JESUS: FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION – Hebrews 3:1-6
Posted by Pastor Greg Allen on December 10, 2014 under PM Bible Study |
PM Home Bible Study Group; December 10, 2014
Hebrews 3:1-6
Theme: We are to consider the superiority of Jesus’ New Covenant ministry over the Old Covenant ministry of Moses.
(All Scripture is taken from The New King James Version, unless otherwise indicated).
The Book of Hebrews is a book that was written to encourage Jewish Christians who were suffering persecution for their faith. They were tempted to draw back from their commitment to Jesus, and to return instead to the old rituals and ceremonial regulations of their former Judaism. But the writer of Hebrews seeks to exhort them to stay true to their faith in Jesus (who has completely fulfilled all that was required of them under the law of Moses), and to not give up in their struggles for Him. Far more than that, he even encourages them to draw near to the Father with full confidence in His 100% acceptance of them through Christ.
To defend his appeal to stay true to Jesus, this letter was written—in part—to stress the wonderful superiorities of Jesus. In the first two chapters of his letter, the focus was on how Jesus is superior to the angels through whose mediation the Old Covenant had been given to Moses. And now, beginning with the third chapter, the writer shows them that Jesus is superior to Moses himself.
* * * * * * * * * *
The word that the writer uses is “consider”. He tells his readers to “consider the Apostle and High Priest of our confession, Christ Jesus” (v. 1). The word ‘consider’ here means much more than to simply give Jesus a passing thought. In the original language of this letter, it is a word formed by the combination of two Greek words—kata, which is a preposition that means “down upon”; and noeō, which means “to perceive” or “to observe”. Therefore, this is a very intense word that means that the readers were to diligently perceive the truths they were being taught about Jesus—to consider those truths attentively, and to fix their eyes upon them—so as to understand what the implications of those truths are. And as they did so, they would begin to see the superiority of the New Covenant given through Jesus over the Old Covenant that had been given through Moses.
Note first, then . . .
I. WHO IT IS THAT WE ARE TO CONSIDER (v. 1).
A. The writer tells these Jewish readers, “Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our confession, Christ Jesus . . .” (v. 1). Notice how he addresses these Jewish readers. He calls them “holy brethren”. These are Christians—believers who had been saved by faith in Jesus—who now stand before God as “holy” and already accepted in His sight by virtue of Christ. And more, they are also “partakers of the heavenly calling”. They are destined for eternal glory; and are as sure of being there as if they had already arrived. This is important to stress. It means that there is nothing of the old Judaism—to which they were tempted to return—that could possibly add anything to what they already had in Jesus. One of the greatest ways of keeping ourselves from falling into the trap of legalism—or even from falling into the deceptive promises of the cults and man-made religions—is to develop a whole-hearted confidence in the righteous standing we already have—as a full possession, freely given to us—in Christ by God’s grace.
B. The writer therefore tells these holy brethren to consider Jesus carefully. And note what he calls Jesus. He is, first, “the Apostle” of our confession—that is, our saving faith. An ‘apostle’ simply means ‘a sent-one’. It is very much akin to the idea of an ambassador—sent by someone with great standing and authority to bear the message of the offer of reconciliation and relationship. And that’s what Jesus is to us. He is God’s ‘sent-one’—a divine Ambassador sent by the Father to graciously bring to effect full reconciliation with Himself. In that respect, Jesus serves God’s interests toward us. But He is also the “High Priest” of our confession. He is the one who serves our interests toward the holy God who seeks to be reconciled with us. He makes it possible for sinners like us to approach God freely and in an acceptable way. Jesus, then, is both “Apostle” and “High Priest” of our confession of faith. He stands in the middle, as it were, and serves the interests of God toward us, and of us toward God. All of the grace that we can receive from God the Father, and all that we can do to respond to the Father’s grace toward us, is only through Jesus Himself. As Paul put it elsewhere, “For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus” (1 Timothy 2:5).
So; that is who it is that we are to consider. Next, note . . .
II. WHAT IT IS THAT WE ARE TO CONSIDER CONCERNING HIM (vv. 2-6a).
A. This is where the comparison between the Lord Jesus and Moses comes into focus. First, we are to consider that Jesus was faithful to the work of the Father—just as was Moses. The writer speaks of the great Apostle and High Priest of our confession—Jesus—“who was faithful to Him who appointed Him, as Moses also was faithful in all His house . . .” (v. 2). The idea of a “house”, as it is used here, means more than just a building. It means an entire stewardship of responsibilities, and includes all the people and possessions that come under the care of that network of responsibilities. Moses, of course, had been entrusted with a “house” in that sense from God. He was entrusted by God with an Old Covenant to pass on to the people, a set of laws they were to follow, and a multitude of God’s chosen people that he was to lead into the promised land. And in terms of what he was given from God, he proved faithful. But so also was the Lord Jesus in the things that the Father entrusted to Him. Jesus was, as we were told in 2:17, “a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people (Hebrews 2:17). To the degree that Moses was faithful with his entrustment from God, so was our Lord Jesus. Jesus failed in nothing that God had given Him. Just before going to the cross for us, Jesus was able to pray to the Father and say, “I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work which You have given Me to do” (John 17:4).
B. But second, we are to consider that Jesus held a superior glory over Moses. As faithful as Moses was, and as truly great a man as he proved himself to be, and as truly glorious the ministry of the Old Covenant entrusted to him was, Jesus’ glory is shown to be far greater; “For this One has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses, inasmuch as He who built the house has more honor than the house. For every house is built by someone, but He who built all things is God” (vv. 3-4). Note here that the writer of Hebrews is stressing that Jesus is the Creator of all things—just as he declared to us in the first couple of verses of this book: whom God “has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds” (Hebrews 1:2); and who is described as “being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power” (v. 3). Paul the apostle tells us this about Jesus:
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist. And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence (Colossians 1:15-18).
And in that respect, Jesus is worthy of immeasurably more glory than Moses in that He is the maker of all things—even of that “house” from God over which Moses served faithfully as the steward. The writer of Hebrews later says this about Jesus—who was not of the priesthood of the law of Moses (being of the tribe of Judah and not of the tribe of Levi);
For if He were on earth, He would not be a priest, since there are priests who offer the gifts according to the law; who serve the copy and shadow of the heavenly things, as Moses was divinely instructed when he was about to make the tabernacle. For He said, “See that you make all things according to the pattern shown you on the mountain.” But now He has obtained a more excellent ministry, inasmuch as He is also Mediator of a better covenant, which was established on better promises (Hebrews 6:4-6).
Moses only served the mere “copy and shadow” of the heavenly things to come (Hebrews 8:5). But Jesus brought forth the real substance (Colosians 2:17)!
C. And third, we are to consider that Jesus held a superior position as ‘Son’ over Moses’ position as ‘servant’. Moses, of course, was a faithful servant of the Father’s house. As God Himself said of Moses;
“Hear now My words:
If there is a prophet among you,
I, the Lord, make Myself known to him in a vision;
I speak to him in a dream.
Not so with My servant Moses;
He is faithful in all My house.
I speak with him face to face,
Even plainly, and not in dark sayings;
And he sees the form of the Lord” (Numbers 12:6-8a).
Truly Moses had honor and esteem in his role as a servant of what God had entrusted to him. But a servant of a house—even a greatly faithful servant, as Moses was—does not have the right to honor that only a son has. The servant is just a servant of the house; but a son is the true heir over the house that the servant ‘serves’. And over that which Moses was the servant, Jesus is the true Son! As the writer of Hebrews tells us in this passage, “And Moses indeed was faithful in all His house as a servant, for a testimony of those things which would be spoken afterward, but Christ as a Son over His own house . . .” (vv. 5-6a). The ministry of the tabernacle that Moses served was “symbolic for the present time” (Hebrews 9:9)—something which could not take away sins; but that rather was intended to picture the more perfect ministry in the fullness of times. That promised ministry has been fulfilled by Jesus, the true Son of the house. Just as the Father has declared to Jesus elsewhere in the Old Testament;
“I will declare the decree:
The Lord has said to Me,
‘You are My Son,
Today I have begotten You.
Ask of Me, and I will give You
The nations for Your inheritance,
And the ends of the earth for Your possession” (Psalm 2:7-8a).
In every respect that we can consider Jesus, then, He stands as superior to Moses. He is as faithful in His calling as Moses was; but as one who had a superior glory to Moses as Creator of Moses’ ‘house’; and as one who had a superior honor as Son over that which Moses was the servant.
And so then . . .
III. HOW WE ARE TO RESPONSE TO THIS CONSIDERATION (v. 6b).
A. We are to recognize first that we are truly the house of God. As the writer says of Jesus and His entrustment, “whose house we are . . .” (v. 6b). Moses no longer has a house to serve. That Old Covenant has been replaced by a New Covenant. There is now no longer a tabernacle or a temple for priests to serve. The assembly of the redeemed people of God through Christ are now that “temple”. As Paul said to Timothy; “I write so that you may know how you ought to conduct yourself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth” (1 Timothy 3:15).
B. But note that the writer goes on to say that we are the house of the Lord, “if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm to the end” (v. 6a). This doesn’t mean, of course, that our salvation is dependent upon our own efforts. But it does stress the importance of proving the reality of our salvation by our perseverance—which is exactly the message that these poor, persecuted, fearful Jewish Christians desperately needed to hear. As Jesus Himself said to His followers, “And you will be hated by all for My name’s sake. But he who endures to the end will be saved” (Matthew 10:22).
* * * * * * * * * *
So; let’s be sure that we do as the writer of Hebrews has said, and diligently ‘consider’ Jesus. The more we consider Him, the more we will grow in our confidence in the New Covenant realities He has brought about for us. As the apostle Peter put it when he wrote to another group of suffering Jewish Chrsitians;
“Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious, you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. Therefore it is also contained in the Scripture,
“Behold, I lay in Zion
A chief cornerstone, elect, precious,
And he who believes on Him will by no means be put to shame.” (1 Peter 2:4-6).
