Hebrews 3 –

Jesus
…is more worthy of glory than Moses.

Background/Context

• In chapter 2 : 5-18, the writer demonstrated that Christ was superior to

the angels insofar as he had, on our behalf, consented to partake of
our humanity, to come to earth and share our lives in every way, to
become our brother, and, then, as a man, to suffer and die in our place
to secure our peace with God.1

• This whole book of Hebrews is written to help us consider Jesus. There

is more to consider about Jesus than you could ever exhaust in this life.
In chapter 1 the point was that Jesus is superior to angels. Jesus made
and sustains the world (1:1–2, 10), but the angels run errands in it
(1:14). In chapter 2 Jesus takes on human flesh and fulfills the hope of
Psalm 8 for all his people (2:7–8): "You [O God] have made him for a
little while lower than the angels; you have crowned him with glory and
honor, and have appointed him over the works of your hands; you have
put all things in subjection under his feet."

And the point at every stage of this book is: Consider this Jesus! Ponder him.
Fix your eyes on him. If your mind is like a compass moving through a world
of magnets, making it spin this way and that, make Jesus the North Pole of
your mental life that your mind comes back to again and again through the
day.2

Read 3:1-19, underlining or jotting down or underlining key words/phrases.

Apostle and High Priest – An apostle is a “sent one” who has the rights,
power, and authority of the one who sends him. Here, the writer compares
the superiority of Christ to Moses (vs. 1-6). Jesus Himself spoke of His
superiority to Moses in the same context in which he spoke of His being sent
by the Father (see John 5:36-38).
Servant…Son (vs. 5-6) – The term for “servant” implies a position of dignity
and freedom, not slavery. However, even as the highest ranking servant,
Moses could never hold the position of Son, which is Christ’s alone.
Today (v. 7) – The reference is to the present moment while the words of God
are fresh in the mind. There is a sense of urgency to immediately give heed
to the voice of God. This urgency is emphasized by repeating the reference
to “today” from Psalm 95 two more times (v. 13, 15).
My rest (v. 11) – The earthly rest which God promised to give was life in the
land of Canaan which Israel would receive as its promised inheritance (Deut.
12:9-10). At salvation, every believer enters the true rest, the realm of
spiritual promise, never again laboring to achieve through personal effort a
righteousness that pleases God.
Brethren (v. 12) – The writer is referring to the unbelieving Jewish brethren
who were in the company of the “holy brethren” (v. 1).

Questions

1) Why did the writer of Hebrews argue that Jesus is greater than Moses
(3:1-6)?

2) What does it mean to be “partakers of the heavenly calling? (cross-

references: Eph 1:3; 2:4-7; Phil. 3:14, 20)

3) What will be true of those who have truly become “partakers of Christ”
(see vs. 6 & 14)? (See also Matt. 10:22; Luke 8:15; John 8:31; 1 John 2:19)

4) Verses 12-19 feature a warning based on the Old Testament passage

quoted in verses 7-11. Who is this warning for? What is the nature of
the warning? What will be the result of not heeding this warning?

5) How is sin described in verse 13? What does this mean? (see Rom. 7:11;
James 1:14-16)

Cross-Reference Passages

6) Read Proverbs 29:1 and Jude 5. What do these verses say about the
consequences of unbelief?
 7) Read Ezekiel 33:11. How would you use this verse and Hebrews 3 to
demonstrate to a friend that God does not take pleasure in the
destruction of unbelievers?

Thoughts to Ponder

• Having read Psalm 95:7-11, turn again to Hebrews 3:8, noticing the phrase:
“Do not harden your hearts.” The author of Hebrews in quoting the Psalm is
warning us against a hardened attitude of disobedience, a fixed attitude of
disobedience. Do you know that term, “hardening the heart?” It was a term
that was used of Pharaoh — Pharaoh hardened his heart against Moses,
against the Lord. That is the way the Old Testament describes someone who
is in spiritual rebellion. It’s a perfect metaphor to describe someone who is
spiritually rebelling against the Lord. And the author of Hebrews is warning
us here that it is possible to be a part of a community that professes to
believe in God and yet in your own heart to be in spiritual rebellion against
the God of that community. It happened in the Old Testament. All of these
people had left Egypt together. At Mt. Sinai, all of these people said “All that
the Lord has said we will do.” What did they do in the wilderness? They did
not do what they said they would do and the author of Hebrews is bringing
that out. Why? …Many of the people in the congregation to which he was
writing were considering going back on their confession of Christ. Some of
them were thinking of going back to Judaism, and the author of Hebrews is
saying, “Don’t harden your heart that way. Don’t turn your back on the
profession of your faith in Christ that you have made.” 3

• The surety of believers lies not in the absence of conditions but in the
promises of power.

But the way we experience the power of God through Christ to work this
persevering grace in us is through the warnings and promises of the Word of
God. That's why the book was written. God doesn't work in us the endurance
apart from the Word. He works by the Word. Our great salvation and our great
Savior (which is what this book is about) are the inspiration the Spirit uses to
hold us fast. So we must consider Jesus (3:1) and not neglect our great
salvation (2:3). That's what this book is written to help us do. 4

Further Study Resources

If you’d like to study the book of Hebrews (or anything else relating to the
significance of Christ and His Word) further, here are a few online resources that I’ve
found to be both extremely insightful, yet clear and straightforward:

• http://theresurgence.com/
• http://www.thegospelcoalition.org/resources/topic-index
• http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/Sermons/ByScripture/
• http://www.monergism.com/directory/link_category/Sermons-By-
Book/Hebrews/By-Chapter--Hebrews/
• more on Christ’s role as High Priest:
http://www.christiancourier.com/articles/426-exploring-the-concept-of-
priesthood
• Religion-Online has more than 6,000 articles and chapters from books,
including the full text of 200 books. The resources are searchable by author
and category:
• http://www.religion-online.org/
1
Robert S. Rayburn, June 9, 2002
2
J. Piper, August 4, 1996
3
Ligon Duncan
4
J. Piper, August 11, 1996
The outline and questions for study were derived from “Hebrews: Christ – Perfect Sacrifice, Perfect Priest” by John
MacArthur, Jr. published by W Publishing Group, Nashville, TN in 2001.