1Therefore, holy brothers, who share in the heavenly calling, fix your thoughts on Jesus, the apostle and high priest whom we confess. 2He was faithful to the one who appointed him, just as Moses was faithful in all God’s house. 3Jesus has been found worthy of greater honor than Moses, just as the builder of a house has greater honor than the house itself. 4For every house is built by someone, but God is the builder of everything. 5Moses was faithful as a servant in all God’s house, testifying to what would be said in the future. 6But Christ is faithful as a son over God’s house. And we are his house, if we hold on to our courage and the hope of which we boast.
- He calls them “holy brothers, who share in the heavenly calling.”
- He affirms their calling and says, “For those of you who are insecure because your family and friends have told you that you hold this Jesus guy to highly, you are involved in this heavenly calling.”
- We see here the common theme of Hebrews: Jesus is a big deal! The biggest of all deals!
- Fix your eyes on Jesus. Not just on concepts, statements, or even this letter. Fix your eyes on Jesus.
- Just because we say that He is the new Moses, doesn’t mean He’s anywhere on the same level as Moses.
- TU/ORU example
- You have two opposing groups at this time
o Those who held to traditional Judaism, said that the law, as given to Moses, was and always should be the ultimate authority in rule of life and in the world. Anything Jesus brought, could be, at most, a further clarity on the law. This means that the new age was not here.
o The other group were those Christians who had been so excited to embrace the new age that they had a strong stigma against the law and also anything having to do with Israel (B.C.). They were in danger of cutting off the branch they were sitting on
o They wanted ORU to win so bad that they just assumed that TU fall off the map
- The author of Hebrews is emphatic that with Christ, the law of Moses does not have final say any more
- Moses matters, he’s awesome! But, he’s no Jesus. Moses was a true servant of God, but Jesus is God’s Son.
- Don’t diminish Moses, but know that Jesus has the place of ultimate authority.
- The author of Hebrews is trying to make the point that the law, Moses, the Exodus, all of the prophets, everything that has been done in the name of YHWH, has been leading up to this point, when Christ has come into our world and set us free.
- She says “fix your eyes on Jesus” and calls Him “apostle”, which is one sent by God
- Also, “high priest” is one who represents God and represents God’s people
- Jesus represents God and represents humanity
- “the apostle and high priest who we confess. This is an interesting phrase. It comes up a lot in Hebrews so let’s look at it here.
- Today, when we say that we have “confessed” something, it means that we did something wrong.
o Yes, officer, I was driving too fast
o Yes, honey, it was me who left the seat up
o Yes, mom, I did call Spencer a loser
o Etc.
- But, to those in this time, to confess meant to admit something that is true about who you are and what you believe.
- Yes, I do believe that Jesus is Messiah
- Yes, I do believe that He rose from the dead
- Yes, I do believe that all purposes and promises came true in Jesus
- Yes, I believe that I am part of the family of God because of Jesus
- This may, in some cultures, get you in trouble, but this has always been the Christian way: owning up to your relationship with Christ.
- This last statement is awesome. It really shows the difference between Jesus and Moses. Moses is a faithful servant in God’s house, but Jesus is the head of God’s house
- Also, Jesus is associated with the builder.
- Not only is he the head, but He is one with God. No house like this could even be built without Him.
- We are God’s house.
- Traditional Judaism would have seen the “house” of God as the temple, a building in which He resides.
- But, Hebrews sees the “house” of God as a community of people who hold on to hope.
Observation #1: Jesus is the head of the house, and through Him the New Age has come.
Warning Against Unbelief
7So, as the Holy Spirit says: “Today, if you hear his voice, 8do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion, during the time of testing in the desert, 9where your fathers tested and tried me and for forty years saw what I did. 10That is why I was angry with that generation, and I said, ‘Their hearts are always going astray, and they have not known my ways.’ 11So I declared on oath in my anger,’They shall never enter my rest.’12See to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. 13But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.
- If you’ve ever been on a trip, you know that there reaches this time where everyone gets really cranky. Typically it’s like in the middle of the day
- People have been doing the same thing for hours and their sick of it.
- Then, it’s time to eat. After breakfast, lunch, or dinner, the world seems so much better. The heavens open, the angels sing, and the world is put back to rights.
- This is the cycle that we often see with the children of Israel.
- Enthusiastic beginnings, grumblings in difficult times, and provision.
- We have just discussed Moses and the law, now the author looks at the wilderness wanderings.
- The people of God are tested whether they will put their trust in YHWH for provision or not.
- Instead, they demand God’s signs.
- The author wants the Hebrew people to identify with the people in this story. How will you respond?
- But it doesn’t seem to just be something where the authors like: remember this, do better next time!
- The story of the wilderness is just an opening act to what YHWH has done in Christ, and the new age that they are living in. It’s all part of the same story.
- The author of Hebrews uses this Psalm 95 a lot in this chapter and chapter 4, so lets look at the passage.
Psalm 95:1 Come, let us sing for joy to the LORD; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation. 2 Let us come before him with thanksgiving and extol him with music and song.3 For the LORD is the great God,
the great King above all gods. 4 In his hand are the depths of the earth,
and the mountain peaks belong to him. 5 The sea is his, for he made it, and his hands formed the dry land. 6 Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the LORD our Maker;7 for he is our God and we are the people of his pasture, the flock under his care. Today, if you hear his voice, 8 do not harden your hearts as you did at Meribah, as you did that day at Massah in the desert, 9 where your fathers tested and tried me, though they had seen what I did. 10 For forty years I was angry with that generation; I said, “They are a people whose hearts go astray, and they have not known my ways.” 11 So I declared on oath in my anger, “They shall never enter my rest.”
- The Psalm starts with, “God is awesome! How Great is God!” Celebration, etc.
- But, then the mood changes in verse 7
- The Psalmist reminds us that just like God warned the Israelites that, if they grumbled and didn’t trust God, they would not enter his promised land
- In the New Age, it is so important that we listen to God’s voice and heed His words.
- He says, “Today!”
- So the author of Hebrews uses this passage to say, “We have been “waiting for tomorrow for too long.” It is time to live today!
- The main thing that Hebrews becomes concerned with is are we going to trust God when things get difficult? Or, will our hope fade? Will we grumble?
- As long as it is called today, can we hold onto Christ?
- This is not something that we can do on our own, we have to trust Christ.
- This sounds kinda legalistic at first glance. Don’t grumble or you will never enter God’s plan.
- But, if you think about it, rest is found in God’s plan. Rest is found in Christ. “Come all ye who are weary…”
- If we run away from Christ, we are running away from rest. We are running away from love.
Observation #2: When troubles come, hold onto to Christ.
14We have come to share in Christ if we hold firmly till the end the confidence we had at first. 15As has just been said:”Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts
as you did in the rebellion.”16Who were they who heard and rebelled? Were they not all those Moses led out of Egypt? 17And with whom was he angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the desert? 18And to whom did God swear that they would never enter his rest if not to those who disobeyed? 19So we see that they were not able to enter, because of their unbelief.
- Have you ever been to youth camp or something and gotten a “high”?
- It seems like the goal of many youth leaders is just to keep the high going.
- If we get kids started right, emotionally strong, troubles will not come. They will just be so “high” that they will not succumb to temptation
- The challenge is that we live in a real world and difficulties, tiredness, and temptation will come.
- The goal is not just to be so high emotionally that we live “above” everything else
- The question is “How do we follow Christ in the midst of whatever emotional climate we are in?”
- It’s like falling asleep while driving. No matter how confident you are when you start your journey, tiredness will come. Then, you have a choice, what are you going to do about it? Stop for coffee? Hit yourself in the face? Stop at the closest rest stop and run a lap? Stop at a hotel?
- Who were the grumblers in the OT story? It wasn’t those who lived in the wilderness. It was the people of God, the people who were saved from Egypt, who God parted the Red Sea for! No matter how good you start your journey, temptation will come. The temptation to not rely on Christ will come.
- Also, who does God say that He is angry with? It’s not the Gentiles, the pagans who don’t know Him. He is angry with His people. The author says, “This message isn’t for someone else, it’s for you.”
- Finally, the challenge is posed not to forget who God has called you to be, that God loves you and invites you to participate in His mission.
- It is when we forget this, that we begin to grumble
o Whether it’s the children of Israel in the desert, who need to remember that they are a kingdom of priests, called by God and set free.
o Whether it’s the readers of Hebrews, the early church who is discouraged that the world around them looks broken, that Christ is not bodily present, that their family tells them they are fools.
o Or whether it’s us, who are tempted to put our security in other things other than Christ.
- I believe that the only way to remind ourselves of the truth, of who God has called us to be is to place ourselves in community.
Observation #3: We must constantly remind ourselves of who God has called us to be
