Articles
Joseph and Jesus
The story of Joseph is too often relegated to children’s Bible studies and tends to focus mainly on the story of the coat of many colors his father made him (Gen. 37:3); if that is all we know of Joseph, we need to dig a little deeper! A little deeper dig will find there are some parallels to the story and life of Jesus; did you know that? Consider:
Both Were Hated & Envied. In the case of Joseph, his brothers hated him because their father loved him “more than all his children” (Gen. 37:3), and they “hated him even more” when they heard about his dreams and for him telling them about them (Gen. 37:5-8). That hatred manifested itself in envy, too, after he told them all of his second dream and their father said, “What is this dream that you have dreamed? Shall your mother and I and your brothers indeed come to bow down to the earth before you?” (Gen. 37:9-11).
In the case of Jesus, it was even prophesied regarding Him, “He is despised and rejected by men” (Isa. 53:3), and it was clearly true when He came to this earth; in fact, Jesus told the apostles, “If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you” (John 15:18); and, “If I had not done among them the works which no one else did, they would have no sin; but now they have seen and also hated both Me and My Father. But this happened that the word might be fulfilled which is written in their law, ‘They hated Me without a cause’” (John 15:24, 25) — a fulfillment of the prophetic words of David in Psalm 109:3-5. These same ones who hated Him were the ones who delivered Him to Pilate to be put to death, and even Pilate recognized “that they had handed Him over because of envy” (Matt. 27:17, 18).
Others Conspired to Kill Both. In the case of Joseph, we likely know the story of how, when they saw him coming, said to one another, “Come therefore, let us now kill him and cast him into some pit; and we shall say, ‘Some wild beast has devoured him.’ We shall see what will become of his dreams!” (Gen. 37:20); in his case, they did not follow through on the plot, but did deceive their father into thinking he was dead (Gen. 37:31-35).
In the case of Jesus, the religious rulers, after hearing that Jesus had raised Lazarus from the dead, feared the people would follow Jesus and they would lose their place of authority (John 11:46-48), so “Then, from that day on, they plotted to put Him to death” (John 11:53). It wasn’t the only time!
Both Were Exalted. In the case of Joseph, despite the initial plot to kill him, he was sold into slavery and ended up a slave in Egypt, where events transpired that put him in a position to be brought before Pharaoh to interpret his dreams. After Joseph [by the power of God] interpreted those dreams and after he laid out a plan for the preservation of the nation (Gen. 41:1-36), Pharaoh wisely decided there was no one better to be in charge of all this than Joseph, and declared, “Inasmuch as God has shown you all this, there is no one as discerning and wise as you. You shall be over my house, and all my people shall be ruled according to your word; only in regard to the throne will I be greater than you,” and then told Joseph, “See, I have set you over all the land of Egypt” (Gen. 41:37-41).
In the case of Jesus, the plot to kill Him succeeded, but God raised Him up, and as Peter noted the very first time the gospel message was preached, “This Jesus God has raised up, of which we are all witnesses. Therefore being exalted to the right hand of God…having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:32, 33); that “promise of the Holy Spirit” was the promise made to David Peter had noted earlier: “God had sworn with an oath to him that of the fruit of his body, according to the flesh, He would raise up the Christ to sit on his throne” (Acts 2:30). If there was any doubt of this, Paul wrote plainly, “God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name” (Phil. 2:9).
Both Were Willing to Forgive. In the case of Joseph, when he was reunited with his brothers and he revealed himself to them, “his brothers could not answer him, for they were dismayed in his presence” (Gen. 45:3); I would imagine some of that dismay was not just in seeing that he lived, but a feeling of dread remembering what they had done to him and knowing that he was now in a position of power where he could exact some revenge! But Joseph likely understood their fear and quickly reminded them that, though they had intended evil for him, “But now, do not therefore be grieved or angry with yourselves because you sold me here; for God sent me before you to preserve life” (Gen. 45:4, 5). Later, after Jacob had died and they again feared a reprisal by Joseph, he again told them, “Do not be afraid, for am I in the place of God? But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive. Now therefore, do not be afraid; I will provide for you and your little ones” (Gen. 50:15-20). Though he had been treated badly, Joseph was willing to forgive.
In the case of Jesus, we know of how the religious leaders conspired to kill Him and went so far as to seek “false testimony against Jesus to put Him to death” (Matt. 26:59). He was spat upon, beaten and slapped (Matt. 26:67), was taken to Pilate where He was scourged (Matt. 27:26), mocked by the soldiers, spat upon by them and then struck on the head with a reed (Matt. 27:27-31) — all this before He was then crucified. But even as He slowly suffered that painful, torturous punishment as an innocent man, He prayed, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do” (Luke 23:34).
So, how are these stories related, other than these similarities? Well, remember that Joseph recognized that it was God who had brought him to Egypt and was credited with Joseph being put in such a position so as to preserve the lives of his extended family (Gen. 45:5-8; Gen. 50:19, 20); the psalmist testified to the truthfulness of that claim (Psa. 105:17). But why did God care about preserving the extended family of Joseph — those who would be the forefathers of the nation of Israel?
It was not just for Joseph’s benefit, or for the benefit of his extended family; it was because God had promised to Abraham many years before, “In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed” (Gen. 22:18). That “Seed” we now know was the Christ — Jesus (Gal. 3:16) — who was also prophesied to come from the tribe of Judah (Gen. 49:10; Heb. 7:14). The preservation of the extended family of Joseph [the Israelites] was done by God to ensure the lineage would continue until the day determined by God that the Christ would come. The events of the Bible are all about the unfolding plan of God that had been established before time, that Christ would be the world’s Savior (2 Tim. 1:8-10; 1 Pet. 1:19-21). Joseph played a part [so to speak] in the continuation of that plan, as did many others throughout Bible history.
So, next time you think of Joseph, think also of his part in the now-revealed plan of God to bring salvation to mankind. Consider, as Paul wrote, “the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out!” (Rom. 11:33). That wisdom brought us Jesus!
And God did all this because of His love, grace, and mercy. — Steven Harper
