Snow removal can serve as an unexpected reminder of physical limitations, but it also provides a fitting introduction to a much deeper topic: the dangers and occasional necessity of comparison. While clearing driveways might reveal personal weaknesses, the book of Hebrews reveals something far more significant—the incomparable superiority of Jesus Christ.
This teaching begins with an important life principle: comparison is typically a lose-lose situation. The illustration of swimming in a pool demonstrates this perfectly. When surrounded by retired swimmers decades older, one might feel like an Olympic champion. But when competitive teenage swimmers arrive, that same person suddenly resembles a slow-moving bobber in the water.
This pattern extends far beyond the swimming pool. People make poor financial decisions by comparing themselves to neighbors—purchasing cars, houses, and gadgets simply because others have them. Emotional damage occurs when individuals compare their marriages, talents, or biblical knowledge to others, leading to feelings of inadequacy and failure.
The message offers particular advice to younger believers: do not waste time comparing yourself to others. Instead, seek to be who God has made you to be, because God has a unique purpose for each person. That is what the world truly needs.
However, not all comparison is harmful. Sometimes comparison is not only helpful but necessary—not in comparing yourself to others, but in comparing options. Everyone faces decisions requiring comparison: job offers, vehicle purchases, restaurant choices. By comparing options, one typically becomes the clearer, better choice.
How foolish it would be to identify the better option and then deliberately choose the inferior one. The example given involves dietary restrictions: it would be absurd to choose a restaurant guaranteed to cause illness when another restaurant offers multiple safe, enjoyable options.
The author of Hebrews engages in this helpful type of comparison, presenting two options that aren't bad versus good, but good versus gloriously better. The comparison involves Moses—the greatest leader the Jewish people ever had—and Jesus.
Hebrews 3:1-6 provides the foundation for this comparison:
"Therefore, holy brothers, you who share in a heavenly calling, consider Jesus the apostle and high priest of our confession, who was faithful to him who appointed him, just as Moses also was faithful in all God's house. 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. For every house is built by someone, but the builder of all things is God. Now, Moses was faithful in all God's house as a servant to testify to the things that were to be spoken later. 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 stands as arguably the greatest leader in Jewish history. He led the Israelites out of Egyptian slavery, guided them through forty years of wilderness wandering, and received God's law that directed the Jewish people for centuries until Christ's arrival.
The passage describes Moses as "faithful" twice—in verse 2 and verse 5. He was reliable, consistent, and dependable. God could count on him because he was a great leader. Significantly, verse 5 identifies him as faithful "in all God's house as a servant."
Good leaders serve. A boss or coach who delegates everything while doing nothing themselves inspires little respect or loyalty. But a leader willing to engage in dirty work, whose ego allows them to serve alongside others, earns trust and followership. Moses embodied this servant leadership.
Moses served faithfully as a prophet, according to the latter half of verse 5, "to testify to the things that were to be spoken later." Prophets don't merely foretell the future; they primarily engage in "forthtelling"—calling people to repent and follow God in the present. Moses spent most of his time forthtelling, declaring what God called the Israelites to do and teaching the law they should follow.
Occasionally, Moses engaged in foretelling. In Deuteronomy 18, he prophesied that God would raise up another prophet like himself. This prophecy found immediate fulfillment in Joshua but ultimate fulfillment in Jesus—the true and greater Moses.
Because Moses was faithful, he was also filled with faith. Hebrews 11 describes Moses this way:
"By faith Moses, when he was born, was hidden for three months by his parents, because they saw that the child was beautiful, and they were not afraid of the king's edict. By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. He considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward. By faith he left Egypt, not being afraid of the anger of the king, for he endured as seeing him who is invisible. By faith he kept the Passover and sprinkled the blood, so that the Destroyer of the firstborn might not touch them."
Deuteronomy concludes with this assessment: Moses was 120 years old when he died, yet his eye was undimmed and his vigor unabated. The people mourned him for thirty days. Most significantly, "There has not arisen a prophet since in Israel like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face, 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, and for all the mighty power and all the great deeds of terror that Moses did in the sight of all Israel."
Just as Lutherans hold Martin Luther in high regard and Methodists esteem John Wesley, the Jewish people maintained an extremely high and favorable view of Moses. This man remained strong until the end—a faithful servant, prophet, and man of faith who led the people where they needed to be.
Yet as great as Moses was, he pales in comparison to Jesus, almost not worthy to be mentioned in the same breath as Christ. This doesn't mean Moses was horrible or terrible. In fact, Moses shares many similarities with Jesus.
Both Moses and Jesus are described as "faithful." Verse 2 states that Jesus "was faithful to him who appointed him, just as Moses also was faithful in all God's house." Moses was a great leader; Jesus is an even greater leader.
Verse 1 instructs believers to "consider Jesus the apostle and high priest of our confession." While the term "apostle" typically brings to mind the twelve apostles plus Paul, it fundamentally means someone commissioned by God to start a new work. Moses functioned as an apostle—God used him as the spearhead to enter Egypt, bring the people out, establish a new nation, and give them law for their protection.
Jesus is described as the apostle—the true and greatest—because God commissioned him to enter this world to accomplish what humanity could not do for itself: live the only sinless life ever lived, then die in the sinner's place. Jesus was the spearhead who began something new, redeeming humanity and bringing people to God.
Jesus is also called "high priest." While this receives fuller treatment later in Hebrews, the essential concept is that a high priest represents the people before God. Aaron, Moses's brother, held the official title of high priest, offering sacrifices on behalf of the people. Yet Moses also functioned in this capacity, repeatedly pleading with God on behalf of the people, ascending the mountain to speak with God and bring His law to the people.
Jesus serves as the ultimate high priest, representing people to God. As established in Hebrews 2, Jesus had to become fully human—taking on human flesh, DNA, and emotions—to completely represent humanity before God and serve as the propitiation for sin.
The illustration of two sisters demonstrates that similarity doesn't equal equivalence. Though they look alike, talk alike, and sometimes act alike, they remain distinct individuals with different roles in different people's lives. Similarly, while Moses and Jesus share characteristics, Jesus is objectively greater for everyone—not just better for Christians while Moses remains superior for Jews. As a Jew himself, Jesus is the true and greater Moses for all people.
Verse 5 states that Moses "was faithful in all God's house as a servant," but verse 6 declares, "Christ is faithful over God's house as a son."
Consider a multibillionaire with a mansion requiring numerous servants. Though this person treats the staff exceptionally well, pays generously, and develops close relationships with them, the estate will almost certainly pass to children, not servants. Something distinctive exists in the parent-child relationship. The son inherits the father's estate.
Moses faithfully served in God's house, but Christ is faithful over God's house as a son. The house consists of believers—those who have made Christ's death and resurrection the foundation of their lives. They are part of the global church, "a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a chosen people." Moses faithfully served this house; Jesus rules over all of it.
Verses 3-4 explain: "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. For every house is built by someone, but the builder of all things is God."
The illustration of Leonardo da Vinci's painting "Salvator Mundi," purchased for $450 million, demonstrates this principle. If someone destroyed this painting, they would face severe penalties—hefty fines and lengthy imprisonment. However, if someone harmed Leonardo da Vinci himself (were he still alive), the consequences would be far more severe, likely including the death penalty.
Why? Because Leonardo is more valuable than his painting. While the painting reflects Leonardo's skill, Leonardo himself bears God's image. The creator is more important than the creation.
Similarly, the house Moses protected and guided was important, but the one who built it is more important. Verse 4 confirms that God is the creator of all things. Jesus, as God, created this house, including Moses himself. Therefore, Jesus the builder is greater than Moses the sustainer, despite Moses's phenomenal service.
John 1:17 states: "For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ."
John clearly believes the law is good, not evil or horrible. Romans 7, Galatians, and the Pastoral Epistles confirm that the law is good because God gave it. The law can protect, provide direction, and offer clarity.
However, law can also function like a cage. Sometimes law acts as a cruel judge, declaring when people fail to measure up, cataloging shortcomings and inadequacies. The law screams about human insufficiency.
Grace responds differently: "Yes, you don't measure up, but I do. Yes, you fell short here, but I cover the gap."
God did a good thing by giving the Jewish people the law. But the perfect law revealed that people could not be perfect. They continually fell short, requiring repeated sacrifices at the temple. The law provided constant reminders: "You are in a cage. You don't measure up."
Jesus came to bring grace—grace that declares, "Yes, you don't measure up, but I do. You fall short, but I cover the gap."
The critical question becomes: Are people accepting His grace?
Some who have known the gospel story and put faith in Christ still beat themselves up emotionally and mentally, constantly telling themselves they don't measure up. Something inside insists: "I need to do better, be more, stop talking this way, overcome that addiction, change my thinking patterns." This amounts to saying, "I'm judging myself because I'm a better judge than God."
Yet if the God of the universe declares someone worthy of His Son's blood, they must stop self-condemnation and live under His grace.
Others have never bent their knee before God's throne to declare Jesus as Lord. They may have heard about Jesus dying on the cross and supposedly rising on Easter Sunday, but they've never bowed before Him, saying, "You are my King, my Lord, and I accept Your grace." The encouragement is clear: let today be that day.
Exodus 34 records a profound moment when Moses met with God on the mountain. God passed by Moses and proclaimed His own nature:
"The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children's children, to the third and the fourth generation."
God declares He is a God of justice who won't dismiss guilt. Yet He is not merely a harsh judge—He overwhelms the declaration with descriptions of mercy, graciousness, patience, steadfast love, and faithfulness extending to thousands of generations.
Interestingly, God didn't need to tell Moses these things. Moses had already witnessed God's mercy and compassion, seen powerful and even terrifying acts. Moses watched God bring ten plagues against Egypt, including the death of the firstborn. He witnessed miraculous feeding in Exodus 16, received the Ten Commandments in Exodus 20, and learned about the Sabbath in Exodus 31.
All these experiences find amplification in Jesus's life. Mark 6 alone records a miraculous feeding, discussion about the Sabbath, and Jesus on a mountain praying through the night before walking on water toward terrified disciples.
When Moses descended from the mountain, his skin glowed, frightening people so much he wore a veil. When Jesus ascended a mountain with Peter, James, and John, He wasn't merely glowing—He was completely transfigured before them.
Moses wrote the first five books of the Bible under God's inspiration. Yet Jesus, as God, breathed out all Scripture through Moses and thirty-nine other authors.
Moses pleaded with God on behalf of sinful people, and God relented because of Moses's intercession. Human sin deserves God's wrath, which is just. Yet Jesus didn't merely plead with words—He went to a cross to be the propitiation for sin, satisfying God's wrath.
At the communion table, believers don't merely remember a great leader who entered Egypt to free people from slavery and bring them to the promised land. They remember the One who entered this world to save humanity from slavery to sin and lead them into the promised land of God's presence and pleasure.
The communion elements carry profound meaning: the wafer represents Christ's body, broken for believers. The juice represents His blood, shed for the forgiveness of sin. Taking these elements inward signifies that Christ's story has become the believer's story.
For those who know this story and have made it part of their lives, communion offers a time to thank Jesus—the true and greater Moses—for freeing them from slavery to sin. For those who haven't yet put faith in Christ, the invitation remains: consider whether Jesus truly is the true and greater Moses. If He is, it makes all the difference.
The choice stands clear: accept the law that reveals inadequacy, or accept the grace that covers every shortcoming. Moses was faithful, remarkable, and used powerfully by God. But Jesus is infinitely greater—not just a servant but the Son, not just a sustainer but the Builder, not just the giver of law but the source of grace and truth.
This is the comparison that matters—not measuring oneself against others, but recognizing the incomparable superiority of Christ and surrendering to His grace.
