Jesus’ Superiority over Moses in Hebrews 3:1-6 -- By: Brett R. Scott

Journal: Bibliotheca Sacra
Volume: BSAC 155:618 (Apr 1998)
Article: Jesus’ Superiority over Moses in Hebrews 3:1-6
Author: Brett R. Scott


Jesus’ Superiority over Moses
in Hebrews 3:1-6

Brett R. Scott

Brett R. Scott is a Teaching Assistant of Biblical Greek and New Testament, Ashland Theological Seminary, Ashland, Ohio, and Instructor of Biblical Greek, Hosanna Bible Training Center, Macedonia, Ohio.

Hebrews 3:1–6 compares Jesus with Moses in order to lay a foundation for the exhortation that follows in 3:7–4:11.1 The comparison points up three important truths. First, the Old Covenant has been surpassed and superseded by the New Covenant. Second, the limited access to God through a human mediator (only Moses was given face-to-face access to God) has been surpassed by the provision of direct access to God for all His people. Third, though both Moses and Jesus were faithful in their positions, the access secured by Moses as a faithful servant of God has been far surpassed by the access to God enjoyed by Jesus, God’s Son. The contrast between Jesus and Moses serves as a rhetorical device to persuade the readers to accept the New Covenant, to enjoy their direct access to God, and to recognize Jesus Christ as the faithful Mediator between God and humans.

The contrast is not polemical in purpose,2 for that would denigrate Moses3 in order to exalt Jesus.4 Nor does the Book of Hebrews denigrate the Old Covenant; rather it seeks to exalt the New Covenant, the subject of the discourse. Also rather than denigrating the access Moses had to God, Hebrews exalts the access believers now have to God. And instead of denigrating the faithfulness of Moses as servant, Hebrews exalts the faithfulness

of Christ as Son both now and forever. “Christ’s superiority to Moses aims not at disqualifying the latter as a servant within God’s house, but rather at enhancing the honor of the former as Son over God’s house (Heb 3:5).”5 Moses’ intimacy with the Law (the Old Covenant), his face-to-face access to God, and his position as a faithful servant in God’s house served as a “type” of the One to come who would be greater in all these areas.

Structurally Hebrews 3:1–6 “is a very complex midrashic treatment of a number of texts,”6 launching a larger section of ...

You must have a subscription and be logged in to read the entire article.
Click here to subscribe
visitor : : uid: ()