SUPREME SON
Opening Prayer
Lord, You are the builder of the house.
Read HEBREWS 3:1–6
Jesus Greater Than Moses
3 Therefore, holy brothers and sisters, who share in the heavenly calling, fix your thoughts on Jesus, whom we acknowledge as our apostle and high priest. 2 He was faithful to the one who appointed him, just as Moses was faithful in all God’s house. 3 Jesus has been found worthy of greater honor than Moses, just as the builder of a house has greater honor than the house itself. 4 For every house is built by someone, but God is the builder of everything. 5 “Moses was faithful as a servant in all God’s house,”[a] bearing witness to what would be spoken by God in the future. 6 But Christ is faithful as the Son over God’s house. And we are his house, if indeed we hold firmly to our confidence and the hope in which we glory.
Footnotes
- Hebrews 3:5 Num. 12:7
New International Version (NIV)Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Meditate
‘Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is.’ (Col 3:1). Rejoice in the new life you have in Jesus.
Think Further
Life is full of distractions. To achieve our goal, we concentrate on it and its benefits. Having outlined the supremacy of Jesus, our writer reminds us that the best way to avoid the drift we read about on Friday is to fix our thoughts on Jesus (1). He will pick up a similar idea in 12:1–3, where he uses the metaphor of a race – Jesus is at the finishing line, so keep looking to Him.
In verse 2, the writer turns to one of the great heroes of Jewish faith – Moses. Great as he was, faithful as he was, he had the lesser role: as the servant of the house, as opposed to the Son and Heir. Moses looked forward to what God would ultimately do (5), foreseeing the coming of another prophet (Deut 18:15). Again, the underlying message is: why would you settle for the promise when you can have the fulfillment? The first hearers, familiar with the Greek version of the Old Testament where ‘Messiah’ (the anointed) was translated by its Greek equivalent ‘Christ’, would have made an immediate connection, linking promise and fulfillment. Every reference to Christ in the New Testament is an implicit reference to the Messiah.
As we draw to the end of this opening section of the letter-sermon, we note that Jesus is better than all who might compete with Him, whether Moses, or the angels of first-century Judaism, or the ideologies, personalities and attractions of our own age. Beside Him, all else pales into insignificance. It is He who will offer a secure hope; other things, despite their real but temporary appeal, never can. He is worthy of our worship, of our devotion and our service. We can confidently follow Him (6).
Apply
In the pressures of modern life, it is hard to focus on Jesus. Why not follow ancient monastic rhythms: set an alarm for times of day to think about Him?
Closing prayer
Lord, along with Moses we are but servants in the great house of the Master.
Book and Author Intros
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