Lenten Devotion – Jesus Our Ultimate Builder
Day 14, 29 February 2024
“Moses was faithful as a servant in all God’s house,” bearing witness to what would be spoken by God in the future. But Christ is faithful as the Son over God’s house. And we are his house, if indeed we hold firmly to our confidence and the hope in which we glory.” Hebrews 3:5-6
Years ago, we had the privilege of visiting the Sistine Chapel in Rome. To get into Sistine Chapel, we had to queue 2-3 hours, unsheltered, as the queue snaked endlessly in multiple rows in the Vatican Square. Unable to accept the long wait, there were people who jumped queue. We, like the majority of the people, just quietly acknowledged that there will always be others who resort to such behaviour just to get ahead.
But once we stepped into the Chapel, all feelings of human impatience, discomfort & displeasure disappeared as we soaked into the beauty and majesty of the many artefacts and tapestries created by many artists. We were totally awed by the Renaissance art, particularly the 9 scenes from the Book of Genesis including The Creation of Adam, on the famed Sistine ceiling. Imagine how difficult it is to paint this massive art work! Somewhere in the Chapel too were magnificent frescoes illustrating the Life of Christ on the right and the Life of Moses on the left.
In Numbers 12: 6 – 8, God recognised His servant, Moses’ faithfulness and described him as “faithful in all my house” so much so that “with him, I speak face to face, clearly and not in riddles;” (v8). Of all the prophets, Moses probably has the most intimate relationship with God to be able to speak to Him so closely!
While the author of Hebrews acknowledged that Moses as a faithful servant in the God’s house, he also recognised Jesus as the faithful Son of God’s house who deserves greater honour because He is also the builder of the house to which Moses belong to. This house refers to all God’s people, that is, all of us who are believers. Jesus is the Master Builder who builds everything.
In order to build His house, Jesus the High Priest who is sinless and blameless, mediates by becoming the atonement for our sin and shame (Heb 2:17) so that we can ultimately find reconciliation with God. We need to constantly fix our thoughts on Jesus (Heb 3:1) and acknowledge His Lordship over our lives in order not to drift away from God. No amount of manmade artwork can replace the beauty of His buildership!
Kenneth Kwok