That’s Not Fair || Joseph v. Jesus #5

As we progress throughout the book of Genesis, it’s time to look at the long and comprehensive story of Joseph. While studying the material, I found a list of parallels between him and Jesus. I’ve learned that much Old Testament literature and storytelling often repeats itself, so does Joseph’s story truly prepare us for the story of Jesus. I have chosen eight parallels they both went through, which we might be going through, to see how they wrestled with them and what we can learn from their responses.

There are more parallels to discuss that focus on the Messiah and leadership-like stories. If you want to hear that side of their stories, let me know, and Part 2 of this series will return. Enjoy the latest series I’m calling “Joseph vs. Jesus.”

The fifth parallel is that they both were sentenced unjustly.

Genesis 39:20

20           So he took Joseph and threw him into the prison where the king’s prisoners were held, and there he remained.

Remember that Joseph was innocent. This was the result of the lie that Potiphar’s wife told her husband about Joseph trying to come on to her and sleep with her. Potiphar was obviously going to believe his wife and was so angry with Joseph that he put him in prison. Prisons were grim places with vile conditions. They were used to house forced laborers or, like Joseph, the accused who were awaiting trial. Prisoners were guilty until proven innocent, and there was no right to a speedy trial. Many prisoners never got to court because trials happened whenever the ruler felt like it. Joseph had no idea how long he would be in there. He was an innocent person sitting in a prison where he didn’t belong and didn’t know when he’d be released. Life just wasn’t fair for Joseph. Until Joseph was called to appear before Pharaoh and later called to appear to interpret some dreams for him. He was never called to stand trial, which was probably optimistic. We’ll talk more about why in Part 6.

However, Joseph wasn’t alone in prison.

Genesis 40:1-3

1             Some time later, Pharaoh’s chief cup-bearer and chief baker offended their royal master.

2             Pharaoh became angry with these two officials,

3             and he put them in the prison where Joseph was, in the palace of the captain of the guard.

The cup-bearer and the baker were considered two of the most trusted men who worked for Pharaoh. The baker was in charge of making Pharaoh’s food. The cup-bearer tasted Pharaoh’s wine before he drank it to make sure it was contaminated with something or poisoned. These guys must have made Pharaoh extremely mad to be imprisoned. We don’t know, though. The story never tells us what they did. I believe the assumption is that they didn’t really do anything wrong. Pharaoh reacted emotionally to that offense, similar to how Potiphar reacted when offended. It’s the idea of showing that things can happen like this and we’re not alone. Yet Joseph’s gifts were going to be his rescue, where the responsibilities of these two guys were going to lead to their replacement. The theme of Joseph’s story is that “God will use it for good.” This situation will be used by God for Joseph’s benefit, and these two guys will help show why. Again, we’ll talk more about that in Part 6.

Now, let’s switch over to Jesus’ unjust sentencing!

Matthew 27:26

26           So Pilate released Barabbas to them. He ordered Jesus flogged with a lead-tipped whip, then turned him over to the Roman soldier to be crucified.

The thing with this is that it’s prophetic. It still wasn’t fair to Jesus, but it was prophesied to happen.

Isaiah 53:5

5             But he was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed.

How could Isaiah’s audience understand the idea of their long-awaited Messiah dying for their sins and actually bearing the punishment we all deserve? It boils down to the sacrifice system that was in place. The system of sacrifices pointed to this idea. They often had to kill a lamb to atone for their sins. However, thinking of God’s chosen servant as the lamb is radically different. God was pulling the curtain back and showing the suffering Jesus had to endure, and the resulting forgiveness and mercy were made available to everyone. Isaiah wanted to prepare the people for this, even though it would be a challenging moment in the history of humanity.

Isaiah mentions five times that the Lord’s righteous servant would carry out our sins. Why was it necessary for this to happen? It’s because God is holy. We cannot enter his area marked by our sin. So, the perfect, sinless Lamb of God, Jesus, took our sins and died the death we deserve. He sacrificed for us so that we can boldly and confidently enter God’s holy presence. The upside to all this is that the sacrifice didn’t end with just his death. Jesus rose from the dead three days later to represent his power over death and to give us the confident promise that we, like him, will experience eternal, resurrected life.

Like Joseph, Jesus should have had to suffer in the way he did. In my perfect world, he would have come here, showed us how to live like God on earth, and returned. Yet, if it wasn’t for the fall, God wouldn’t have needed to send Jesus. God used the fall of humanity for good. It might have been good at the moment, but the blessings that have come from it have lasted for eternity.

I’ll be back with Part 6 soon! We’ll discuss how they were lifted up after their suffering. Until then, stay blessed!