The writer is concerned because he's seen a trend of people focusing on the wrong things. They are in danger of becoming "spiritual" but not in the right way. They've become caught up in regarding angels on a level with Christ, and this is idolatry. They also must take care not to elevate anyone else to the level of Christ---Moses for example. Remember, the author is writing to Jewish people, and they have been used to living by the law of Moses for many centuries now. There is a danger that the Jewish Christians might consider Christ and Moses of equal authority, since they both made intercession for the people with God, but Moses is no more Christ's equal than you and I are. So the author urges the people to fix their thoughts on Jesus, to make Him the Lord and King of their hearts and lives, and to worship and revere Him alone.
"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." (Hebrews 3:1) The word "apostle" means one who is "sent" by God. I don't think we will find Christ called an apostle anywhere else in the Scriptures, but this is a title He legitimately holds, for as John's gospel declares, Christ was sent into the world by God to save the world. (John 3:17, John 17:18) Nowhere will we find that God sent Moses into the world to save the world, and nowhere will we find that Moses was ever a priest. He did mediate the covenant between God and man, but now we are living under a new and better covenant. This is the new covenant that the Lord told Jeremiah would come (Jeremiah 31:31) and this is the new covenant Jesus mediated between God and man with His own blood. (Luke 22:20) Since Christ was able to do far more for us than Moses could ever do, the two of them are never to be regarded as equal in authority and power. Moses was merely a man, but as we studied yesterday, Christ was fully man and fully God.
Moses did what God called him to do. Christ did too, and He has done more for man than anyone else could ever do. He deserves the highest honors. "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." (Hebrews 3:2-4) Moses deserves recognition for his faith, and the author of Hebrews isn't putting him down. He's just reminding his readers that Moses was only a human being. He was an ordinary man who, because of his faith, was called by God to perform the extraordinary task of leading His people Israel out of Egypt. But Moses couldn't save their souls and redeem them from sin. He was faithful in his obedience to God, but since he was only a man he could only do what man can do. Christ, because He is God, is deserving of worship. Moses, because he was only a human being like the rest of us, is never to be worshiped.
"'Moses was faithful as a servant in all God's house,' bearing witness to what would be spoken by God in the future. But Christ is faithful as the Son over God's house. And we are His house, if indeed we hold firmly to our confidence and the hope in which we glory." (Hebrews 3:5-6) The author quotes from Numbers 12:7. This is a great compliment to Moses, for God to say he has been faithful. But in no way does this make him equal to God's Son. Moses was faithful in his work on God's house, but the house belongs to God---and therefore it belongs to God the Son. The body of believers known as the church does not belong to Moses but to Christ. Christ is the head of the church.
So let's fix our thoughts on Jesus. Let's fix our thoughts not only on who He is and on what He has done for us, but let's also fix our thoughts on Him so that the troubles and trials of this world don't overwhelm us. The One who conquered death and who redeemed us from destruction is more than able to handle any other problems we have. Lately I've been struggling with several issues and I've come close to feeling hopeless several times. And I probably would give in to hopelessness if I didn't have a Lord who is able to do all things. If He weren't part of the equation, maybe I couldn't find hope in my circumstances. But I keep thinking of what David said when he was in danger of being overwhelmed by his circumstances. I'm going to use the KJV here because that's the version in which I first learned and memorized this passage: "I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and He shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the Lord." (Psalm 27:13-14) If our thoughts and our hope are not fixed on Jesus, we may faint when trouble comes. We may fall victim to discouragement and hopelessness. But with Christ in the equation, we can be of good courage. He will strengthen our hearts.
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