd

who led and fed his people

and protected and defended his own,

and with the promise of bringing them

all the way back to the land,

if you were,

to the Father's house.

Faithfulness to the Father is found in both

Jesus and Moses.

But it was not just faithfulness to the Father,

but also faithfulness to the mission.

Jesus is mentioned by a couple of terms

in those first two verses.

One is rather strange.

In fact, I think it's the only place

where Jesus is called the apostle.

Apostle.

What's the term apostle mean?

It means one who is sent.

It's without argument that Jesus was sent here

by the Father

in order that the work of redemption

might be accomplished.

He was clearly God's highest messenger to men.

In the truest sense of the word,

Jesus was an apostle.

Of course, he not only represented God,

he is God.

Nonetheless, he is considered an apostle.

Now, though Moses is not called an apostle in Scripture,

he was clearly sent by God on a mission,

and he was faithful to accomplish that mission.

He failed several times along the way.

You recall the time when Moses was to speak to the rock?

Remember what he did?

The second time, he struck the rock,

caused him some problems.

He complained to God on many occasions.

I remember hearing a phrase by a preacher one time

that caught my attention,

and I think Moses must have said this or similarly.

Lord, what is wrong with these people?

Seriously?

In fact, at one point,

Moses came to the place where he said,

just take my life.

I'm done.

I'm done.

I mean, how would you respond

to two and a half million complaining people every day?

But generally,

Moses was faithful as one sent by God

to accomplish this God-assigned mission.

Jesus, on the other hand,

was more than an apostle,

more than a sent one.

He was also a high priest of our confession.

This could not be said of Moses.

Moses was a prophet,

and on occasion,

Moses served as a priest,

according to Psalm 99, verse 6,

Psalms 99:6

but never as a high priest.

In fact, the title belonged to his brother Aaron.

Clearly, at this point,

Jesus is proven to be superior to Moses.

As apostle, Jesus represents God to men.

As the high priest,

he represents men to God.

And we're introduced to this position in chapter 2,

and we will likely see that many more times

as Pastor Mike walks us through this book.

Jesus is not only a priest,

but he is our great high priest.

And that argument will be coming in chapters to follow.

But the point is that both Jesus and Moses

were faithful to the Father,

and they were faithful to their mission.

And there's only just a brief mention

of Christ's superiority to Moses at this point.

But the author of Hebrews

is about to make the superiority argument

much stronger.

So now we look at a lesson in comparison.

And the comparison is a builder and a building.

And this is verses 3 and 4.

Here's the text.

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.

So basically, we are comparing

the work of Jesus and the work of Moses.

The building or house was not a physical structure,

but it is a people.

So Moses' house or household

included Old Testament believers,

Jews in particular,

but there were others

who joined the Jews as proselytes.

And so there was this group of people

that Moses,

that was included in,

quote unquote,

Moses' household.

Moses was a faithful manager

of that household.

Moses was responsible

for dispensing to the Israelites

the commandments,

the truths,

the requirements,

the promises

that God had committed

to his trust.

Moses was in the house.

Moses managed the house.

But Moses didn't own the house.

And Moses didn't build the house.

The house belonged to God.

Moses was important,

but Jesus is better.

So let's look at Jesus' house

or household.

That includes believers,

his church.

Again, verse 3,

what's it say?

For Jesus has been counted worthy

of more glory than Moses,

as much more glory

as the builder of the house

has more honor

than the house itself.

So Christ was also faithful

in his household.

In fact,

the apostle Paul

would write about that

in Ephesians chapter 3

Ephesians 3 · chapter mention

or chapter 2

when he said,

so then,

you are no longer strangers

and aliens,

but you are fellow citizens

with the saints

and are of God's household.

That's speaking of believers.

Us.

Peter echoed the same idea

when he wrote in his first letter

in chapter 2,

in coming to him

as to a living stone

rejected by men,

but choice and precious

in the sight of God.

You also,

as living stones,

are being built up

as a spiritual house.

So unlike Moses,

Jesus was the owner

and the builder of the house.

And the author of Hebrews

makes that point

that the owner and the builder

is greater than the building.

So Moses was part of the house.

Jesus made the house.

In order for this

to make any sense at all,

for Jesus to make the house,

what did he have to be?

He had to be God.

And so,

the author is zeroing in

on the greatness of Jesus

far greater than Moses.

Way more glory than Moses.

Now we get to the climax

of the argument,

and that's a lesson in contrast.

And so we're moving

from a building

and the builder

now to a servant

and a son.

So Moses is a servant.

Jesus is the son.

Here's the text.

Now Moses was faithful.

And by the way,

just look at that.

Remember we talked about

the character quality first,

faithfulness?

And then we talked about

the builder and the house.

And now we're going to talk about

servant and son contrast.

Listen to this verse.

Now Moses was faithful

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.

There they all are.

And we are his house.

We are his house

if indeed

we hold fast

our confidence

and our boasting

in our hope.

Let's look at Moses

the servant.

The author of Hebrews

puts the best possible

spin on this.

The word for servant here,

I think this is the only time

this particular term

occurs in the New Testament.

It's a term for servant

but it's not the kind of

servant who is

on the bottom row

doing all the hard work.

It's like the servant

who's over the servants.

It's like

a high level servant.

It's like the chief servant

of the servants.

Carries the idea

of willingness to serve

and personal service

freely rendered.

So the author of Hebrews

puts the best possible

spin on this

is Moses as a servant

even as a high ranking

servant however.

Serving

because he wanted to

he's still

a servant.

He was faithful

he was obedient

he was a good steward

of God

but he's still

a servant.

Moses' task

mentioned here

was to

testify

to the things

that were

to be spoken

later.

What does that mean?

Well in

Deuteronomy

Deuteronomy 18:15

chapter 18

verse 15

I think

Moses did this

when he

told the children

of Israel

these words

the Lord your God

will raise up

a prophet

like me

from among you

from your brothers

it is to him

you shall listen.

Moses was talking

about

Jesus

the son.

See

Judaism

didn't understand

then

and it does

not understand

now

that Moses

was to be

the witness

to bear witness

to the one

who would come

namely

Jesus.

Judaism

without Christ

is incomplete

it's a shadow

it's not the

substance

it's the advertisement

but it's not

the real thing.

In fact

Jesus would say

it this way

actually

this is the

this would be

the writer

of

Hebrews

the author

of Hebrews

would say

it this way

for since

the law

has but a shadow

of the good

things to come

instead of the

true form

of these realities

it can never

by the same

sacrifices

that are

continually

offered

every year

make perfect

those who

draw near.

Moses

was faithful

to testify

what

would be

said

and done

in the future

and in fact

Jesus would

bear witness

to that

when he said

for if you

believed Moses

you would

believe me

you know why

because he

wrote of me

Moses was

testifying

to the things

that were to

be spoken

later

Moses did

that

as a servant

but now

we have

Jesus

the son

Jesus made

the point

in John 8

35

the slave

does not

remain in the

house forever

but the son

remains forever

servants

come and go

the son

remains

the son

forever

Jesus

as the son

possesses

the authority

that is

inherently

superior

to any

mere servant

Jesus

is not

in the

house

as is

Moses

he is

over the

house

he is

lord and

master

of the

house

and he's

builder

of the

house

that's

Jesus

he's

better

than

Moses

and that's

the whole

argument

here

Jesus

is

better

he's

better

than

everything

you think

Moses

is

great

look at

Jesus

he's

better

that's

what

he's

saying

now

as

Jesus

is

lord

over

all

that

this

servant

Moses

has been

displaced

by the

son

Jesus

you see

it's

it was

not

Moses

who did

this

for the

people

it was

Jesus

we need

to consider

Jesus

that's

what we're

called to

in this

text

consider

does not

mean

just give

passing

glance

to it

to consider

means

to

think

carefully

to

understand

fully

who

Jesus

is

to

think

about

him

to

ruminate

on

him

are we

doing

that

that's

what

he's

calling

us

to

do

I

want

you

to

see

this

last

phrase

in

verse

six

back

up

look

at

the

text

again

in

verse

six

he

says

and

we

are

his

household

start

with

verse

six

but

Christ

is

faithful

over

God's

house

as a

son

and

we

are

his

household

if

indeed

we

hold

fast

our

confidence

and

our

boasting

in

our

hope

if

we

hold

fast

now

pastor

Mike

explained

what

that

means

that

doesn't

mean

that

we

are

hanging

on

for

dear

life

okay

now

we

hold

fast

because

of

who

Jesus

is

that's

true

and

that

is

the

declaration

really

that

we

belong

to

Jesus

those

who

belong

to

Jesus

hold

on

those

who

belong

to

Jesus

hold

fast

it's

not

a

condition

of

our

salvation

it

is

the

result

of

it

true

believers

hold

fast

to

Jesus

we

don't

jettison

him

for

something

else

we

hold

fast

that's

the

point

those

who

abandon

Christ

in

favor

of

Judaism

or

anything

else

would

prove

that

they

had

never

been

new

creations

!

in

Christ

ever

but

for

us

who

know

Christ

for

us

who

are

known

by

him

we

have

the

courage

God

has

given

us

to

continue

even

in

the

midst

of

great

trials

!

that

courage

emerges

from

our

hope

this

hope

in

Christ

Jesus

looks

ahead

to

the

consummation

of

our

salvation

and

the

promises

of

scripture

becoming

fully

realized

in the

believer's

experience

it's

gonna

happen

he's

controlling

it all

and

so

we are

able

to

hold

fast

that's

the

point

all

right

problem

some

of us

are

struggling

feels

like we

can't

hold

on

any

longer

you

ever

felt

that

way

before

I'm

losing

my

grip

how

many

times

did

Moses

lose

his

grip

but

you

know

what

there's

a

greater

than

Moses

here

and

while

we're

struggling

to

hang

on

all

the

while

the

Lord

is

holding

on

to

us

if

you

belong

to

Jesus

he's

got

you

Moses

wrote

this

he had

an idea

about

this

this

comes

from

Deuteronomy

these

are the

words

Moses

wrote

down

the

eternal

God

is

your

dwelling

place

and

underneath

are

the

everlasting

arms

what

an

incredible

picture

we're

to

hold

fast

but

even

when

we

think

we

can't

hold

on

any

longer

we're

going

to

because

we're

not

going

to

fall

because

he

told

his

disciples

this

my

sheep

hear

my

voice

I

know

them

and

they

follow

me

and

I

give

them

eternal

life

and

they

will

never

perish

and

no

one

will

snatch

them

out

of

my

hand

my

father

who

has

given

them

to

me

is

greater

than

all

and

no

he's

greater

than

Moses

he

won't

let

you

fall

hold

fast

because

you

can

because

you

will

because

he's

holding

on

to

you

there's

a

there's

a

hymn

that

we've

sometimes

sung

here

that

I

think

just

kind

of

summarizes

this

I'm

going to

leave

that

with

you

today

just

kind

of

take

this

in

when

I

fear

my

faith

will

fail

Christ

will

hold

me

fast

when

the

tempter

shall

prevail

he

will

hold

me

fast

I

can

never

keep

my

hold

through

life's

fearful

path

for

my

love

is

often

cold

he

must

hold

me

fast

those

he

saves

are

his

delight

Christ

will

hold

me

fast

precious

in

his

holy

sight

he

will

hold

me

fast

he'll

not

let

my

soul

be

lost

his

promises

shall

last

bought

by him

at such

a cost

he

will

hold

me

fast

for

my

life

he

bled

and

died

Christ

will

hold

me

fast

justice

has

been

satisfied

he

will

hold

me

fast

raised

with

him

to

endless

life

he

will

hold

me

fast

till

our

faith

is

turned

to

sight

when

he

comes

at

last

he

will

hold

me

fast

he

will

hold

me

fast

for

my

savior

loves

me

so

he

will

hold

me

fast

consider

jesus

hold

on

to

him

he's

better

than

anything

and

everything

and

when

you

belong

to

him

he's

holding

fast

to

you

and

he

will

not

let

go

is that

good

news

he's

better

he's

better

than

moses

so

when

the

argument

comes

but

what

about

no

he's

better

but

wait

what

no

he's

better

but

what

he's

better

hold

fast

he's

better

let's

pray

father

we're a

bunch of

people that

need help

we need

help to

remember

who

your son

is

we need

help

to consider

you

we need

help

to

remember

that

we

have

been

saved

by a

God

who's

going

to

keep

us

we've

been

saved

by a

God

who

sent

his

son

who

is

not

just

better

but

perfect

great

awesome

a

God

who

is

all

we

need

and

we

thank

you

for

Jesus

help

us

never

ever

ever

to

think

there

might

be

something

better

something

more

help

us

to

trust

in

you

to

believe

in

you

to

depend

on

you

to

rest

in

you

to

hope

in

you

to

live

for

you

until

we're

in

your

presence

and

see

you

face

to

face

thank

you

that

you

hold

on

to

us

as

we

hold

fast

to

you

we

thank

you

and

praise

you

in

the

son

the

Lord

Jesus

name

amen