Consider Jesus

The Book of Hebrews is a well-crafted “word of exhortation.” That’s what the final chapter calls this book (13:22). For this author, a word of exhortation is a mixture of careful exposition of the Old Testament, as well as direct exhortations to the audience about how to live in light of what God has done in Christ. Thus far, we’ve seen exposition of Christ’s supremacy over the angels, his rule over the cosmos as the perfect man, and his help for sinners as the son who suffers and dies for us. We’ve also received one direct exhortation:

“We must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it” (2:1)

As this sermon unfolds, we’ll see these themes amplified, extended, and woven together. 

The author, as he develops his arguments, picks up themes, words, phrases, and uses them again, combining them in fresh ways to deepen our understanding of God and Christ and the new covenant, and to call us forward into obedience and faith. 

The present passage contains exposition and reflection on the Old Testament as well as introduces a key passage that will anchor the next two chapters. But the heart of this section is the exhortation in the first verse:

“Consider Jesus.”

In fact, if I were ever going to write a commentary or exposition of the book of Hebrews, I think I would call it “Consider Jesus.” That’s the overarching theme of the book, from the opening verses “in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son” to the final chapters “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.” The author again and again wants us to consider Jesus, listen to Jesus, look to Jesus. 

But – and this is crucial – he wants us to consider Jesus in light of God’s works in the past, as revealed in the Old Testament. When we consider Jesus, he intends for us to have a rich, full vision of what God has done in the past and what he’s promised to do, so that we see Christ in his fullness and marvel at his works and his person. That’s part of why we chose Hebrews after preaching Leviticus, so that with the Levitical system fresh in your minds, you’ll be able to consider Jesus with new eyes.

The first part of the verse is condensed and distilled from the previous chapters. He addresses his audience for the first time:

“Therefore, holy brothers.”

As Pastor Jonathan noted last week, Hebrews 2 identifies us as children of God (2:13-14) and as brothers (and sisters) of Jesus.

“That is why he is not ashamed to call them brothers, saying, ‘I will tell of your name to my brothers;’” (2:11-12)

And not just brothers, but “holy” brothers. This language comes from 2:11,

“For he who sanctifies [makes holy] and those who are sanctified all have one source.”

So he’s picked up those elements and carries them forward.

The same is true of the next phrase,

“you who share in a heavenly calling.”

What is this heavenly calling? Well, it’s what he’s mentioned in the previous chapters. God is “bringing many sons to glory” (2:10). He intends for man to be crowned with glory and honor (2:7, 9). He is subjecting the world to come to us (2:5). This is our heavenly calling. Going forward in the letter, this heavenly calling will be described in terms of “Sabbath rest,” and “the city is to come,” and “heavenly country,” and “the kingdom that cannot be shaken.” 

And this is a good opportunity to summarize and bring together a few items from the last few weeks, and connect them to what we saw in Leviticus. We want to sanctify our imaginations so that we can really consider Jesus. A few weeks ago Pastor Kenny noted that God created man with a heavenly destiny. In creating man, he made us a little lower than the angels for a little while. He used a staircase analogy to help make this clear. And here in this room, we have a staircase.

Recall also that the tabernacle was built like a mobile mountain. To move in is the same as moving up. And again this room can help orient us. So imagine that behind me is the summit of the mountain, the top of the staircase, the holy of holies where God dwells. On this platform is the realm of the holy angels, and at the bottom of the stairs is where God places man–a little lower than the angels.

Now God intends for man to ascend higher than the angels. They start lower, but are destined for higher. The plan is that the older/higher will serve the younger/lower. But man stumbles on the stairs. He falls and he can’t get up. Now the way up the mountain is blocked by angels with flaming swords. We cannot ascend the hill of the Lord. 

And so, God the Son, leaves the throne (behind me) and descends, being made lower than the angels. He partakes of flesh and blood (2:14); he is made like his brothers in every respect (2:17). He shares our full humanity, willingly enduring suffering and death, so that we might share in his victory, so that we too might be crowned with glory and honor. That’s the movement: Christ shares our flesh and blood, so that we might share his heavenly calling. 

In doing this, Jesus becomes our merciful and faithful high priest and deals with our sin, so that we can climb the stairs, ascend the holy hill, and enter the holy place. It’s not angels that he helps to do this, but us. 

And therefore, to us, to Christ’s holy brothers, to those who now share in his heavenly calling, the author of Hebrews gives a clear exhortation:

“Consider Jesus, the apostle and high priest of our confession.”

Christ is an apostle, because he was sent on a mission with a message. He is to bring many sons of glory through suffering and death, and declare to them a great salvation (2:4). The language of high priest reaches back to 2:17, and it points forward to the exposition to come in 4:14-5:9, and again in chapter 7.

“Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” (4:14-16)

But the word that the author keys in on now is the word “faithful” (2:17). And this word invites a comparison and contrast between Jesus and Moses. 

Why does this word lead to Moses? To understand, we need to turn back to Numbers 12. In Numbers 12:7, God says that Moses “is faithful in all my house” (quoted in 3:5). That’s why the word “faithful” is here (4 times in 2, 5, 6), and why the word “house” (or household) is emphasized (7 times in 2, 3, 4, 5, 6). The author wants us to “consider Jesus” in light of this section of the book of Numbers.

The people have set out from Mount Sinai to pass through the wilderness on the way to the Promised Land. And they’re already sick of manna, and they complain that they have no meat. So God sends them an abundance of quail, and a plague, as a discipline for their grumbling. 

And then Miriam and Aaron grumble against Moses, because he has married a non-Israelite. 

Numbers 12:2–9,

“And they said, ‘Has the LORD indeed spoken only through Moses? Has he not spoken through us also?’ And the LORD heard it. Now the man Moses was very meek, more than all people who were on the face of the earth. And suddenly the LORD said to Moses and to Aaron and Miriam, ‘Come out, you three, to the tent of meeting.’ And the three of them came out. And the LORD came down in a pillar of cloud and stood at the entrance of the tent and called Aaron and Miriam, and they both came forward. And he said, ‘Hear my words: If there is a prophet among you, I the LORD make myself known to him in a vision; I speak with him in a dream. Not so with my servant Moses. He is faithful in all my house. With him I speak mouth to mouth, clearly, and not in riddles, and he beholds the form of the LORD. Why then were you not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?’ And the anger of the LORD was kindled against them, and he departed.”

The point of this passage is that Moses is special; God doesn’t just send him dreams and visions at a distance; he speaks to him face to face. And as a result of their complaint, Miriam is struck with leprosy for seven days and is only healed because of Moses’s intercession. 

Now before we return to see the comparison and contrast with Jesus, I want to insert a parentheses about how this author wants us to read the Old Testament. The end of our passage today is Psalm 95, which is a reflection and meditation on this section from Numbers, specifically Numbers 13-14. We’ll explore what the Author does with Psalm 95 in more detail in the coming weeks. For now, I want you to understand the way that he reads his Old Testament, because we need to learn to read the Old Testament this way.

Here’s the simple statement: The Author reads Moses through Prophetic Eyes. The Old Testament was divided into three basic divisions: Law/Torah, Prophets, and Writings (Psalms). The Torah is foundational for Israel, telling the story of creation and the fall, as well as God’s promises to Abraham and his offspring, the deliverance from Egypt, and the giving of the law and the establishing of worship in the tabernacle. That’s the foundation.

The Prophets and the Writings, then, look back to those foundational events and see in them a pattern and a promise. The Torah, the Pentateuch, and the Law sets the pattern. And the Prophets and the Psalms take up the pattern and extend it into the future as a promise.

We’ve already seen one example of this in Hebrews 2. God creates man and gives him dominion in Genesis 1-2. That’s Moses, the Pentateuch. Then Psalm 8 celebrates man’s dominion. And the Author of Hebrews reads Genesis through Psalm 8 and draws a conclusion: “At present, we don’t see everything in subjection to him. But we see Jesus.”

In the coming passage, the Author will read Numbers 13-14 and the promise of rest in the Promised Land, in light of Psalm 95 and the word “Today.” Later he’ll draw attention to the Levitical priesthood, established in Leviticus, but then read it in light of Psalm 110 and another priesthood after the order of Melchizedek. And he’ll draw the conclusion that the Levitical priesthood was insufficient; we need something more. The same will be true of the Old Covenant sacrifices (Leviticus) and the New Covenant promises (Jeremiah). Those promises testified that those sacrifices were insufficient. We need something more, something greater, something more excellent. 

So as a recommendation for next week, I recommend that you read the story of Israel in Numbers 13 and 14. They send the spies into the land, who come back with a report. Ten spies discourage them from entering because of giants and fortified cities, while Joshua and Caleb exhort them to go up and take it because God is with them and for them. But the people rebel and refuse, God threatens to wipe them all out, Moses intercedes based on God’s character and name, God pardons them, but still brings consequences. 

“Then the LORD said, ‘I have pardoned, according to your word. But truly, as I live, and as all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the LORD, none of the men who have seen my glory and my signs that I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and yet have put me to the test these ten times and have not obeyed my voice, shall see the land that I swore to give to their fathers. And none of those who despised me shall see it.’” (Numbers 14:20-23)

Back to Hebrews 3. Here we see a comparison and a contrast between Jesus and Moses in relation to God’s house. And I think this comparison fits the pattern. Numbers 12:7 is clearly here. But 2 Samuel 7 is also on the table. The author quotes part of 2 Samuel 7 in chapter 1:

“I will be to him a father and he shall be to me a son.”

But here’s a larger section from God’s words to David. 

“When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son.” (2 Samuel 7:12–14)

Note the language of house-building. David’s son will build God a house. That’s the connection to Numbers 12. Again, we are reading Moses through prophetic eyes, Numbers through the lens of 2 Samuel. 

So what’s the comparison? Both Moses and Jesus are faithful to God. That’s the similarity. Moses was faithful to the one who appointed him. So was Jesus. 

But then there’s the contrast. Jesus is worthy of more glory than Moses. Why? Because the builder of the house receives more honor than the house itself. Jesus isn’t just part of the house. He’s the builder of the house. That’s the point of this proverbial saying:

“Every house is built by someone, but the builder of all things is God.”

Jesus, the Son of God, is the radiance of the glory of God, the exact imprint of his nature. 

So Moses is faithful in God’s house, as a servant. The word for servant here is an unusual one. It’s not used very often. In fact, the main person that is called this word is Moses. 

“Israel saw the great power that the Lord used against the Egyptians, so the people feared the Lord, and they believed in the Lord and in his servant Moses.” (Exodus 14:31)

“So Moses the servant of the Lord died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the Lord,” (Deuteronomy 34:5)

“He sent Moses, his servant,
and Aaron, whom he had chosen.” (Psalm 105:26)

This is the most common term assigned to Moses. He is the servant of the Lord. And in particular, he is a servant who testifies to the things to come.

In contrast, Christ is faithful over God’s house, as a son (2 Samuel 7:14). And the son is greater than the servant, just as his name is more excellent than the ministering spirits that we call angels. 

And what is the house? We are. And this gets at the double character of the term “house.” “House” can refer to a physical structure (like the tabernacle or temple). But it also refers to “household,” as in the people. And Moses was a part of the people, as a servant. And Jesus is also a part of the people; he shares in flesh and blood and is our brother. But he’s also over the people, over God’s house. 

Application

So what do we do with this passage today? Two things. First, we need to be God’s house. We are his house, his household. And we should labor to build our own households into God’s household. 

We do so, remembering that “unless the Lord builds the house, the builders labor in vain” (Psalm 127). In other words, every house is built by someone, but the builder of all things is God. God is calling each of us to be faithful in our house and in his house, to build our house and to build his house. And to do so in the strength that he supplies, since he is the true builder of all things. 

Here’s a good prayer to come out of today’s sermon. “Father, make me faithful like Moses in my house and in your house.” Husbands, pray that God would strengthen you to establish your house in the Lord. Wives, pray that, like the wise woman of Proverbs 14, God would empower you to build up your house and not tear it down. Kids, pray that you would be found faithful in your house. If you’re unmarried, pray that God would prepare you to build your house, and even now to be faithful in God’s house. We are his house, and we want to be found faithful.

And how do we do this? What is one crucial element of being God’s house? Holding fast our confidence and our boasting in hope. 

This is a call to perseverance, one of the main themes of the letter. In 3:14, we see an echo and amplification of this passage.

“For we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end.”

Sharing in Christ equals sharing in a heavenly calling. Holding fast our confidence equals holding our original confidence firm to the end. 

And this is not always easy. Beginning is sometimes easy. Finishing is often hard. In the original context of this letter, the temptation for this audience was to abandon Jesus and return to Judaism. That’s the temptation. Go back to the sacrificial system, to the temple, to Levitical priesthood. 

Think about it this way: the background noise for the original audience was 2nd Temple Judaism. If they drifted, they drifted back to the sacrificial system. For these Christians, that felt more real than Christianity, than Jesus. That’s why this letter was written. 

In our day, that’s not our temptation. That’s not our background noise. We’re not tempted to drift into Judaism or animal sacrifice. But we are tempted to drift. We are tempted to loosen our grip, and our confidence and boldness diminishes. 

This Thursday, at The North Church, I’ll be giving a free lecture called Puddleglum’s Faith in which, with C.S. Lewis’s help, I’ll try to describe our modern background noise and the way that it can cause us to drift from Christ and put us under a spell. If you struggle with doubts about Christianity, or if you know someone who does, I want to extend a special invitation to you. I think it will be helpful to you. The lecture is free, but RSVPs are helpful, and you can find information at citieschurch.com/events. 

For now, I want to close with how we can be God’s house by holding fast to our confidence. And that’s by clinging to Jesus, considering Jesus. Which brings us to the Table.

The word “consider” here means “contemplate, meditate, fix your attention on.” It’s a word of focus. And the Author takes us to Psalm 95 and quotes the last few verses. I want us to focus on the first 7:

“Oh come, let us sing to the LORD;
let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!
Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving;
let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!
For the LORD is a great God,
and a great King above all gods.
In his hand are the depths of the earth;
the heights of the mountains are his also.
The sea is his, for he made it,
and his hands formed the dry land.
Oh come, let us worship and bow down;
let us kneel before the LORD, our Maker!
For he is our God,
and we are the people of his pasture,
and the sheep of his hand.”

The exhortation here is to worship, to bow down, to sing, and to make a joyful noise with gratitude to God. And then two truths about God are highlighted. In verse 3-5, he is a great God, a great King, the maker of heaven and earth. We ought to consider how vast his power and his might. He upholds the universe by the word of his power. Contemplate that greatness, extending to the heavens and the galaxies, and extending to the atoms and the molecules. Both the size of the cosmos and the detail are incomprehensible, and he made it and holds it. 

But then, second, he is “our God.” We are “his sheep.” He is our great Shepherd and he cares for us and watches over us and is concerned with our welfare. His attention is not exhausted by keeping the planets in orbit, or holding atoms and molecules together. He sees you and he knows you. And he is available to help you. This is the God who reveals himself in Jesus, and he does so at this Table.

At this Table each week, we are invited to consider Jesus. In his suffering and death, and in his triumph and life. So come and welcome to Jesus Christ.