A son over his own house

The Hebrews have been shown that the Lord Jesus is greater than angels, and that He became man. Is He greater than the greatest of men? To Israel, its greatest leader was Moses. Proudly, their leaders had said, ‘We are Moses’ disciples’, John 9. 28. Was Jesus ‘counted worthy of more glory than Moses’? First of all they are reminded of their relationship to the Lord. They are ‘holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling’: holy because of their standing in Him, brethren because of their oneness with Him, Heb. 2. 11-14. All true believers are holy as to their position, and they should be holy as to their practice. Their calling was heavenly, and this was distinct from Israel’s under Moses, which was to an earthly inheritance. The Israelites’ claim to be God’s chosen people was based on the fact that they had received a divine call through Moses. The call comes now through One who is far superior to Moses, and not to an earthly inheritance, but to a heavenly kingdom. The writer invites them to consider this diligently and undistractedly. If we are ever to learn Christian truth a halfhearted glance is never enough. We must ‘gird up the loins of our mind’, 1 Pet. 1. 13, and concentrate our gaze upon our subject. They are to consider the One they confess, their Apostle and High Priest. Moses had been a faithful mediator, cp. 2. 17; 3. 2, 5. To be faithful is most important in a servant of God, Matt. 25. 21. God bears witness to Moses that he ‘was faithful in all his house’, Heb. 3. 5, cp. Num. 12. 1-8. In every department of his great work Moses obeyed the Lord totally, but he finally failed, Num. 20. 9-12. The Lord was always faithful, His work perfectly complete. The superiority of Christ to Moses is now described, Heb. 3. 3-5.

Moses was part of the house in which he served, himself one of the people of God. Christ as the builder had greater honour than the house, and its faithful servant. Moses was faithful within the house, but Christ a Son over it. Moses’ work was one of preparation; it ‘gave witness to’ a ‘coming Prophet’. Deut. 18. 15-19. The Lord is the fulfilment of all that Moses foresaw; He points to none but Himself. Moses could witness only to the ultimate authority - ‘he wrote of me’, John 5. 46.