Now, because we see
this situation around us each day, how are we supposed to see a connection
between Moses and Jesus? The most obvious is that Jesus came to
reconcile. He came to reconcile by showing that He was the Messiah that
allowed God’s people to live both within and beyond the yoke of human rulers,
through the Kingdom of God that He was establishing. He reconciled
religious factions and showed them that their petty differences were swallowed
up by the scope of His Salvation mission.
He provided
reconciliation by becoming the end of the law for those who believe, and that
their wrangling over that which brought them under a curse was useless and
un-necessary, as the basis for blessing and cursing was now to be found in
relation to Him and whether or not one believed upon His Name. He
reconciled by bringing the Kingdom of Heaven in amongst men and setting it up
above all rulers and authorities, showing His brethren that they did not have
to live separate from the world, but that through Him, and through His working
through them, by faith, in the power of the Holy Spirit, that He would bring
renewal and restoration and reconciliation to God’s chosen, elected, covenant
people throughout the world, and to the world itself.
Beyond that, and in
thinking about a specific application of this scene from Moses’ life to that of
Jesus, we have to look at the question that came to Moses, which was “Who made
you a ruler and a judge over us?” In chapter twelve of Luke, we find that
“Someone in the crowd said to Him,” Him being Jesus, “Teacher, tell my brother
to divide the inheritance with me” (12:13). How did Jesus reply? He
said, “Man, who made Me a judge or arbitrator over you?” (12:14)
Moses was challenged as to who gave him the right to rule and
judge. Later on, upon God’s authority, he did become that very ruler and
judge.
Jesus, on the other
hand, had every right to rule and judge and arbitrate, but did not do so.
Had He done so, this could have been seen as Jesus taking steps to set Himself
up as an earthly authority, which would then have given the Roman government
just cause to prosecute and probably execute Him for seditious behavior.
Moses had initially been rejected as a ruler and judge, while Jesus rejected
the opportunity to take that role. As was said, Moses would later become
that very thing, as would Jesus, after being unlawfully put to death as a
revolutionary leader, but then rising from the dead, as “the One appointed by
God to be the judge of the living and the dead” (Acts 10:42b).
Continuing on,
Stephen says, “This Moses, whom they rejected, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler
and a judge?’---this man God sent as both ruler and redeemer by the hand of the
angel who appeared to him in the bush” (7:35). Here, Stephen refers to
the incident of Moses and the burning bush, where he heard a voice that said,
“I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham and of Isaac and of Jacob”
(7:32a). This would have been a reminder, to Moses, and to Stephen’s
hearers, of God’s covenantal promises toward His people. As Moses was
looked to as a ruler and redeemer, so too was the Messiah, Who was to be the
embodiment and fulfiller of all of God’s promises of covenant. Additionally,
the reference of “the angel who appeared to him” must surely put us in mind of
the fact that Jesus’ birth, the birth of the Ruler and Redeemer, was announced
by angels both before and after its occurrence.
Of both Moses and
Jesus it can be said, “This man led them out, performing signs and wonders”
(7:36a). Of both Moses and Jesus it can be said, “He received living
oracles to give to us” (7:38b). Unfortunately, of both Moses and Jesus,
it can be said, “Our fathers refused to obey him, but thrust him aside, and in
their hearts turned…saying…’Make us gods who will go before us’.”
(7:39-40a)
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