291
“Therefore, holy brothers and sisters, partners in a heavenly calling, take note of Jesus, the apostle and high priest whom we confess, who is faithful to the one who appointed him, as Moses was also in God’s house” (Hebrews 3:1-2 NET).
This portion of Scripture tells us that Moses and Jesus were each faithful to God. However, faithfulness was not the only similarity that existed between their respective ministries. For instance…
- Moses chose to leave his place in Pharaoh’s family in order to identify with the people of Israel. Jesus’ willingly left His place in heaven to identify with and deliver humanity from sin.
- Moses performed many miracles in validating God’s call upon his life. Jesus also performed many miracles in ministering to others and validating God’s call upon His life.
- God communicated His directives through Moses and Jesus. For example, Moses received the Ten Commandments and the other aspects of the Mosaic Law from God and taught them to the people of Israel. Jesus did so through the Beatitudes.
- Both were involved in providing nourishment for others in the form of bread. Moses is associated with the bread from heaven that God provided for the nation of Israel during their decades-long journey in the wilderness. Jesus also served as God’s provision in identifying Himself as the Bread of Life.
- Moses (Exodus 32:32) and Jesus (John 10:17) each expressed their willingness to sacrifice their lives.
- Moses was rejected by others on multiple occasions. Jesus was also rejected by the spiritual leadership of His day and those who crucified Him.
- Finally, Moses and Jesus referenced one another in their respective ministries. For instance, Moses told the people of Israel, “The Lord your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your midst, from your brethren. Him you shall hear” (Deuteronomy 18:15). Jesus subsequently made the following comment to the religious establishment of His day: “Do not think that I shall accuse you to the Father; there is one who accuses you—Moses, in whom you trust. For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me; for he wrote about Me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?” (John 5:45-47).
In addition, we should also note that Moses held the honor of meeting with Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration (Matthew 17:1-8). Yet despite these similarities, the following verses of Hebrews chapter three will go on to demonstrate Jesus’ clear superiority over Moses through the use of an architectural metaphor.