Lesson 5 – Jesus compared to Moses
Read Hebrews 3 - www.bible.com/bible/59/heb.3.esv

Many times in our lives we either try to compare ourselves with someone, or have someone else do that to us. For example, a boy who wants to play a certain sport will try to compare himself to one of the greatest stars to play that sport. Or a singer might want to compare themselves with a great star they have heard and want to be like. Others might laugh and say, “You are good, but you’re not as good as THEY are!”

Many religious groups even today consider Moses to have been one of the greatest prophets who ever lived. The first six verses of this chapter compare Jesus to Moses. We need to understand this comparison if we will understand the rest of the chapter.


In the last few verses of the last chapter, we were told that Jesus is a high priest. Here in these verses, He is called an apostle and high priest. We are asked to consider Him, take another look, think about Him, stay with Him. An apostle is a “sent one from God.” Was Jesus a “sent one from God?” Yes, He was. But even though He was sent, He also came willingly. Coming was His choice too.

Jesus is also called our High Priest. We will see more of what that means in later lessons. But for now, just let the fact become special that He would come from heaven, His eternal home, to be the sent-messenger from God to you, the high priest of what He asks us to believe about Himself.

As great as Moses was, He was never called either an apostle or a High Priest. In fact, he was specifically passed by for the priest position and it was given to his brother, Aaron. We read in our verses today that Moses was a faithful servant. That is true of every genuine prophet, for a real prophet will only say the things their master has told them to say. All the prophets in the Bible gave their messages beginning with “this is what the Lord says.”

While Moses was a servant of God, Jesus is a Son. A servant can be dismissed from his position if he is not faithful, but a son is faithful because he has personal interest in the success of what he does. A servant may fear the threat of loss, but a son has nothing to fear for all that he cares for will be his when the inheritance comes.

 “We are the house,” verse 6 tells us. As the house over which Jesus has a responsibility, wouldn’t you much rather be in the care of the Son of the house rather than in the care of a servant of the house? That’s the promise made to us by God Himself – Jesus, who agreed to die in our place and suffered so we wouldn’t have to, is the one who cares for our salvation and position in God’s eternity. He paid the price so we could be His forever.