Sermon Notes Sunday April 30: Jesus Greater Than Moses Part 1 Hebrews 3:1-2
Jesus Greater Than Moses Part 1 (Hebrews 3:1-2)
In Jewish history there are many heroes of the faith
Abraham is the father of faith
David is Israel’s great king who the Messiah would eventually come through
Joshua was Israel’s mighty general who led them to conquer the promise land
Joseph was used by God to be raised up as second in command of all of Egypt and positioned to save the Jews when a mighty famine took place
Noah was faithful to build the ark when he had never seen rain but was told the judgement of God was coming in the flood
But there is one name that stands above all the others and it is the name Moses
It is through Moses that God delivered the Israelites from Egyptian bondage
Through Moses that the law was given
Moses led the Israelites 40 years through the wilderness
But today the author of Hebrews will show us that Jesus is greater than Moses
For Jewish Christians who considered abandoning faith in Christ and return to the Mosiac law this was essential and important
Because to abandon faith in Christ is to abandon everything
Moses said this is Deuteronomy 18:15-18: 15 The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your fellow Israelites. You must listen to him. 16 For this is what you asked of the Lord your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly when you said, “Let us not hear the voice of the Lord our God nor see this great fire anymore, or we will die.”17 The Lord said to me: “What they say is good. 18 I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their fellow Israelites, and I will put my words in his mouth. He will tell them everything I command him.
In many ways all that Moses accomplished in the natural is a picture of what Jesus would accomplish for us when it came to salvation and being set free from the dominion of the devil
Today we examine Hebrews 3:1-2
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.
Therefore always points to examine what was previously stated
Hebrews 2:16-18 16 For surely it is not angels he helps, but Abraham’s descendants. 17 For this reason he had to be made like them,[a] fully human in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people. 18 Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.
In chapter 2 the author of Hebrews focused on the humanity of Christ
He is our faithful and merciful High Priest
But now He will compare Him and His greatness against Moses
In the Jewish faith Moses is the ultimate servant of Almighty God
A mere man used by God to deliver His people from the mighty Egyptians
The wonder working power of God was displayed through Moses and by comparing Jesus with Moses He will show why Christ is the only one we are to look to
1. We are to fix our eyes on Jesus
a. 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.
b.Fix behold, consider, discover, perceive
c. Jesus is not only our faithful and merciful High Priest
d.He is our apostle
e. Apostle: delegate; spec. an ambassador of the Gospel; officially a commissioner of Christ [“apostle”] (with miraculous powers):—apostle, messenger, he that is sent
f. The only time in the New Testament Jesus is referred to as an apostle
g. He was sent by the Father
h. Matt 10:40 “He who receives you receives Me, and he who receives Me receives Him who sent Me.
i. John 13:20 Truly, truly, I say to you, he who receives whomever I send receives Me; and he who receives Me receives Him who sent Me.”
j. Both Jesus and Moses were sent by God
k. Exodus 3:4-10 4 When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, “Moses! Moses!” And Moses said, “Here I am.” 5 “Do not come any closer,” God said. “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.” 6 Then he said, “I am the God of your father,[a] the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.” At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God. 7 The Lord said, “I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. 8 So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey—the home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. 9 And now the cry of the Israelites has reached me, and I have seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them. 10 So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt.”
l. But Moses was not a High Priest
m. Jesus is not only sent of The Father, He is our faithful and merciful High Priest
n. But we are called to fix our eyes upon Him
o. He is the only one who is worthy to be worshipped
p. To abandon Jesus is to abandon God Almighty regardless of how much we may treasure the law
q. Everything Moses did was to point the nation and people of Israel to its true deliverer one day the Messiah and anointed one
2. Jesus is faithful
a. Hebrews 3:2 He was faithful to the one who appointed him, just as Moses was faithful in all God’s house.
b. Faithful: trustworthy, faithful; trusting, believing. Describes a person or thing as characterized by trustworthiness or belief.
c. Jesus was appointed and sent by The Father
d. The faithfulness of Moses
i. Moses answered the call of God though reluctantly
ii. Egypt at this time in history was the mightiest empire in the world
iii. God used a mere man to confront Pharoah and with ten different plagues God demonstrated His greatness over the gods of Egypt
1. Each plague confronted an Egyptian false god
2. Though Pharoah threatened and refused to let the Israelites go, Moses stood in the power and strength of the Lord and relentless declared the word of the Lord to Pharaoh
iv. Moses led the Israelites through the wilderness 40 years
1. Faced continual complaining and even rebellion from God’s people
2. Exodus 14:11-12 11 They said to Moses, “Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt? 12 Didn’t we say to you in Egypt, ‘Leave us alone; let us serve the Egyptians’? It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert!”
3. Exodus 15:22-24 22 Then Moses led Israel from the Red Sea and they went into the Desert of Shur. For three days they traveled in the desert without finding water. 23 When they came to Marah, they could not drink its water because it was bitter. (That is why the place is called Marah.[f]) 24 So the people grumbled against Moses, saying, “What are we to drink?”
4. Exodus 16:1-4 The whole Israelite community set out from Elim and came to the Desert of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after they had come out of Egypt. 2 In the desert the whole community grumbled against Moses and Aaron. 3 The Israelites said to them, “If only we had died by the Lord’s hand in Egypt! There we sat around pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted, but you have brought us out into this desert to starve this entire assembly to death.”
5. Numbers 16:1-7 Korah son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, and certain Reubenites—Dathan and Abiram, sons of Eliab, and On son of Peleth—became insolent[a] 2 and rose up against Moses. With them were 250 Israelite men, well-known community leaders who had been appointed members of the council. 3 They came as a group to oppose Moses and Aaron and said to them, “You have gone too far! The whole community is holy, every one of them, and the Lord is with them. Why then do you set yourselves above the Lord’s assembly?” 4 When Moses heard this, he fell facedown. 5 Then he said to Korah and all his followers: “In the morning the Lord will show who belongs to him and who is holy, and he will have that person come near him. The man he chooses he will cause to come near him. 6 You, Korah, and all your followers are to do this: Take censers 7 and tomorrow put burning coals and incense in them before the Lord. The man the Lord chooses will be the one who is holy. You Levites have gone too far!”
v. Moses intercedes for the people
1. Exodus 32:9-14 9 “I have seen these people,” the Lord said to Moses, “and they are a stiff-necked people. 10 Now leave me alone so that my anger may burn against them and that I may destroy them. Then I will make you into a great nation.” 11 But Moses sought the favor of the Lord his God. “Lord,” he said, “why should your anger burn against your people, whom you brought out of Egypt with great power and a mighty hand? 12 Why should the Egyptians say, ‘It was with evil intent that he brought them out, to kill them in the mountains and to wipe them off the face of the earth’? Turn from your fierce anger; relent and do not bring disaster on your people. 13 Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac and Israel, to whom you swore by your own self: ‘I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and I will give your descendants all this land I promised them, and it will be their inheritance forever.’” 14 Then the Lord relented and did not bring on his people the disaster he had threatened.
2. Moses faithfully interceded for the people
vi. Moses was not perfect but he was a true picture of faithfulness to the Lord
1. Numbers 20:6-12 6 Moses and Aaron went from the assembly to the entrance to the tent of meeting and fell facedown, and the glory of the Lord appeared to them. 7 The Lord said to Moses, 8 “Take the staff, and you and your brother Aaron gather the assembly together. Speak to that rock before their eyes and it will pour out its water. You will bring water out of the rock for the community so they and their livestock can drink.” 9 So Moses took the staff from the Lord’s presence, just as he commanded him. 10 He and Aaron gathered the assembly together in front of the rock and Moses said to them, “Listen, you rebels, must we bring you water out of this rock?” 11 Then Moses raised his arm and struck the rock twice with his staff. Water gushed out, and the community and their livestock drank. 12 But the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not trust in me enough to honor me as holy in the sight of the Israelites, you will not bring this community into the land I give them.”
e. But the faithfulness of Jesus is greater
i. He perfectly lived under the law
ii. He perfectly lived according to the will of the Father
iii. He endured all that took place at Calvary
iv. He overcame every temptation
1. Matthew 4:1-11 Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted[a] by the devil. 2 After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3 The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.” 4 Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’[b]” 5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. 6 “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written: “‘He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’[c]” 7 Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’[d]” 8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. 9 “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.” 10 Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’[e]” 11 Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.
v. He sits at the righthand of the Father
vi. He is the only one who deserves our worship and our praise
f. House is not a physical building
i. House house, household. Refers both to the building where a family lives and to the family itself as the social group living there.
ii. It speaks of the people of God
iii. The Israelites are God’s chosen people
iv. Today as the bride of Christ we are God’s chosen people set apart for His glory
v. Ephesians 2:20-21 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. 21 In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord.
vi. 1 Peter 2:4-5 4 As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him— 5 you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house[a] to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.