GREATER THAN MOSES
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. He was faithful to the one who appointed Him, just as Moses was faithful in all God’s house. Jesus has been found worthy of greater honor than Moses, just as the builder of a house has greater honor than the house itself. For every house is built by someone, but God is the builder of everything. (Heb. 3: 1-4)
Of all the great characters of the Old Testament, Moses is the most revered by God’s ancient people. Jesus’s opponents constantly flung Moses in His face. ‘Moses this’ and ‘Moses that’ was their argument against Him and they would not accept that He was greater than Moses. ‘But,’ said this writer, ‘Jesus is greater than Moses just as the builder of a house is greater than the house itself.’
These Jewish believers were obviously still not convinced at this point that Jesus was greater that all the things they revered the most in their historical role of honour. He is greater than angels because He is the Son while angels are servants. He is greater that Moses because He is the builder of the house while Moses was part of the house.
The writer has already presented Jesus to his readers as the exact replica of the Father with the same honour as He, and the Creator and Sustainer of all things. He occupies the place of authority at the right hand of the Father. He lived on earth as a perfect son and qualified to be both high priest and atoning sacrifice for the sins of the world. No angel was worshipped as He was worshipped at His birth, and no angel was appointed to be the Son as He was appointed by the Father.
It behoves us, therefore to give Him all the attention He deserves rather that debate about whether to keep on being loyal to Him rather than to go back to the old ways when the pressure is on. To these tentative believers, it was a matter of life and death because, to be a part of the population who refused to bow to Caesar as Lord, and to offer sacrifices to him in order to qualify for the right to buy at the local market, meant a very precarious existence, to say the least.
No one would be fool enough to choose a life that could be snuffed out, and very painfully through the evil imagination of the emperor, at the drop of a hat unless one were thoroughly convinced that it was worth risking one’s life for one’s faith. That was exactly what the writer was trying to do. To go back, though, was worse than dying for one’s conviction because it affected one’s eternal destiny. It was up to the author of this letter to prove to his readers that Jesus was worth trusting because of the eternal benefits of holding on to Him.
There are five little words in his presentation that hold the key to this life he was urging them not to abandon. ‘Fix your thoughts on Jesus.’ Our lives always go in the direction of our thoughts. Everything we are and do begins in the mind. ‘As a man thinks, so is he,’ said the writer of many of the proverbs. How true this is! James explained how the process of sin begins in the mind. Desire stirs, and the more one dwells on the desire, the stronger the pull is towards it.
How then, does one overcome the temptation to draw back when life gets tough and Jesus doesn’t seem to feature in our topsy-turvy circumstances? Where is He when we need Him? Is it worth the struggle to keep Him in mind and to trust Him when He appears to be MIA – missing in action? Why is He so silent when I scream for help and He does not appear?
Jesus is not about magically lifting us out of trouble. He assured us that trouble is an integral part of this life (John 16: 33). He doesn’t always appear to do miracles when we call, just to bring us back onto even keel. But He promised that He has overcome the world and that He will never forsake us in our troubles. He is always there to accompany us and to see that trouble does not overwhelm or destroy us.
Trouble is not always a bad thing. It helps to strengthen our confidence in God; it teaches us patience and perseverance and gives us an opportunity to see what God can do when we run out of options. ‘So,’ said this writer, ‘fix your thoughts on Jesus, not on the rough seas around you.’ Jesus put it like this: ‘Remain in me, and I will remain in you.’ (John 15: 5). Be so anchored in Jesus in your thoughts and in your confidence that there will be no temptation strong enough to make you quit when the going gets tough.
Cling to Jesus and He will cling on to you. When the storm subsides and everything around you is in chaos, you will still be safe with Him because He is indestructible. Moses can’t help you, but Jesus can!
Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.