Our reading this morning is from Hebrews chapter 3, verses 1 through 6.
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.
For Jesus has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses, as much more glory as the
builder of a house has more honour than the house itself.
For every house is built by someone, but the builder of all things is God.
Now Moses was 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, and we are his house, if indeed we hold
fast our confidence and our boasting in our hope.
The word of the Lord.
Well, good morning, everyone.
For those who don't know me, my name's David, and I'm a sort of part-timer here.
Well, I am.
Sort of.
Yeah.
I'm actually not sure how to introduce myself these days.
All right.
Into God's word.
It's really common, I think, for people in tough circumstances.
That is, when life's confusing, when life's hard, sometimes when life's out of control,
really far removed from what we'd consider normal.
It's common for people in those sort of circumstances to look back to familiar people and things.
Things that, in their mind, were lodged in there, but actually come to the surface in tough times and
remind them or become the indicators that, well, life was secure.
Life was normal.
Everything was well in the world back then.
And so they sort of come to the surface.
It's a little bit like, in computer terms, returning to default settings.
Things that, as I say, buried in our hearts and minds, oftentimes we don't even know they exist
until tough circumstances trigger the reset.
For example, a child, a lump of a child, struck down by illness or some other trauma
might actually go back to sucking their thumb or cuddling a soft toy that they haven't done for years
because it's an indication that, you know, life is okay.
We saw during the COVID pandemic some of the random things adults did.
Toilet paper, for goodness sake.
Somehow or other, for so many people, that became the indicator that life was going to be okay.
It was random, but it was worth fighting over, apparently.
But even other things, like some people would go and do religious things that hadn't done since childhood,
maybe offer a prayer or actually go and sit in a church building somewhere.
Again, where does that come from?
The other big thing during the COVID pandemic was just that demand to be able to see family members,
visit them freely.
And that from people who often would have been careless about those same family members.
Prior to COVID.
It's that sort of thing, I think, that helps us understand what's going on behind the scenes here in this letter to the Hebrew.
It seems like many Christians to whom the letter to the Hebrews was addressed were doing the same sort of thing.
When they first encountered Jesus, they identified really strongly with him.
They were totally thankful for what he had done for them.
They were excited for the fresh start they had in him based on grace alone.
And with total conviction, they turned away from their old Jewish religion and Jewish religious practices,
which was all about priests and sacrifices and celebrating special religious days and special religious holidays.
They had gladly turned away from that saying something far, far better in Jesus.
But it seems like when commitment to Jesus got really tough,
and as their daily lives felt more and more out of control,
they found themselves excluded from their family.
They found themselves excluded from the local synagogue and oftentimes from the local community even.
And then on top of that, they were starting to experience in very real terms persecution from the Roman Empire, the Roman authorities.
And there's all these things built up on them and unsettled them.
It seems like they were tempted to default back to the old, familiar, comforting Jewish religious practices.
It feels normal again.
And as they did that, then they also had to convince themselves that the Jewish religion,
which after all had served their ancestors well for centuries,
and after all there was a lot of overlap with Christianity,
they had to convince themselves that there wasn't really that much difference.
It was a difference of emphasis, perhaps.
And on top of that, they would have the added bonus of renewed acceptance with family in the synagogue,
their local community.
And they would be tolerated once again.
They'd be free from persecution because the Roman Empire tolerated the Jewish religion at that stage.
So all of that means the main challenge of the letter to the Hebrews is this.
Don't allow yourself to drift away from Jesus because serving him in a hostile world is really hard.
It's too hard.
And repeatedly, we've seen it several times already, and we're only in chapter 3.
Repeatedly, the writer is saying, think deeply and carefully about Jesus.
Pay attention to what he says.
Consider him.
Reflect upon him.
Meditate on who Jesus is and what he has done.
Think about what drew you to Jesus in the first place.
Put serious time into, and this isn't superannuation ad, comparing the two.
What the old Jewish religious practices offer you and what Jesus offers you.
Both offered a pathway to salvation and heaven.
But when you look at it, the writer's saying, you'll see that the pathways, the differences, are neither minor nor cosmetic, but they're fundamental.
So consider Jesus.
Fill your mind with who he is.
Fill your mind with what he has done uniquely to make you acceptable before God and qualify you for a place in heaven.
And if you do that, the writer's saying, if you do that constantly, then you'll find you've got a whole new perspective in any time of suffering.
In any short term of suffering.
Because, and this is the first main point I want to make, moving us into the chapter today.
Because it's only as we understand who Jesus is, that we understand who we are in him.
So this is really, the first point is just all verse 1, and then the second point is verse 2 through to 6.
You look at verse 1, it's introduced by a connecting word, therefore.
That tells us that the writer is now summing up the argument in chapter 1 and 2.
And we've seen so far in the three sermons we've had so far that every encouragement by the writer here for people to persevere with Jesus,
every encouragement is focused on who Jesus is.
And then the direct consequences for believers, those who are united to him.
Because Jesus is this, then we're that as we're united to him.
Now here in verse 1, Jesus is described in an unusual term called the apostle of our confession.
It's the only place where Jesus in the Bible is described as an apostle.
And the word itself isn't too fancy.
It's just one who's been commissioned, called and commissioned, or set apart for a unique task.
In this case, we've seen in chapter 1 and 2, that Jesus was called and commissioned, set apart,
come into the world for the unique task for which he was uniquely equipped or credentialed,
that of effecting or implementing God's salvation plan in history.
And so, like the prophets before him, Jesus comes into our world speaking God's word to God's people.
Similarity.
But, when you consider Jesus, you realize that he quickly redefines the category of prophet.
Being God, we're told in chapter 1, Jesus spoke with a unique clarity.
Who else knows God's mind better than God himself?
And he spoke, Jesus spoke with a unique authority.
And we saw in chapter 2, since he came in, since he is God, come into the world in true human form like us,
he also models or demonstrates how image bearers should live.
He demonstrates the good life of obedience and worship, which God's image bearers were designed to live.
And so, when you consider Jesus, yes, he's like the Old Testament prophets, but then you realize he's in a category by himself.
He speaks with clarity and he speaks with authority, but even more important, his life was totally consistent with what he said.
Unlike any other prophet before him.
Jesus is also described in verse 1 as the high priest of our confession.
Now, remember I said last week the priest has two main responsibilities.
On the one hand, he has to offer appropriate sacrifices to deal with God's anger because his creatures had rebelled against him.
And also then to deal with the guilt that comes as a natural consequence of that rebellion, the guilt of sin.
So the priest had to offer sacrifices to deal with that.
But he also had another important responsibility, as we talked about last week.
He had to pray for God's people.
And he had to pray for God's people because he, above all else, as a priest, would know, because he's in constant rubbing of it,
people's natural inclination to continue rebelling against God,
even when they're experiencing God's grace and forgiveness through sacrifice and restoration.
The priest was meant to see how broken God's people were,
and not just blandly offer a sacrifice, but actually pray for them.
Priests were notorious for not doing either very well.
Things haven't changed over the generations, have they?
But again, you see, Jesus refines or redefines the category of priest
because he perfectly fulfills both responsibilities.
And he achieves, we're told in chapter 1,
he achieves what not even the angels,
with all their involvement over the generations in implementing God's plan in the world,
Jesus achieves what they couldn't have done ever and didn't do ever.
And so we got last week that Jesus is our trailblazer, our champion.
And he cuts a nice, neat pathway through God's wrath,
through the penalty of our sin and the guilt that comes with it,
through our broken humanity,
praying for us in our weaknesses and struggles.
And he leads us down that pathway, as it says last week,
that beautiful little phrase,
taking many sons and daughters to glory,
which is heaven, a place of blessing.
Amen.
For every relationship with God.
So that's the summary.
And the consequences out of that, verse 1,
are just incredible.
We have been reunited to God's forever family.
That's where we were created to be, image bearers, Genesis 1 and 2.
Pushed away by God because of rebellion.
Now in Jesus, reunited.
We're holy brothers and sisters of Jesus and of one another.
Reunited to God's forever family and to every other believer.
Reformatted.
Holiness.
We're reformatted for a life of obedience,
as we were originally created to be but couldn't be.
Now we can be in Jesus.
Restored to the enjoyment of all God's blessings and privileges,
which Jesus enjoys.
fellow heirs.
And not only that, but redirected to our heavenly calling.
In other words,
our orientation
to life is so completely different now.
Our motivation for living is so completely different now.
We look ahead
to that moment of glory.
And that
is what gives us the perspective
and the confidence
and the courage
and the hope
to live well now.
No matter
the cost.
Here,
we're part of the world
that said in chapter 1
that will be rolled up eventually.
In other words,
it's just temporary.
Looks very permanent,
but it's just temporary.
But in Jesus,
we're part of that world
that will be forever.
Forever.
Hang in
with what is lasting
and hang in
with the one
who's leading you
home to glory.
So,
the point's so clear.
Jesus has done for you.
He said to these guys
that come out of the Jewish religious practices,
he said,
Jesus has actually done for you
that which the Jewish religious system
could never have done for you.
And he's done all that
at such huge cost to himself
and you get it
as a free gift
of God's grace and mercy.
So,
no wonder,
he says,
for goodness sake,
if only you would consider Jesus,
that is,
if only you would just stop
and think carefully about Jesus,
think deeply about who he is,
think expansively
about what he has done for you,
just savor
the privileges
and the benefits
that have come to you
through Jesus.
Then he's saying,
I think you will realize
just how insulting
and offensive it would be
to Jesus
and to God
to say,
well,
actually,
sorry,
Jesus,
I'm just going to put you back on the shelf.
I'm not ignoring you completely,
but I'm going to just play you down
because it's going to make my life
a bit easier.
And isn't that what we do
when the push comes to shove?
That's the decision we make.
If I identify with Jesus here,
my life in the next two minutes
might just be a bit tough.
So many of us
struggle with assurance,
struggle with just knowing,
are we safe in Jesus?
Are we in Jesus?
Are we totally safe?
Well,
I would say to you,
and I don't want this
just to be a sort of platitude
or a cheap shot,
but I think it's something we miss.
I'd say to you,
genuinely spend time
filling your mind
with who Jesus is.
Filling your mind
with what Jesus has done for you.
Filling your mind
with who you are in Jesus
from Jesus' own words.
Fill your mind with that
because we struggle with assurance
so often
because we allow our mind
to be filled
with our own imperfections.
with our own failures.
Sometimes our mind
is not filled with anything
other than the last argument
we had with our wife
or our husband
or our children
or whatever.
Consider Jesus.
That's not going to be
a be-all and end-all.
It'll sure help.
I went to the,
for those who are following
the script,
I'm off script at the minute,
went to the dentist this week
and it just occurred to me
that there on the ceiling
randomly
is a TV screen.
I think,
why on earth
would you have a TV screen
on the ceiling
in the dentist surgery?
And of course,
when I ask,
like a fool,
I had to ask,
he said,
well,
it's to distract people
who are fearful.
Now,
I wanted to say,
listen,
you're going to have to
find a different channel
because it wasn't distracting me,
it was annoying me.
But anyway,
some people might have
been distracted,
but that's the purpose.
So,
if you're filling your mind
with that,
you're not thinking
about what the dentist
is doing to you.
Second point,
as we understand
who Moses is,
we understand more
of why we need Jesus
and that's verses 2-6.
So,
we're moving into
new territory now.
So,
there is a connection
because the faithfulness
of Jesus
in his mission
connects
into
the next phase
of the writer's argument.
So,
verse 1
is actually
both a summary
and also a segue
into his next
line of argument.
So,
he's now going to
compare Jesus
and Moses.
Now,
who was Moses?
Well,
Moses was the most
significant figure
in Jewish history.
he was really
considered to be
the architect
of the Jewish nation
under God,
that is.
He rescued
God's people
from Israel
in the event
we call Exodus.
Go back and have a look
at Exodus chapter 3.
It actually uses
the word rescue
and redemption there.
God's people
were in a terrible
predicament
and they cried out
to God
for rescue
and God
responded
and sent
a rescuer,
a redeemer.
And that
was Moses
in the event
we call the Exodus.
And Exodus
was leading
God's people
out of Egypt
to Mount Sinai,
God's place.
And at Mount Sinai,
God reaffirmed
his relationship
to his people.
Here you are
gathered
and the word
in Exodus
is oikos,
which is a house.
Here you are
churched.
Ecclesia,
sorry,
not oikos.
Ecclesia,
churched.
You're gathered
in front of me.
You're my household.
You're my community,
my family.
All those words
sort of overlap.
And you're
governed
by my law,
which I'm about
to deliver to you
through Moses.
Moses led
God's people
through the 40-year
period of punishment
for the rebellion,
rebellion against
God's grace
and mercy
and the rejection
of God
even after
experiencing
his grace
and mercy.
Moses supervised
the construction
of the tabernacle,
which was the place
to deal with sin
and meet with God.
He led
the vast nation
of Israel
to the very edge
of the promised land.
Moses was a huge,
huge character
in Jewish history
and in the Old Testament.
And I think
the writer again
is anticipating
the response
of his readers.
It might go
something like this
and this is my
spin on it.
So, you know,
dismiss it
if you think
it's just weird.
I can sort of
imagine the writer
thinking,
okay,
these guys
are going to
agree wholeheartedly
that Jesus
was a great rescuer,
that Jesus
was a great
achiever
of God's
salvation plan,
that he was
a great trailblazer
leading people
back to God
and God's place
of forever blessing,
that he was
a personal champion
who identified
with and sacrificed
himself for the
good of God's people
at great cost
to himself.
Yes,
we can see all that
and that's lovely.
We appreciate all that
about Jesus,
but
wouldn't it be true
to say that
all that same stuff
was said about Moses?
And if following
the model of
obedience and
worship
demonstrated by
Moses
was the designated
pathway to life
and relationship
with God
for generations,
then surely
it'll be good
enough for us.
Surely it'll be
an acceptable
pathway to heaven
for us too.
perhaps they were
saying even more
than that.
You know,
now that we
were in this
position,
we're starting
to realize
how much
we miss
some of the
practical aspects
of our old
Jewish religion.
Things that were
visible,
things that were
tangible,
things that were
familiar,
things that were
grounded in history,
things that made
us feel comfortable,
things that made
us feel safe,
things that gave
us a really
nice rhythm
in life,
within which we
could say,
yes,
everything is
well in our
world.
In contrast
to what we're
now experiencing
with this
perhaps over
identification
with Jesus.
Jesus.
And so the
writer launches
into a
comparison of
Jesus and
Moses,
and he
concedes
that Jesus
and Moses
are alike
at key
points.
Each was
a specially
appointed
rescuer
or savior
figure.
Each
spoke God's
word clearly
and authoritatively
to God's
needy people.
And each
were described
here,
each were
told here,
was faithful
in carrying
out their
mission.
They cared
for God's
people.
They did
what they
were asked
to do
by the
Lord.
They were
serving
God's
house,
God's
household,
God's
nation,
God's
family,
God's
community.
I think
any of
those words
can just
be
plugged
in
here.
And as
I said
before,
check out
Exodus 2
for that
language.
But also
Numbers 12,
that's a
phenomenal
thing that
was pointed
out at our
small group.
I hadn't
picked that
verse up
before.
Numbers
chapter 12
verses 1
to 9.
There's
an incredibly
extravagant
description of
Moses by
the Lord
himself in
the context
when Aaron
and Miriam
got sick
of Moses
and were
trying to
sort of find
a way to
shove him to
the side
and get
around him.
And the
Lord appeared
to them and
said,
this is my
servant
Moses.
And it
was extravagant
terms he
described
Moses.
But,
equally
true,
Moses and
Jesus
contrast at
key points.
In fact,
it's not
their similarities
but their
differences
which ultimately
form
final evaluation
of the two.
Jesus
is in a
category by
himself in
terms of
status before
God.
His part
in God's
salvation plan
is unique.
His
achievements
as a
savior figure
are unique
and complete.
And we're
told here
for that
reason,
at those
key points,
he is just
so totally
different from
Moses.
And for that
reason,
he deserves
far, far
greater glory
and honor
than Moses
does.
So,
God's
community.
And here's
the point of
contrast.
Moses was
never able to
be more than
a servant
to God's
community.
He was a
good servant,
but he was
never more
than a
servant.
Jesus
established
God's
community.
Jesus
owned God's
community.
Jesus
defined
God's
community.
Moses
was
used by
God to
establish a
clear pattern
of God's
rescue or
God's
redemption or
God's
salvation.
But in
the end,
Moses was
not able to
achieve anything
lasting.
He was
not actually
able to
deliver God's
people from
the very
basis of
the rebellion.
That is,
their bad
hearts,
their bad
track record
against God.
He could
speak God's
word to
them and
he did so
faithfully,
but he
couldn't make
that word
penetrate to
their hearts
and change
their attitudes
and their
minds.
Which,
of course,
is exactly
what Jesus
does.
Moses was
unable to
lead God's
people
consistently.
He was a
brilliant
leader.
but he
wasn't
perfect.
He was
prone to
anger and
prejudice.
He just
got sick and
tired of
the whinging
about God's
people.
He would
have given
up on them
at times.
But not so
Jesus.
Even more
important,
Moses was not
a priest.
His brother
Aaron was a
priest.
So,
ultimately,
Moses
wasn't
actually
able.
He
wasn't
qualified.
He
didn't have
the opportunity
to deal
with the
sins of
God's
people.
He
didn't have
the
qualification
to deal
with the
sins of
God's
people.
He could
point out
their sins.
He
himself,
of course,
not only was
another priest,
but he
needed a
priest for
his own
sins.
Jesus.
The point
of comparison,
contrast,
Moses set
up there
as a
way,
the
template
for God's
savior figure,
for God's
plan of
redemption,
but he
couldn't
actually
deliver it.
So,
as we
saw that
template in
Moses,
we thought,
ah,
we've got to
wait for
someone better.
And Moses
himself knew
that he was
waiting for
someone better.
Moses could
only point
to God's
real savior,
real
deliverer,
the real
crusher from
Genesis chapter
three,
the salvation
trailblazer,
the champion.
Moses loved
God,
and Moses
longed for
the deliverance
of his
people from
rebellion to
the good
life of
God's
blessing.
Of course
he did.
But Jesus
loved God
and then
delivered that
which Moses
could only
long for.
Moses was
significant to
the people of
Israel and
the history
of Israel.
No,
sorry,
Moses was
significant to
the people of
Israel and
the history
of Israel
because his
life and
ministry
shaped or
became the
model for
or the
type of
God's
rescue plan,
not because
he achieved
it.
And Jesus
affirms that
understanding in
his own
ministry.
If you read
the Gospels,
particularly in
Matthew 5,
6,
7,
the Sermon
on the
Mount,
Jesus casts
his own
ministry in
terms of
being a
new and
better
Moses,
with a
new and
better
exodus or
a new and
better rescue
of God's
people to
a new and
better promised
land.
therefore,
the argument
is to
put Moses
and Jesus
on the
same page
in terms
of glory,
in terms
of confidence
you would
invest in
each for
salvation,
in terms
of praise
offered them,
to do
that is
to display
a shocking
lack of
understanding.
And
ultimately,
as I said
before,
to insult
the
achievements
of
Jesus.
To drift
away,
or to
deliberately
abandon
the way
of Jesus
for the
way of
Moses,
is silly,
according to
the writer,
because it
goes from
the superior
to the
inferior.
It goes
from reality
to incomplete.
It goes
from reality
delivered and
tangible to
the prototype
drawings.
And verse
six delivers
the logical
conclusion of
all this
argument.
Delivers it
as a
warning.
we are
his
household,
his
house,
his
family,
his
community,
his
died-for
resurrection
community,
the church.
We are
his
house,
if indeed
we hold
fast our
confidence
and are
boasting
in our
hope.
Very
simply as
this,
turn your
back on
Jesus,
and you've
really turned
your back
on salvation.
since
Jesus is
greater than
Moses,
then his
call to
hear God's
word and
follow him
to life and
blessing is
more important.
And therefore
failure to do
so will have
more severe
consequences,
even than
what God's
people experienced
under Moses.
we
demonstrate
the reality
of our
heavenly
calling in
verse 1.
We
demonstrate
that we're
the new
salvation
community of
Jesus.
We
demonstrate
that we've
been part
of this
knock-down
rebuild
project,
which Jesus
came into
our world
to do.
We
demonstrate
all of
that
very
simply
by being
faithful to
Jesus.
Jesus was
faithful to
his purpose.
The challenge
to you and
me is,
will we be
faithful to
Jesus?
I don't
know what
default
settings are
in your
central
processing
unit,
but they
will be
there.
They
will be
there.
They'll
come out
at random
times.
will