Hebrews 3:1-11: Christ, the One Worthy of All Honor

(Yesterday’s note can be found at http://www.facebook.com/notes/estepha-francisque/hebrews-

2-jesus-angels-part-2/10150115902298554)

(Hebrews 1:4-14 http://www.facebook.com/notes/estepha-francisque/hebrews-14-14-jesus-

angels/10150115366843554)
(Hebrews 1:1-3 http://www.facebook.com/note.php?
note_id=10150114353813554&id=1233120181
(Introduction to Hebrew http://www.facebook.com/note.php?
note_id=10150113831453554&id=1233120181)

Yesterday, we left off looking at Christ’s worthiness to be our High Priest. We concluded that He
is more than qualified to help us because He took on full humanity, experiencing the pain and
difficulty that we still face. Today, we will further explore this as Paul begins to explain why
Christ is greater than one of the great Jewish patriarchs, Moses.

1 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)

Chapter 2 ended noting that Jesus suffered temptation just like we do. He is our faithful High
Priest who was tempted as we are, and because of this, Paul encourages us to look on Him
with the eyes of our minds (our thoughts). Christ is the Apostle and High Priest we confess. By
using the word “Apostle”, he means that Christ was sent to us by the Father, and the words
“High Priest” mean He is our Atonement (paid the price for our sins) and Intercessor (intercedes
to the Father on our behalf).

Now Paul is addressing that Christ is greater than Moses as he continues to break down to the
Hebrews as to why their “ditching” tradition for Christ is the same as exchanging a small sum for
an infinitely great blessing.

2 He was faithful to the one who appointed him, just as Moses was faithful in all God’s house. 3
Jesus has been found worthy of greater honor than Moses, just as the builder of a house has
greater honor than the house itself.4 For every house is built by someone, but God is the
builder of everything. 5 “Moses was faithful as a servant in all God’s house,” bearing witness to
what would be spoken by God in the future.6 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 3:2-6)

Moses was faithful to God’s calling and mission, just like Christ. This is where their equality
ends. Paul makes it clear that Christ is worthy of more honor than Moses simply because He is
the “builder of the house”, the house being God’s house, the body of the faithful believers of
God and His Son, Jesus Christ. Not only did Christ build the house, He built everything else! He
is the Creator, He is God, and that alone places Him infinitely above Moses, who is simply a
part of the house.

Moses was faithful as a servant, but Christ was faithful as a Son. A servant is not an heir and is
thus not equal to the head of the house. The son is an heir and subsequently holds ownership
with his father. Paul explains in verse 6 what the house is; faithful true believers who endure
and hold on to the end.
● Note: MacDonald is careful to stress that this text does not in any way support “salvation
by works”. Endurance is an evidence of salvation that is received by faith. Endurance is
NOT a prerequisite for salvation.

7 So, as the Holy Spirit says:

“Today, if you hear his voice,
8 do not harden your hearts
as you did in the rebellion,
during the time of testing in the wilderness,
9 where your ancestors tested and tried me,
though for forty years they saw what I did.
10 That is why I was angry with that generation;
I said, ‘Their hearts are always going astray,
and they have not known my ways.’
11 So I declared on oath in my anger,
‘They shall never enter my rest.’ ” (Hebrews 3:7-11)

Paul pauses this argument for the first of many “commercial breaks”. These are multiple
warnings against disbelief, or in this case, “hardening the heart”. The argument here against
leaving Christ is based on the Holy Spirit’s referral to Psalm 95:7-11. MacDonald specifically
writes “When we hear God speak, we are not to harden our hearts against Him as we make Him
out to be a liar and incur His wrath” This text refers to the Israelites in the wilderness who
constantly doubted God and rebelled against Him. On this MacDonald writes “It was a dreary
record of complaint, lust, idolatry, unbelief, and rebellion.”

They angered God with their unbelief to the point where He had them wander in the wilderness
for 40 years. Similarly, the Jews hardened their hearts against Christ for approximately 40 years
after His death, until Jerusalem was destroyed in A.D. 70. He says that they are constantly
wayward and declared that they would never enter His rest, the land of Canaan and the spiritual
blessings that surely would have rewarded faithful obedience.

There’s already plenty to meditate on, and that’s all I can share for today. Let us remember that
Christ blazed the trail for us. Let us look to Him with our thoughts for strength, guidance, and
deliverance, and let us never, ever, harden our hearts to God’s call to obedience. We will look
more at this warning and at Christ. Read the rest of Hebrews 3 when you get a chance. I pray
this has blessed you, and of course, whatever you have learned, pass it on! “Expression
deepens the impression”.