Big Shock Chapter

Hebrews 3 is a Big Shock Chapter for its original recipients. It has been where everything in the book has been building to so far, and everything else in Hebrews flows out of it. Chapter 3 demands a complete reorientation of mind for its first audience: they trusted Moses, they considered themselves "in Moses", they thought that Moses was the high point of the nation's relationship with God and the revelation of God through Moses was the highest, clearest and most important words that would ever be communicated from God. Moses, Moses, Moses. Our writer's argument is: Jesus is greater that Old Testament prophets (of which Moses was the supreme one) Jesus is superior to angels (who mediated the Law to Moses) Therefore Jesus is greater than Moses (and, he will go on to say, greater than the Law of Moses) Put yourself in their shoes. They had been taught for 1400 years that following Moses and obeying the Law was the exclusive way to know and be accepted by God. No Moses, no relationship with God. This is a HUGE claim that Hebrews 3 is making.

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Easter Explains Everything!

A retired missionary friend rang me recently to ask if my generation has forgotten that the reason Christ was revealed was to destroy the work of the evil one. I suspect I and my contemporaries are not nearly as atuned to the raging of the spiritual battle as he would have been in Borneo, so he is probably right. I want to remember it at Easter - Jesus is the victor over sin, the flesh, the world, the devil and over death. Amazing!

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