Trouble is one of the constants of life. Something else which we all face is temptation. We will be prompted either to do what we shouldn’t, or not do what we ought. The difference between those who follow Christ and those who do not, is not whether they will have to face trouble and temptation, but how they face it. We who follow Christ are in covenant relationship with God. Because of that covenant relationship, we have the promise of help to face our problems and temptations. We have already seen in the inspired book of Hebrews that God’s grace is available to us, and that Jesus is able to help those who are being tempted.
However, the offer and promise of help also places an obligation or responsibility upon us. Let’s read about it starting in Hebrews, chapter 3, verses 1 through 6. “Therefore, holy brothers, partakers of a heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our confession, Jesus; who was faithful to him who appointed him, as also was Moses in all his house. For he has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses, inasmuch as he who built the house has more honor than the house. For every house is built by someone; but he who built all things is God. Moses indeed was faithful in all his house as a servant, for a testimony of those things which were afterward to be spoken, but Christ is faithful as a Son over his house; whose house we are, if we hold fast our confidence and the glorying of our hope firm to the end.”
When we are going through trouble or temptation, we tend to think that we are alone. God has forgotten about us. But the phrase “holy brothers” reminds us that this is not true. God has not forgotten us. We are holy, that is, we have been chosen or set apart for God’s own use. We are important to Him.
Not only are we holy, we also participate in the heavenly calling. The concept of calling and answering God’s call is important to our understanding of the rest of this passage. However, we will mention just one aspect of it: our focus. It is so easy to let the problems and distractions of the world and our every-day life overwhelm us. But God has invited us to participate in something that is far above the immediate and the physical. In Philippians 3, verses 13 and 14, Paul writes, “…But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” (NIV)
After reminding us that God has set us apart and we have a share in something which is far more significant than this world and its problems, the writer gets to the point: we need to “consider Jesus.” Chapter 2, verse 18 tells us that Jesus “is able to help those who are being tempted.” (NIV) Therefore, verse 1 of chapter 3 tells us, we need to fix our thoughts on Him!
We can only think one thought at a time. If we fill our minds with Jesus, we won’t be able to think about whatever it is that is tempting us. When we concentrate on our heavenly calling, the things of this life won’t be able to take us away from God.
Verse 1 also reminds us that Jesus is an apostle. What does this mean? The word ‘apostle’ means “one who is sent.” So, when the writer calls Jesus an apostle, he is reminding us that Jesus has been sent by God. We already saw in chapter 1, that God has communicated His most complete and clear message to us in and through Jesus. Here, Jesus is God’s apostle – the One whom He has sent – in order to help us overcome temptation.
Jesus is also our High Priest. We saw in chapter 2, verse 17 that one of His responsibilities as High Priest is to atone, or pay, for our sins. We’ll learn more about this in following chapters.
The last part of verse 1 says that we confess Jesus. What does it mean to confess? The word which is used in this passage literally means, “to say the same thing.” In other words, when we confess, we say the same thing that God does. When we confess Jesus, we not only acknowledge Him, but we say the same things about Him as God does. This includes the fact that He is our Apostle and High Priest.
The perversity of human nature is such that even after we’ve been told that God sent Jesus to pay for our sin, and to help us when we are tempted; even though we confess Him as our Apostle and High Priest, there is still a part of us which whispers, “How can we be sure?”
Remember that Hebrews is written to people from a Jewish background. They had accepted Christ, but were now being tempted to return to Judaism because of the persecution which was coming their way. So the writer brings up something that every Jew would acknowledge: Was Moses faithful to God? Yes, of course he was! In fact, in chapter 11, Moses will be held up as a prime example of faith.
Moses demonstrated his faithfulness in two ways. The first way is as a servant. In other words, Moses did the task God assigned him with integrity. The second way Moses demonstrated faithfulness is testifying about the future. For example, prophesying about Jesus he said, “The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own brothers. You must listen to him.” (Deuteronomy 18:15 NIV)
Just as Moses was faithful, Jesus was also faithful. He completed the task God gave Him. We saw in chapter 1 that after Jesus redeemed mankind, He sat down at God’s right hand.
Both Moses and Jesus were faithful. However, Jesus is superior to Moses. Moses is a servant in God’s house but, as we have seen in chapter 1 of Hebrews, God declared Jesus, His Son. Jesus is the son over God’s household.
Who is God’s household? All those who follow Christ. If we leave Christ to follow Moses or someone else, we also leave the household. As our text says, it is for this reason we need to hold on to our courage and hope. We must not let trouble, persecution or temptation take us away from Christ. We are in God’s household only because of Him. Jesus is faithful. Are we?