Did Jesus include the story of Joseph when showing who he was in Scripture to the two disciples he met on the road to Emmaus in Luke 24?
Because the parallels between Jesus and Joseph are remarkable, starting in Joseph’s teenage when his brothers totally rejected the idea that his dreams were inspired by God, and then out of jealousy they even wanted to kill him (Genesis 37:5, 8, 11, 18-20). The same things then happened to Jesus: his fellow Jews refused to believe God was speaking through him too (John 5:37-40), and in their jealousy they wanted him dead as well (Matthew 27:18, 22).
Add to that other similarities, like Joseph’s brothers “stripping” Joseph’s robe off him and selling him “for twenty shekels of silver” (Genesis 37:23, 28), just as Jesus’ robe was stripped off him (Matthew 27:28) and he was sold for silver as well (Matthew 26:15). Jesus and Joseph were also falsely accused, and both were condemned with two other criminals too (Genesis 40:1-3, Luke 23:32).
And in their attempt to hide selling Joseph into slavery, his brothers “slaughtered a goat and dipped Joseph’s robe in its blood” (Genesis 37:31) so their Dad would believe Joseph had been killed by an animal. Compare that to Jesus wearing “a robe dipped in blood” too (Revelation 19:13).
Best of the parallels, though, was Joseph’s own words to his brothers, that “it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you,” Genesis 45:5. And “save lives” in two ways: save his brothers’ lives, but also the lives of all the Egyptians and those in other nations suffering from the seven year famine, just as the Father sent Jesus ahead to save his own people (Matthew 1:21), but also to kickstart the saving of the whole world from its suffering too (John 3:16). So in Joseph we get to see a lot of God and his plan of salvation through Jesus.
Including what Joseph said in Genesis 45:7, that “God sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance” – the “remnant” being Joseph’s own family who would become Israel of old, just as Jesus would have a remnant of people on earth who would become the church.
So God was picturing Jesus in Joseph, in both his purpose and his circumstances. But not so easy to understand “When God seems weird and convoluting” too….(next blog)
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