Jesus – The Prophet [Hebrews 3] ~ 20251228 ~ Pastor Rodney Zedicher ~ Ephraim Church of the Bible ~ www.ephraimbible.org
2025 12/28 After Advent: Fix your Eyes on Jesus – Prophet; [Heb. 3:1-6]; Audio available at: http://www.ephraimbible.org/Sermons/20251228_jesus-prophet.mp3
For Advent we’ve been ‘fixing our eyes on Jesus’(12:2). We’ve been looking at some of the titles of Jesus in the book of Hebrews, looking at who he is, and what he came to do.
Hebrews 3:1 calls Jesus ‘the Apostle’, the one sent out from his Father, the only begotten Son sent to become one of us, to set us free and show us grace. It also calls Jesus our Great High Priest, the only mediator between God and man, the only sinless priest who offered himself as the once for all sacrifice for our sins.
In Hebrews 2 the eternal Word became flesh, became human, became one of us, so that he could die in our place. When we put our trust in him, who he truly is and what he has done for us, we are adopted into his family, and he is not ashamed to call us his brothers.
In Hebrews 1, Jesus is the final word. In contrast to the many ways God spoke in times past, God has spoken in Son. God has given us his final word. God has put his own glory on display in his Son, the radiance of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
Hebrews is all about how Jesus is supreme. Jesus is the great Apostle, the High Priest greater than Aaron, the incarnate Word greater than all the ways God spoke in the past. Today we will see that although Moses was the great deliverer, law-giver and leader, Jesus is greater.
Promise of ‘A Prophet Like Moses’ [Deut.18:15-19; 34:10]
Deuteronomy gets its name from ‘deutero’ ‘second’ and ‘nomos’ ‘law’; the second giving of the Law. Moses was addressing the new generation, the children of those who were rescued out of Egypt but disobeyed and fell in the wilderness. Even Moses was not allowed to enter the promised land, but he was teaching the law to that generation who would enter in under Joshua. In Deuteronomy 18 he says:
Deuteronomy 18:15 “The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers—it is to him you shall listen— 16 just as you desired of the LORD your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly, when you said, ‘Let me not hear again the voice of the LORD my God or see this great fire any more, lest I die.’ 17 And the LORD said to me, ‘They are right in what they have spoken. 18 I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers. And I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him. 19 And whoever will not listen to my words that he shall speak in my name, I myself will require it of him.
After Joshua, full of the spirit of wisdom, is appointed to lead the people, Deuteronomy closes with these words:
Deuteronomy 34:10 And there has not arisen a prophet since in Israel like Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face, 11 none like him for all the signs and the wonders that the LORD sent him to do in the land of Egypt, to Pharaoh and to all his servants and to all his land, 12 and for all the mighty power and all the great deeds of terror that Moses did in the sight of all Israel.
Moses prophesied that YHWH God would raise up for the people a prophet like Moses from the people of Israel, who would mediate between God and man, who would speak God’s words, who would do signs and wonders, mighty acts of power, whom YHWH God would know face to face.
Expectation of ‘The Prophet’ [John]
We see this expectation in the New Testament: in John 1,
John 1:19 And this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” 20 He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.” 21 And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” And he answered, “No.” ...25 They asked him, “Then why are you baptizing, if you are neither the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?”
Notice the definite article; ‘the prophet’; they were not just anticipating another prophet like the many God chose to speak through; they were looking for ‘the prophet,’ the one who would fulfill the promises of Deuteronomy.
In John 6, when Jesus fed five thousand men, in addition to women and children with five barley loaves and two small fish, and had 12 baskets full left over,
John 6:14 When the people saw the sign that he had done, they said, “This is indeed the Prophet who is to come into the world!”
in John 7,
John 7:37 On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’” 39 Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified. 40 When they heard these words, some of the people said, “This really is the Prophet.”
In Luke 7, when Jesus raised the widow’s only son,
Luke 7:16 Fear seized them all, and they glorified God, saying, “A great prophet has arisen among us!” and “God has visited his people!”
God had given his people the hope of a future prophet, a prophet like Moses, a greater prophet. And the people began to see in Jesus the fulfillment of that promise.
Jesus Like Moses; Compare and Contrast [Ex.20, 33; Num.12]
How is Jesus a prophet like Moses? What was different about Moses than all the other prophets? And in what ways was Jesus different than Moses, greater than Moses, the fulfillment, of which Moses was only a shadow?
A prophet was one to whom God gave his words, who spoke on behalf of God to the people. When YHWH God thundered his ten words from Mount Sinai to his people,
Exodus 20:18 Now when all the people saw the thunder and the flashes of lightning and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking, the people were afraid and trembled, and they stood far off 19 and said to Moses, “You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, lest we die.” ... 21 The people stood far off, while Moses drew near to the thick darkness where God was.
Moses was the mediator who stood between God and man, who represented the people before God, and brought God’s word to the people in a way they could hear it.
God Spoke More Directly with Moses [Num.12; Ex.33; Heb.1-2]
We saw in Hebrews 1 that God spoke at many times and in many ways; he spoke through creation, through dreams and visions, through a voice from heaven, through words written, through a still small voice. In Numbers 12 the Lord claims to have spoken uniquely to Moses. Miriam and Aaron challenged Moses’ authority; they argue that the Lord has spoken through them also.
Numbers 12:5 And the LORD came down in a pillar of cloud and stood at the entrance of the tent and called Aaron and Miriam, and they both came forward. 6 And he said, “Hear my words: If there is a prophet among you, I the LORD make myself known to him in a vision; I speak with him in a dream. 7 Not so with my servant Moses. He is faithful in all my house. 8 With him I speak mouth to mouth, clearly, and not in riddles, and he beholds the form of the LORD. Why then were you not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?”
YHWH God made himself known to Moses more directly.
Exodus 33:11 Thus the LORD used to speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. ...
But even that direct revelation had limitations; when Moses asked to see God’s glory, the Lord answered, ‘But, you cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live” (Ex.33:20).
But as Hebrews 1 tells us, ‘in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son’. Jesus ‘is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature’ (Heb.1:2-3). Jesus who was in the beginning with God and who is himself God, Jesus is God the Word made flesh. Jesus is God’s final word.
Moses the Servant, Jesus the Son [Heb.3:1-6]
Hebrews 3 invites us to consider Jesus
Hebrews 3:1 Therefore, holy brothers, you who share in a heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the apostle and high priest of our confession, 2 who was faithful to him who appointed him, just as Moses also was faithful in all God's house. 3 For Jesus has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses—as much more glory as the builder of a house has more honor than the house itself. 4 (For every house is built by someone, but the builder of all things is God.) 5 Now Moses was faithful in all God's house as a servant, to testify to the things that were to be spoken later, 6 but Christ is faithful over God's house as a son. And we are his house if indeed we hold fast our confidence and our boasting in our hope.
Moses was faithful as a servant in God’s house; Jesus was faithful as the Son. Moses has glory as a part of the house that God built; Jesus has far more glory as the builder of that house. Moses pointed beyond himself to the one who was to come; Jesus is the one who was to come, and he invited all to come to him and find life.
Moses Letters of Death, Jesus Life Giving Spirit [2Cor.3:7-13]
2 Corinthians 3 also compares and contrasts Moses’ ministry with the ministry of Jesus.
2 Corinthians 3:7 Now if the ministry of death, carved in letters on stone, came with such glory that the Israelites could not gaze at Moses' face because of its glory, which was being brought to an end, 8 will not the ministry of the Spirit have even more glory? 9 For if there was glory in the ministry of condemnation, the ministry of righteousness must far exceed it in glory. 10 Indeed, in this case, what once had glory has come to have no glory at all, because of the glory that surpasses it. 11 For if what was being brought to an end came with glory, much more will what is permanent have glory. 12 Since we have such a hope, we are very bold, 13 not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face so that the Israelites might not gaze at the outcome of what was being brought to an end.
Moses’ ministry was a ministry that brought condemnation and death, it was letters on stone, it had a glory that was being brought to an end.
Jesus brings the ministry of the Spirit written on human hearts, a ministry that brings justification, righteousness, life, and transformation, a permanent and infinitely more glorious ministry.
Law of Moses, Grace of Jesus [John 1, 3, 6, 7]
John 1 says:
John 1:17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
Law brings reward for obedience and punishment for disobedience; we all fall short and deserve punishment. Grace is a good gift we don’t deserve and could never earn.
John 3, Moses lifted up a bronze serpent on a pole so that whoever looked at it was delivered from the immediate physical consequences of their sins. Jesus was himself lifted up on a cross to bear the punishment we deserve, so that whoever looks to him experiences forgiveness of sins and eternal life.
John 6, Moses prayed and God gave his people bread in the wilderness to meet their physical needs. Jesus, after meeting physical needs, pointed to our spiritual need, and claimed to be the bread from heaven, spiritual food to nourish and satisfy hungry souls. Jesus gave us himself as food to satisfy our greatest need.
John 7, Moses was given circumcision as a sign of the covenant, a cutting off of flesh. Jesus came to make us whole, complete.
Like Moses, Jesus came to his own people to rescue them, but his own people rejected him. Moses brought mighty signs in the plagues, bringing injury, ruin and death; Jesus did mighty signs of healings, restoring broken things, even bringing the dead back to life. Moses led the people out of slavery in Egypt; Jesus sets people truly free and brings us into our heavenly rest. Through Moses God gave the Law; Jesus came to fulfill the Law and satisfy its demands. Moses prayed and God gave physical bread from heaven; Jesus is the bread from heaven, he gave his own body to give life to the world. Moses struck the rock and water poured out to satisfy physical thirst; Jesus is the Rock that followed them (1Cor.10:4); he was struck to give us living water, the water of the Holy Spirit, water that springs up to eternal life and satisfaction.
Jesus the Fulfillment [Jn.5; Mt.5]
Jesus said in John 5:
John 5:45 Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father. There is one who accuses you: Moses, on whom you have set your hope. 46 For if you believed Moses, you would believe me; for he wrote of me.
Jesus claimed that Moses wrote about him. Jesus said in Matthew 5:
Matthew 5:17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.
Jesus is that prophet, who Moses wrote about, the fulfillment of all the law and the prophets and the Psalms. It truly is all about Jesus!
Both Peter in Acts 3 and Stephen in Acts 7 proclaimed Jesus as the one who is the prophet like Moses. Peter called Jesus ‘the Holy and Righteous One, ...you killed the Author of life, whom God raised from the dead’ (Ac.3:14-15).
Acts 3:22 Moses said, ‘The Lord God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brothers. You shall listen to him in whatever he tells you. 23 And it shall be that every soul who does not listen to that prophet shall be destroyed from the people.’
Jesus is our greater prophet! Listen to him! How are we to respond?
Acts 3:18 But what God foretold by the mouth of all the prophets, that his Christ would suffer, he thus fulfilled. 19 Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out, 20 that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus, 21 whom heaven must receive until the time for restoring all the things about which God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets long ago.
***
2025.12.28 Sermon Notes
Fix Your Eyes on Jesus – The Prophet [Hebrews 3]
The promise of a prophet like Moses
Deuteronomy 18:15-19; 34:10-12
Expectation of the Prophet to come
John 1:19-25; 6:14; 7:37-39; Luke 7:16
Prophet mediates between God and the people
Exodus 20:18-21;
The Lord spoke more directly to Moses
Numbers 12:5-8; Exodus 33:11, 20; Hebrews 1:2-3
Moses is a servant; Jesus is the Son
Hebrews 3:1-6
Jesus’ ministry greater than Moses’
2 Corinthians 3:7-13
The law of Moses and the grace of Jesus
John 1:17; 3:14; 6:32; 7:22-23; 5:45-46; Mt.5:17
Jesus is the Prophet; listen to him
Acts 3:14-22; 7:17-41
***
Pastor Rodney Zedicher ~ Ephraim Church of the Bible ~ www.ephraimbible.org