Jesus v. Moses: Round 1

By Matt

I Watched: The Ten Commandments Chapters 1-22

I'm going to be spending a lot of time with The Ten Commandments over the next few days in preparation for a DVD review and interview with a film historian for RELEVANTmagazine.com. This was all made possible by the reception of a free DVD copy which I've begun to watch in preparation for the review and the interview. While watching I was struck somehow by the similarities between Moses and Jesus and decided that while T10C isn't exactly gospel, it's very close and based on some good sources.

So, here goes the comparisons (and perhaps contrasts)

• Answers to prayers of the oppressed - Both Christ and Moses were called for by the oppressed sons and daughters of Abraham, to bring them out from under the heel of the Romans and the Egyptians respectively. DeMille, in his unusual introduction to the movie, outlines the theme of freedom from oppression that is clearly an ulterior motive in the making of this movie.
• Their names - They practically rhyme: Consant, vowel, s, vowel, s.
• A plan of salvation - In keeping with the idea of both men being answers to prayer, God didn't just rub his chin and exclaim, "Oh how will I get my children out of this pickle!?" while throwing up his arms. Wrong. Moses and Jesus both represent an extravagant and extraordinarily plotted scheme to work his plans of salvation.
• Inconvenient children - This one is a little harder to verbalize, but there is something about the humble beginnings of both men. Moses floated down the Nile in a basket, Jesus laid to sleep in a manger. But the significance of these humble origins is what sets them apart from our traditional heroes. And the fact that the respective rulers suddenly decide to kill all the male children makes this comparison even stronger.
• Dual nature as kings and slaves - Moses went from king to slave (and then king again, I suppose), Christ came as a king built to serve as a slave. Again, the humility necessary for such a metamorphosis is incredible but also fundamental to who they are and a prerequisite for their missions.
• Freedom bringers - Moses brought literal freedom (will bring, haven't gotten that far yet but I didn't want to forget this idea). Christ brought freedom from sin. Maybe that's why folks weren't as impressed with Christ's freedom. Hmmm.

But so what? When Christ asks Peter who people say the Son of Man is, I'm a little surprised that the name Moses doesn't come up. Was Moses a trial run for Jesus, Jesus 1.0? Was God experimenting with the idea of a Deliverer with Christ? Is it a coincidence that both were ushers to avenues of God's salvation: law & grace?

I have to imagine that I'm not the first to start making these connections. I'm interested in the possibility of looking for some commentary from the experts on this once I'm through with the review and interview with this. But, if you guys have run into anything that you consider pertinent, I'd love to see it!