I have to admit: I’ve always been kind of afraid of the OT because I didn’t really know how to read it. On the one hand I was taught that I could interpret its stories to understand how God works today. This struck lots of fear in me as I was always afraid of His punishment for everything I did wrong. On the other hand I was taught that it was irrelevant and just a collection of historic stories about God, so I largely ignored it and stuck with my NT. However, one day I learned the truth. I learned that Jesus Christ is seen throughout the entire bible and when you embrace the OT with the right perspective, you will see the picture of God’s grace and redemption that was later fulfilled in the Lord Jesus Christ.
And so it goes with today’s reading.
So far we’ve seen a lot of deception from Jacob and his kids in their attempts to take justice in their own hands. Jacob deceives Laban for justice. Levi and Simeon deceive the Shechemites for justice for Dinah. The brothers deceive one of their own, Joseph….but not for justice–for jealousy! Interestingly though, when we look at Joesph’s story in today’s reading, he had plenty times to take justice in his own hands (because he was truly innocent), yet he waives his rights in order to honor the Lord God and to serve others. (Potiphar, Potiphar’s wife, the prisoners, the cupbearer, and the baker). Doesn’t that remind you of Someone we know?
Jesus Christ was innocent, yet he waived his rights in order to serve others and to ultimately redeem us, his family/co-heirs. Joseph has suffered greatly in his own innocence, and in the next few chapters of Genesis, we will see that Joseph also redeems his family through his own suffering. What an amazing precursor to the ultimate of redemption!
Speaking of family…when we lean over into our NT reading, Jesus is very clear and deliberate about defining what family means in the kingdom of God. It is marked by:
- being a follower of Him (Matt. 10:37-39)
- unity (Matt. 12:25-30)
- treasuring the Holy Spirit (Matt. 12:30-32)
- bearing good fruit (Matt. 12:33-37)
- forsaking all other former ideas of family for His own. (Matt. 12:46-50)
In the OT, everything rests on the biological lineage of a family. Posterity, brothers, cousins, uncles, aunts, mothers, fathers–all of that is majorly important. Jesus comes in and smashes that. Only those who are willing to follow Him can be considered His family.
11 Comments for Jesus and Joseph
chas pike | January 16, 2010 at 1:45 pm
Javetta | January 16, 2010 at 2:09 pm
Hi Chas, Im fine…thanks for asking-
All I meant was that Joseph had a right to be angry and vindicate himself for he was innocent in the accusations of Potiphar’s wife and did not deserve to be imprisoned. But he did not try to vindicate himself. It is my assumption that he knew the Lord was protecting him as he had done thus far. Even though he was wronged, he continued to serve in those situations, therefore honoring the Lord.
Jesus was totally innocent of the pharisees’ accusations and did not deserve to die a criminal’s death. He could have called down a slew of angels to get Him off the cross–yet He waived those rights to carry out God’s plan to redeem His people.
P.S. As a believer, you should probably avoid self-aggrandizement…
chas pike | January 16, 2010 at 2:30 pm
javetta, thank you for fleshing out those two quotes for me. it helped me understand where you are coming from.
ps-the self-agrandizing thing was an attempt at self effacing humor.
Javetta Mercadel | January 16, 2010 at 2:40 pm
Chas-
I’m sorry if you took what I said seriously 
. I knew you were joking, and I was joking in return. As you can see, I’m totally not known for my humor :/
Steve Scott | January 17, 2010 at 11:24 am
‘1. “yet he waives his rights to honor the Lord God and to serve others.”
2. “Jesus Christ was innocent, yet he waived his rights to serve others
and to ultimately redeem us, his family/co-heirs.”
i don’t quite understand what you mean here.’
Chas: I think if you inserted “in order to” in each of these it would be more clear on the first reading.
1. “yet he waives his rights in order to honor the Lord God and to serve others.”
2. “Jesus Christ was innocent, yet he waived his rights in order to serve others
and to ultimately redeem us, his family/co-heirs.”
Steve Scott | January 17, 2010 at 11:47 am
Javetta,
It’s interesting you bring up all the deceit to obtain justice. To obtain children, too. There is much sin going on here both with God’s covenant people and with outsiders. I see this as leading up to God giving his law to his people. Even the patriarchs are messed up. Can we say that Jesus comes from a dysfunctional family? Gee whiz.
Author comment by Javetta Mercadel | January 17, 2010 at 1:27 pm
Steve-
Thank you for clearing that up. I went in and changed it to read like you edited it because it truly does increase readability and understanding.
Author comment by Lionel Woods | January 18, 2010 at 7:47 am
I think the Shepherd motif is also a very good comparison. For example Jacob sends Joseph to go see how his sons were undershepherding his flock. They were not in the right place which most likely means they were not doing what they were supposed to be doing, which is taking care of Jacob’s flock. When they see the son approaching in the distance they plot to kill him, there is a parable in the Gospels that almost sound very similar to this. Jacob sends his beloved son to find out if the sheep are being taken care of, that son ends up becoming the savior of his father’s family but he must suffer immensely, be falsely accused and the first plot was to kill but he ends up being thrown in a ditch and raised from it to be a substitute for his family. I may be over allegorizing but it sure has some very unique similarities.
chas pike | January 18, 2010 at 11:29 am
when we consider the geography, and the products that the ishmaelites and midianites were transporting on their trade route back and forth with egypt, one could make the call that joe’s brother’s were high as kites when they committed their acts involving joseph.
Steve Scott | January 18, 2010 at 7:06 pm
Lionel,
Don’t stop there! There are so many parallels and similarities in so many stories that relate directly to Christ.
Sarah Bare | March 30, 2010 at 9:19 am
Have you thought about tamar’s behavior completely? She was doing the only thing possible in the situation to procure a child for her dead husband’s sake. Judah didn’t know God had slain the first two for their evil deeds. And If she had not behaved that The linage if Judah would have possibly ended. Where would the line of David and Christ have come from then?
i am sorry, javetta, i am a little confused by these two statements:
1. “yet he waives his rights to honor the Lord God and to serve others.”
2. “Jesus Christ was innocent, yet he waived his rights to serve others
and to ultimately redeem us, his family/co-heirs.”
i don’t quite understand what you mean here.
and now, of course, some self-agrandizing from myself. as i mentioned in a previous comment, about the sons of terah cruising the well for their mates. as long as we are talking about Jesus in the ot, i thought i would through my two pennies in the well.
here the women found at the well are the salvation for the bloodline, and carriers of the promise. rachel, rebekah, and ziporah, each in their own way, help to assure the delivery of the seed of woman promised in the garden.
in the story of joseph, there is a different metaphor of salvation through the well. joe is tossed into an empty well, yet when the other children of abe (be it the ishmaelites or the midians, depending on your translation) draw him like water from the well, he becomes the means to israel’s salvation. there is more to add to this and magnify it in the book of john, but i will restrain myself.
in this reading we are also shown a peculiar type of “stockhom syndrome” where israel slowly sinks into slavery, and becomes dependent upon their captivity.
there is an idea that joseph saves the israelites from starvation, yet the amorites and the edomites (idomeans) survive and grow strong in the promised land. further, the captivity lasted for a very long time. why didnt israel pick up and leave before their complete enslavement? what was to keep them from returning?
also, joseph married into the lineage of the egyptian priesthood. he arranged financial protection and remuneration for his new family, as he created his overhaul of the egyptian economy. his sons had to be adopted back into the family of israel.
just some stuff to talk about, how are you?
thanks for the snack…