Note: the following is the manuscript for the message and will not match exactly the recorded message above.
Being a hockey fan in Alberta means facing the inevitable possibility that you may need to, at some point, support a team you normally cheer against. This was the case for me during Edmonton’s troubled years from 2007 until very recently. Every year they would miss the playoffs or lose in the first or second round, I would have no choice but to cheer for whatever Canadian team was left, if there was one.
I like to joke that I have two favourite teams. The Oilers and whoever is playing the Flames. But, the truth is, if it ever came down to it, I would have no choice but to cheer on the Alberta team to the south if they were our only hope for a Stanley Cup. So, if that ever happens, the Flames fans among us can rest assured, I’ll be at your playoff watch parties cheering alongside you.
My point is, cheering for the Oilers does not require me to cheer against the Flames. Except of course when the two are competing directly against one another.
As we come to chapter three of Hebrews, we are faced with a bit of a similar competition. Let’s read Hebrews 3:1-6 and then we will look at the various angles of the comparison between Moses and Jesus and how it relates to our faith today. Those of you who enjoy the outlines I usually provide will notice there is no outline today. This is simply because I don’t have 3 or 4 neat and tidy points to give you. This message sort of meanders a bit.
[Read Hebrews 3:1-6]
N.T. Wright, in his excellent commentary on Hebrews, makes the observation, that early Christians faced pressures from two sides. On the one hand, traditional Judaism was quite clear that God had given Moses his law, and that this law was absolute and binding on God’s people for all time. It was unalterable, inflexible, unchanging, uncompromising… The best they could say about Jesus was that he was bringing some new insights into the keeping of the law; but Moses would remain the senior partner, and the law would continue to determine the shape of God’s people.
On the other hand, many early Christians were so excited to think that the Messiah indeed had arrived in the person of Jesus of Nazareth that they were eager to move as fast as they could in the opposite direction of Moses. They were with Jesus, therefore there was nothing good to say about Moses at all; nothing good to say about the law; nothing good to say about Israel. They were in danger of cutting off the branch they were sitting on.1
The writer of Hebrews wants to show that Jesus is greater than Moses not because Moses is wrong, but because Jesus is the final word. Moses still matters, but Jesus matters more.
Last week, I ended the message on Hebrews chapter two talking about temptations. Today, we pick up where we left off by looking at the temptation to give up the best for the mediocre. It’s what C.S. Lewis was referring to in his famous sermon, The Weight of Glory. I’ll read what is probably the most quoted passage from this sermon.
Indeed, if we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that Our Lord finds our desires, not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.
I asked some of you this week for some examples of good things and better things. Here are some that were mentioned: Fresh pineapple from Hawaii or from the grocery store. Live music versus the recording. Freshly ground coffee and pre-ground coffee. You could probably think of some in your own life.
We make compromises for various reasons. Sometimes, we don’t have much of a choice and we have to settle for good rather than enjoy the best. But, if both options are available, why would we settle for good when we have access to the best? Why would the early Christians settle for Moses, who as we will see is a shadow or a preview of the Messiah, when they can get the real deal?
Now, the temptation that the early Jewish Christians had is different than ours. We can’t identify directly with their struggle. But, we experience many temptations to settle for less-than-best when it comes to our faith.
My goal in this message is for us to see how there is no option other than Jesus to satisfy the deep longings we have in life. Jesus is the answer and the destination. He is greater than anything else that is on offer.
Yet, I want to be careful because there is a tendency among Christians to reject everything in creation, thinking this is what’s necessary in order to wholeheartedly follow Jesus. But, we need not reject creation. We just have to be mindful of what creation is for. It is not for us to worship or to replace God as our source and purpose in life.
We can enjoy the convenience of instant coffee when the moment arises. We can enjoy the not so fresh mangos from the grocery store in the times when we can’t get to the Philippines for fresh ones. The good often reminds us or points us to the best. It might even cause us to long for the best.
I remember when I came back from the Philippines and had mango, or from India and had pineapple from the grocery store. They still tasted like mango and pineapple, but they were somehow lacking richness, fullness of flavour. It made me long for the fresh fruit that I could enjoy anytime I wanted for a much lower price than what I could buy here in Canada.
There are many good things in life we can enjoy and that point us to what is promised through Christ. A hike in the mountains, kayaking on a perfectly calm lake, quality time with family and friends, cheering for your favourite sports team. These are good things. But all enjoyment in life is foretaste of the eternal joy promised to us in Christ.
The warning here is that we can get stuck with the merely good and risk losing the best. This happens when we are not willing to give up the familiarity and safety of the good. We think that the best of this life is heaven, and thus we cannot imagine what is on offer when Jesus says he came to give life and life to the full.
The writer of Hebrews is urging Christians, even though there is an immediate risk that comes with following Jesus, to keep fresh in their mind who Jesus is and why he is greater than Moses and their old way of life.
We are now getting to the point in Hebrews for which benefit the most having gone through the Pentateuch. Having the backdrop of the esablishment of Israel, the experience of Mount Sinai, and the wilderness wanderings, is very helpful in understanding what the author of Hebrews is communicating.
Let’s go back to Mount Sinai for a moment. God is giving instructions to Moses on what the Israelites are to do in order for God to continue on with them as their God. Exodus 25:8-9 says, have them make a sanctuary for me, and I will dwell among them. Make this tabernacle and all its furnishings exactly like the pattern I will show you.
Moses was a servant of God tasked with relaying instructions. God told him how to direct the Israelites. He did this faithfully. He was a good servant. He not only represented God to the people, but he also represented the people to God.
After Moses had been on the mountain with God for quite some time, the Israelites grew impatient and decided to make themselves a new god out of gold. God saw this and became angry. He wanted to wipe them out and start fresh with just Moses. But, as we read in Exodus 32, Moses interceded.
Verses 31-32 says, Moses went back to the LORD and said, “Oh, what a great sin these people have committed! They have made themselves gods of gold. But now, please forgive their sin—but if not, then blot me out of the book you have written.”
Moses was a good servant because he both faithfully carried out God’s instructions and he faithflly took care of the Israelites as their leader. We are meant to get a picture of the Messiah in how Moses faithfully served God and Israel in these ways.
Jesus is the supreme representative of God to humans and of humans to God. He is the living Word of God, the perfect representation of God’s character. And, he is our intercessor and mediator, just as Moses pleaded with God to not destroy the Israelites, Jesus intercedes on our behalf. Jesus was faithful, just as Moses was, but his faithfulness is amplified because of who he is. He is not just a servant of God like Moses. He is far more than that.
Looking back to chapter 2, verse 17 says that Jesus is a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God. And then here in 3:1, it says that Jesus is our apostle and high priest. He is called an apostle only once in the Bible, here in Hebrews. Apostle means sent one. Several times throughout the Gospels we see that Jesus refered to himself as sent by the Father. He is also our high priest, a title used of Jesus numerous times in the New Testament.
Whenever there is a reference to a high priest in the Bible, it should take us back to the most important day in the Jewish calendar, the Day of Atonement. It is the day on which the high priest would enter the Most Holy Place in order to make atonement for the sins of the people.
All throughout the year, the impurities of the Israelites were corrupting the Tabernacle and the dwelling place of God. Day after day, the priests offered sacrifices in order to purify the camp. But, one day a year, the inner sanctuary of God was purified. This was required in order for the presence of God to continue dwelling in the midst of the people.
Now, Moses did not hold the title of high priest once the Tabernacle was built. It was his brother Aaron who took on that role. But, Moses functioned as high priest in the sense of mediation, standing between God and Israel.
The position of high priest is now held eternally and completely by Jesus. His priesthood makes atonement once and for all, for all people and for all time. Because of Jesus, God now dwells freely in the midst of us because we are continually made pure.
Jesus is greater also because of his relationship to God as the Son. Hebrews 3:6 says that Christ is faithful as the Son over God’s house. He is not only a servant, but he is God’s Son. His position includes a level of authority that is not granted to a servant. As the Son, Jesus is appointed as ruler over the house. I will come back to this idea of a house at the end. But first, let’s go on a bit of a journey back through time.
There are three passages from the Old Testament being referred to in Hebrews 3:1-6. They are divine revelations that had meaning to the people when they were first spoken, but now take on new meaning in light of Jesus.
The first one is contained within a promise that God made to King David through Nathan the prophet. It is where God tells David that he will not be the one who will build the temple in which God will dwell among them, but it will be David’s son who will build the temple.
Verse 11-14, which is the end of the promise, says When your days are over and you go to be with your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, one of your own sons, and I will establish his kingdom. He is the one who will build a house for me, and I will establish his throne forever. I will be his father, and he will be my son. I will never take my love away from him, as I took it away from your predecessor. I will set him over my house and my kingdom forever; his throne will be established forever.’ ”
If you read the entire story, which continues in 2 Chronicles, you would see that David’s son, Solomon would go on to build the temple. Yet, the promise in this word from God through Nathan is fulfilled entirely and permanently in Jesus.
Let’s look at the next one in 1 Samuel chapter 2. The story takes place earlier in Israel’s history, before there were kings. There was a priest named Eli who had two sons. It was the practice in Israel that the priests would pass down their role to their sons. But, the sons of Eli were not taking their role seriously and Eli wasn’t doing much to correct the situation.
However, Samuel, who was a miracle child born to a barren woman named Hannah and has been dedicated to the Lord, took his duties very seriously as a young helper.
God came to Eli and told him that his family will be cut out of the priesthood. In their place, God says in 2:35 – I will raise up for myself a faithful priest, who will do according to what is in my heart and mind. I will firmly establish his priestly house, and they will minister before my anointed one always.
If you continue reading in the story, you will see that Samuel is the one that God raises up, not only as priest, but also as a prophet and the last judge of Israel before Saul sat as the first king of Israel. Yet, it was not Samuel who ultimately fulfilled this word from God. It is Jesus who became the eternal faithful priest who did everything according to God’s heart and mind.
The last passage is from the book of Numbers, which takes us back further in Israel’s history to Moses. The Israelites are in the wilderness and Moses is facing opposition from his brother, Aaron and sister Miriam. God met with the three siblings and had a chat with them.
Num. 12:6-8 – “When there is a prophet among you, I, the LORD, reveal myself to them in visions, I speak to them in dreams. But this is not true of my servant Moses; he is faithful in all my house. With him I speak face to face, clearly and not in riddles; he sees the form of the LORD.”
We can see the direct connection here between Moses and Jesus as is described in Hebrews 3. Moses had a clear line of communication with God because he was faithful in all his house.
Did you notice the theme in all these passages? They are not just oracles about the Messiah. They all refer to houses. God’s house, in particular. But, what really is this house?
In the time of Moses or Samuel, perhaps we could talk about the Tabernacle being God’s house. In the case of David, the future temple could have been thought of as God’s house. And certainly in the first century, Jewish people would have referred to the temple as God’s house.
But, none of these references are just speaking of literal houses like the tabernacle or temple. God’s house is not a building, but a community of people. Hebrews 3:6 says, 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.
The Jewish people had in mind the glory days of Moses and the tabernacle and God’s presence leading them. The days of Solomon and the temple in all its glory. They wanted their kingdom back with God’s dwelling place at the centre of the kingdom. They wanted the old ways, the glorious days of peace and prosperity in Israel.
But, those were not the glory days. They were a foretaste, a shadow of what is promised through God’s Son, Jesus Christ. Not a return to the temple as God’s house. It is the promise that God will dwell in the midst of us, in us, and through us.
We may be critical of the Israelites and how they longed for the glory days. But, we so often do the same thing. We think about the days when Canada was more Christian. When the church had more influence. When there was prayer in schools, Billy Graham holding crusades, revivals sweeping the nation, and Christian values permeating the culture.
Those are not the glory days. Not even close. God’s house is much greater than that and is made up of ordinary people doing ordinary things in the way of Jesus.
It is a house built by Jesus as its designer and its cornerstone. Its bricks are those who hold firmly to our confidence and hope in God’s promises which are being fulfilled in Jesus. When we gather in any place at any time in the name of Jesus, we are God’s house. When we love one another and those around us, and when we worship God with clean hands and pure hearts, we are putting on display the kingdom that is here and among us but not yet fully revealed.
There may come a time when we will face what the original recipients of Hebrews were facing. They had not yet faced the full extent of pursecution, but that day would quickly come upon them.
Just as they were, we may be drawn to what is comfortable, familiar, and safe. We might be tempted to settle for the good at the expence of the best. When that time comes, God’s house will stand firm in the rubble that was once thought of as the church.
The temple in Jerusalem eventually crumbled, but in its place stood a house that could not be destroyed by the Romans. It is a house that has endured through the centuries and will endure until Christ returns.
Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, who is our eternal prophet, priest, and king. His house, his kingdom, will endure forever. Let’s pray.
1 Tom Wright, Hebrews for Everyone (London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 2004), 22–23.
Hebrews Series Bibliography
Allen, David L. Hebrews. The New American Commentary. Nashville, TN: B & H Publishing Group, 2010.
Bruce, F. F. The Epistle to the Hebrews. Rev. ed. The New International Commentary on the New Testament. Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1990.
Guthrie, George. Hebrews. The NIV Application Commentary. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1998.
Lane, William L. Hebrews 1-8, vol. 47A, Word Biblical Commentary. Dallas: Word, Inc., 1991.
New International Version Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2016.
Wright, Tom. Hebrews for Everyone. London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 2004.