Blood Humiliation & Reconciliation - Jesus in the Life of Joseph

Blood Humiliation & Reconciliation - Jesus in the Life of Joseph

Blood, Humiliation, Reconciliation Jesus in the life of Joseph The story of Joseph’s life is incredible. It is full of violence and injustice and pain but quietly builds into a crescendo of beautiful redemption that holds our hearts captive throughout. It’s such an amazing story that we could easily be satisfied to consider it all on its own… but that would be a mistake. The bible is not a collection of stories that are disjointed from one another, or that stand by themselves. In fact, the key to understanding any story in the bible is found in the words spoken well over a thousand years after Joseph by a man named Jesus, when He tells a group of religious leaders, “You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me” (John 5:39). The bible is not many stories; it is one Big Story, the story of God’s plan for reconciling sinners to Himself through Jesus Christ. So, as we prepare to dive into this study, the question for us is -- where does Joseph fit into the Big Story? The short answer is not far from the beginning, which is why we find it in Genesis. In Genesis, we see the events that shape Creation (literally) as we know it: the Creation, the Fall, the Flood, and then Babel, where God scatters mankind to save us from our own pride. Genesis then gives us a genealogy that ends with a man named Abram, who would later become Abraham. This is where the story begins to change. The focus shifts to a certain family, and it does this because God chooses to give Abram a promise, that “in you, all the families of the earth shall be blessed” (Genesis12:3). This promise is the rescue plan for humanity. It starts in Abram, but it extends the blessing of God to all the families of the earth, to every tribe, tongue, and nation. Genesis (and the rest of the Old Testament) then spend the rest of its time following Abraham's family, as God renews his promise to his son Isaac, and then to his grandson Jacob. However, this promise does not mean that Abraham’s family is a great moral example for us to follow. The Bible paints this family over in full colors of violence, pride, deception, and sexual sin. It’s a family full of broken promises. But the good news is that this family is not the point and that in spite of their sin, God’s promise to them stands unbroken, because through the line of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob comes Jesus Christ. Jesus tells the religious leaders that all Scripture bears witness about Him, and it does this primarily in two ways: by giving pictures and promises. The story of Joseph and his eleven brothers is rich in both. From blood to humiliation, to reconciliation, we will see in this study how this family connects to the Big Story of God’s rescue plan for all of humanity, ultimately realized in the person and work of Jesus.