Jesus is Worthy of Greater Honor than Moses (Hebrews 3:3-4)
“Jesus has been found worthy of greater honor than Moses, just as the builder of a house has greater honor than the house itself. For every house is built by someone, but God is the builder of everything” (Hebrews 3:3-4)
When the Law was given, it was given to the people by Moses. He acted as a mediator between God and man. He was God's steward overseeing the administration of the written code. Moses was truly a faithful servant over God's house leading the Israelites by example. But Jesus is worthy of greater honor than Moses because He is not a servant entrusted with overseeing the covenant, Jesus is the covenant. Everything that the Law and the prophets foretold was about Jesus. He is the spoken Word of God and He was always the plan for redemption.
Covenants Are God’s Way of Protecting Us
God has always made covenants with His people. If you look back through the scriptures you will see several accounts of these promises. The amazing thing is, these covenants were initiated by God and based solely on His word. In other words, mankind's behavior did not nullify the pledge God made to them. Take Abraham for example. God came to him and told him, that his offspring would be as numerous as the stars in the sky and He would give him a great span of land as his inheritance. He asked nothing in return from Abraham. Then God ratified this covenant with a heifer, a goat, a ram, a dove and a young pigeon (Genesis 15). The only thing required on Abraham’s part was believing God. The scripture records, "Abram believed the LORD, and he credited it to him as righteousness." (Genesis 15:6). Faith placed in the Lord and what He did was the only requirement.
The important thing to understand is that God is the one who initiates the covenant. He makes the promise, ratifies it and then stands behind it never changing His mind. The New Covenant, which Jesus ushered in is in the same fashion as the covenant made with Abraham. It is not based on anything we can do, it is based on what God did. Ratification of this promise was made by Jesus' blood. Now Jesus is the guarantor of this covenant, since He lives, this promise offered to us can never be broken or revoked and God will not change His mind about it. Even though the world gets increasingly worse, with more evil and sin, God will never renege on this covenant of grace offered to us through Jesus.
Because of this, Jesus is truly worthy of far greater honor than Moses. Paul said in II Corinthians, “Now if the ministry that brought death, which was engraved in letters on stone, came with glory, so that the Israelites could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of its glory, fading though it was, will not the ministry of the Spirit be even more glorious? If the ministry that condemns men is glorious, how much more glorious is the ministry that brings righteousness! For what was glorious has no glory now in comparison with the surpassing glory. And if what was fading away came with glory, how much greater is the glory of that which lasts!” (II Corinthians 3:7-11). This is a comparison between the Law, written in stone and the administration of the Spirit written on our hearts through the covenant of grace. It is far superior and worthy of more honor than anything the Law did or could ever do.
John 1 tells us, “From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father’s side, has made him known” (John 1;16-18). The Law was meant to accuse us and show us our guilt before God (Romans 5:20, II Corinthians 3:6, Galatians 3:24-25) but the grace and truth that Jesus offers us shows us the love and forgiving nature of God. This message is incredible and since the bearer of this amazing news lives, seated at the right hand of the Father, we know that this promise is eternal. So in every sense of the word, Jesus is worthy of incredible honor and glory and He is the guarantor of our covenant of grace, initiated and offered by God, rarified and secured by Jesus forever. The only requirement is believing and accepting it. Then we too like Abraham are credited with righteousness.
Tomorrow we look at Hebrews 3:5-6; Moses Testified about Christ