Page 491 - Demo

HEBREWS 
III. JESUS, FAITHFUL AND COMPASSIONATE HIGH PRIEST
3Jesus, Superior to Moses.*
1Therefore, holy “brothers,” sharing in a heavenly calling, re ect
onJesus,theapostleandhighpriestofourconfession, whowas faithful to the one who appointed him, just as Moses was “faithful in [all] his house.”a 3But he is worthy of more “glory” than Moses, as the founder of a house has more “honor” than the house itself.b 4Every house is founded by someone, but the founder of all is God. 5Moses was “faithful in all his house” as a “servant” to testify to what would be spoken, 6* c but Christ was faithful as a son placed over his house. We are his house, if [only] we hold fast to our con dence and pride in our hope.
Israel’s In delity a Warning. 7* Therefore, as the holy Spirit says:
“Oh, that today you would hear his voice,d 8‘Harden not your hearts as at the rebellion
in the day of testing in the desert, 9where your ancestors tested and tried me
and saw my workse 10for forty years.
Because of this I was provoked with that generation
and I said, “They have always been of erring heart,
and they do not know my ways.” 11As I swore in my wrath,
“They shall not enter into my rest.”’”
2
Moses on Mount Sinai, Byzantine mosaic
from the San Vitale Basilica, Ravenna, Italy
3:1
The author portrays Jesus as a high priest, a powerful image for his Jewish audience, who would have been very familiar with the role of the high priest in Temple ceremonies. Hebrews is the only New Testament book to use this language explicitly, but it has had a profound impact on our understanding of Jesus. “Christ Jesus, high priest of the new and eternal covenant, taking human nature, introduced into this earthly exile that hymn which is sung throughout all ages in the halls of heaven”
(On the Sacred Liturgy, 83).
a. [3:2] Nm 12:7.
b. [3:3] 2 Cor 3:7–8.
c. [3:6] 10:21; Eph 2:19; 1 Tm 3:15; 1 Pt 4:17.
d. [3:7–11] Ps 95:7–11.
e. [3:9] Ex 17:7; Nm 20:2–5.
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* [3:1–6] The author now takes up the two qualities of Jesus mentioned in Heb 2:17, but in inverse order: faithfulness (Heb 3:1–4:13) and mercy (Heb 4:14–5:10). Christians are called holy “brothers” because of their common relation to him (Heb 2:11), the apostle, a designation for Jesus used only here in the New Testament (cf. Jn 13:16; 17:3), meaning one sent as God’s nal word to us (Heb 1:2). He is compared with Moses probably because he is seen as mediator of the new covenant (Heb 9:15) just as Moses was of the old (Heb 9:19–22, including his sacri ce). But when the author of Hebrews speaks of Jesus’ sacri ce, he does not consider Moses as the Old Testament antitype, but rather the high priest on the Day of Atonement (Heb 9:6–15). Moses’ faithfulness “in [all] his house” refers back to Nm 12:7, on which this section is a midrashic commentary. In Heb 3:3–6, the author does not indicate that he thinks of either Moses or Christ as the founder of the household. His house (Heb 3:2, 5, 6) means God’s house, not that of Moses or Christ; in the case of Christ, compare Heb 3:6 with Heb 10:21. The house of Heb 3:6 is the Christian community; the author suggests its continuity with Israel by speaking not of two houses but of only one. Heb 3:6 brings out the reason why Jesus is superior to Moses: the latter was the faithful servant laboring in the house founded by God, but Jesus is God’s son, placed over the house.
* [3:6] The majority of manuscripts add “ rm to the end,” but these words are not found in the three earliest and best witnesses and are probably an interpolation derived from Heb 3:14.
* [3:7–4:13] The author appeals for steadfastness of faith in Jesus, basing his warning on the
experience of Israel during the Exodus. In the Old Testament the Exodus had been invoked as a symbol of the return of Israel from the Babylonian exile (Is 42:9; 43:16–21; 51:9–11). In the New Testament the redemption was similarly understood as a new exodus, both in the experience of Jesus himself (Lk 9:31) and in that of his followers (1 Cor 10:1–4). The author cites Ps 95:7–11, a salutary example of hardness of heart, as a warning against the danger of growing weary and giving up the journey. To call God living (Heb 3:12) means that he reveals himself in his works (cf. Jos 3:10; Jer 10:11). The rest (Heb 3:11) into which Israel was to enter was only a foreshadowing of that rest to which Christians are called. They are to remember the example of Israel’s revolt in the desert that cost a whole generation the loss of the promised land (Heb 3:15–19; cf. Nm 14:20–29). In Heb 4:1–11, the symbol of rest is seen in deeper dimension: because the promise to the ancient Hebrews foreshadowed that given to Christians, it is good news; and because the promised land was the place of rest that God provided for his people, it was a share in his own rest, which he enjoyed after he had nished his creative work (Heb 3:3–4; cf. Gn 2:2). The author attempts to read this meaning of God’s rest into Ps 95:7–11 (Heb 3:6–9). The Greek form of the name of Joshua, who led Israel into the promised land, is Jesus (Heb 3:8). The author plays upon the name but stresses the superiority of Jesus, who leads his followers into heavenly rest. Heb 3:12, 13 are meant as a continuation of the warning, for the word of God brings judgment as well as salvation. Some would capitalize the word of God and see it as a personal title of Jesus, comparable to that of Jn 1:1–18.