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Jesus Is Greater than Moses
1My friends, God has chosen you to be his holy people. So think about Jesus, the one we call our apostle and high priest! 2 Jesus was faithful to God, who appointed him, just as Moses was faithful in serving all God's people. 3But Jesus deserves more honor than Moses, just as the builder of a house deserves more honor than the house. 4Of course, every house is built by someone, and God is really the one who built everything.
5Moses was a faithful servant and told God's people what would be said in the future. 6But Christ is the Son in charge of God's people. And we are those people, if we keep on being brave and don't lose hope.
Reflect
Moses loomed large in the Jewish mind, and rightly so. This is the man who God addressed from a burning bush; the man who challenged Pharaoh and led the Israelites to freedom through a parted sea; the man who God entrusted with the Ten Commandments, the foundation of their identity as a chosen and holy nation. Moses was faithful (vv 2 and 5) and stands as an enduring example of a life wholly given over to God. But these Jewish converts needed to be clear: Jesus is to Moses what a builder is to a house. Jesus is worthy of greater honour, because while Moses was the servant of the house (v 5) Jesus is the Son (v 6).
Why might the Jewish Christians of the first century have needed such a strong reminder to give Jesus more honour than Moses? While all but impossible to attain to, the requirements of the old covenant were clear: please God by keeping the Law. But Moses represents the past. By looking to Jesus, they (and we) can have every confidence in a hopeful, eternal future (v 6).
Perhaps we don’t need reminding to honour Jesus more than Moses, but we could all do with checking that we give Jesus the status he deserves in our thoughts and in our lives. Many of us in the 21st century have bought into the idea of self-determination, enjoying our autonomy, resisting the idea of external authority of any kind. But as Christians, we are under Jesus: “Christ is the Son in charge of God’s people” (v 6).
Respond
Lord God, you sent your precious Son Jesus to be our Saviour and you have declared him worthy of the greatest honour. Forgive us for the times we have not submitted to his authority or shown him the respect he deserves. Help us to live in him and for him to your glory. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Jo Swinney
Jo Swinney is a UK based author, speaker and editor, with an MA in theology from Regent College, Vancouver. Her latest book, Home: the quest to belong (Hodder & Stoughton) is part memoir and part retelling of the life of David and explores what it means to be rooted in an ever more transient world. Jo is Director of Church Communications at www.cpo.org.uk and editor of the lyfe journal.