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Hebrews 3:5-6

⁵Moses was certainly faithful in God’s house, but only as a servant. His work was an illustration of the truths God would reveal later. ⁶But Christ, the faithful Son, was in charge of the entire household. And we are God’s household, if we keep up our courage and remain confident in our hope in Christ.

Reflect

God spoke to Moses directly. That made him great in people’s eyes. Through Moses, God delivered his Mosaic Covenant and the Law. It was a pretty big deal to the Israelites.

These two verses today continue the comparison between Jesus and Moses. In verse 5, we find that Moses’ message was a testimony to what God would reveal later – the Messiah, Jesus. Where Moses was a servant in the house of Israel, Jesus was the Messiah over the house of Israel.

Respond

Our verses today refer to Moses as a servant of the household and Jesus in charge of the household. Who or what is the house that the writer is referring to?

Why was it important for the author to tell his readers that they must keep up their courage?

Is Christ master over your house?

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Hebrews 3:1-4

1And so, dear brothers and sisters who belong to God and are bound for heaven, think about this Jesus whom we declare to be God’s Messenger and High Priest. 2For he was faithful to God, who appointed him, just as Moses served faithfully and was entrusted with God’s entire house. 3But Jesus deserves far more glory than Moses, just as a person who builds a fine house deserves more praise than the house itself. 4For every house has a builder, but God is the one who made everything.

Reflect

His name is found 847 times in the Bible. His name is the name most mentioned in the Old Testament (762 times). He is so beloved by the Jewish people that he was held in almost God-like esteem – even higher than angels.

Knowing this, it is no wonder why the author of Hebrews chose to compare Jesus to Moses. Moses is the highest example of human faithfulness but yet, even Moses failed occasionally. But Jesus never failed.

Respond

Even though Moses was faithful to God, defection took place. Now that one greater than Moses is here, will there still be defections?

In these verses, is the writer talking to believers in Christ or non-believers? (hint: verse 1)

Why was it important to illustrate that Jesus is superior to Moses to the recipients of this letter?

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Hebrews 2:16-18

¹⁶We all know that Jesus came to help the descendants of Abraham, not to help the angels. ¹⁷Therefore, it was necessary for Jesus to be in every respect like us, his brothers and sisters, so that he could be our merciful and faithful High Priest before God. He then could offer a sacrifice that would take away the sins of the people. ¹⁸Since he himself has gone through suffering and temptation, he is able to help us when we are being tempted.

Reflect

One of the benefits of being in the military is that there are always others who have gone through similar situations and are more than willing to share what they have learned with you. As a Marine in a combat profession, it was nice to know that those who were doing the training had gone through similar situations before – sometimes learned in a trial-by-fire situation.

Likewise, Jesus, who is fully God, had to come to earth and become a man in every respect. He came to this earth to show us how to deal with temptation and suffering. He also came to sacrifice himself for us so that we wouldn’t have to pay the price of our sins.

Respond

Why was it necessary to be just like us?

When you think of Jesus, do you think of Him as a regular person?

Think of a difficult time in your life. Do you think, based on your own experience, you would be able to empathize with someone else who is going through the same experience?

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Hebrews 2:12-15

¹²For he said to God, “I will declare the wonder of your name to my brothers and sisters. I will praise you among all your people.” ¹³He also said, “I will put my trust in him.” And in the same context he said, “Here I am–together with the children God has given me.” ¹⁴Because God’s children are human beings–made of flesh and blood–Jesus also became flesh and blood by being born in human form. For only as a human being could he die, and only by dying could he break the power of the Devil, who had the power of death. ¹⁵Only in this way could he deliver those who have lived all their lives as slaves to the fear of dying.

Reflect

When I took my first restaraunt manager job in Dallas, my training didn’t begin as a manager, it began as a dishwasher. Over a period of a few months, I was a dishwasher, a prep cook, a line cook and then a chef. Then I tackled the awesome job of bus boy and then waiter before finally getting to be a host. Only after learning every job in the restaraunt, did I begin to learn what it was to be a manager.

Jesus had to become flesh and blood so he could experience death and only by dying could he overcome the power of the Devil which was death. And, only through His death could He save us from the fear of dying.

Respond

Have you ever done something just for the experience?

Is it easier to communicate how something feels before or after you experience it?

Why was it necessary for Jesus to experience death?

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Hebrews 2:9-11

⁹What we do see is Jesus, who “for a little while was made lower than the angels” and now is “crowned with glory and honor” because he suffered death for us. Yes, by God’s grace, Jesus tasted death for everyone in all the world. ¹⁰And it was only right that God–who made everything and for whom everything was made–should bring his many children into glory. Through the suffering of Jesus, God made him a perfect leader, one fit to bring them into their salvation.
¹¹So now Jesus and the ones he makes holy have the same Father. That is why Jesus is not ashamed to call them his brothers and sisters.

Reflect

Do you ever remember playing follow the leader as a child? I used to love being the leader…in fact, I still do! As mischievious little boys, we used to see how far the others would go to follow us. We would climb towers, jump off buildings, swim to the bottom of lakes. Whatever we perceived as “extreme” we would try. The whole objective was to find something that others couldn’t or wouldn’t do in order to gain “cool” points.

Jesus came to earth to lead His own follow-the-leader game called life. He came in human form ,just like us (lower than angels), and through his sacrifice on the cross, He became our perfect leader bringing us to our salvation. Now that’s cool!

Respond

What do you think the Bible meant when it said that Jesus was made “lower than the angels”?

Why is it important that Jesus became our leader?

How are you a spiritual leader in your own life?

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Hebrews 2:5-8

⁵And furthermore, the future world we are talking about will not be controlled by angels. ⁶For somewhere in the Scriptures it says, “What is man that you should think of him, and the son of man that you should care for him? ⁷For a little while you made him lower than the angels, and you crowned him with glory and honor. ⁸You gave him authority over all things.” Now when it says “all things,” it means nothing is left out. But we have not yet seen all of this happen.

Reflect

In 1989, Psychology Today conducted a survey about “Who is the ideal man?” The first sentence of their report is telling. “Out of the struggle to redefine masculinity and femininity, a new ideal is emerging, a hero who takes the inward way to manhood.” Throughout the report, we discover that the ideal man is hard to come by. For example, a woman from Seattle wrote, “My husband is an excellent man. His problem is he thinks he ought to be ideal. He says to me, ‘Good enough isn’t good enough.’ He is tortured by the ideal of perfection.”

Since God didn’t give sovereignty of the future world to angels, Jesus had to come to earth as the Ideal Representative Man. Adam lost his dominion and right to rule when he sinned. Jesus won back that sovereignty by conquering Satan, by His death on the cross. Jesus will exercise that sovereignty in the “world to come”.

Respond

Why was it so important for Jesus to come to earth as a the Ideal Representative Man?

Have you ever tried to be the “ideal person”? If so, did you achieve the ideal?

The last line says, “But we have not yet seen all of this happen.” Do you think that refers to His new kingdom on earth?

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