Harmful Jealousy || Joseph vs. Jesus #2

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. For now, enjoy the latest series I call “Joseph vs. Jesus.”

The second parallel is that other people were trying to harm them.

Genesis 37:19-20

19          “Here comes the dreamer!” they said.

20          “Come on, let’s kill him and throw him into one of these cisterns. We can tell our father, ‘A wild animal has eaten him.’ Then we’ll see what becomes of his dreams.

Can you imagine feeling so jealous of someone that you were ready to kill them? These men were ready and willing to kill their younger brother over a robe and a few reported dreams. Their deep jealousy grew into what was seen as an ugly rage, completely blinding them to what was right. Jealousy is challenging to recognize because how we feel can make sense but often only makes sense to us alone. If you leave those feelings unchecked and allow them to fester inside of you, it can grow into something out of control and can cause you to commit serious sins. The longer those feelings grow within us, the harder it’ll be to spot them and the harder it’ll be to heal from them.

What happened to Jesus in this situation when the leaders wanted to kill Jesus? Look at John 11:53 quickly and then change gears to Matthew 26:3-5, focusing on verse 4.

John 11:53

53          So from that time on, the Jewish leaders began to plot Jesus’ death.

From what time on? What did Jesus do to cause the Jewish leaders to want to kill him? He raised Lazarus from the dead. Someone reported what Jesus did to them, and they gathered together to see what to do. They were afraid that Jesus would convert a lot of people and overthrow the Temple and the nation. Caiaphas, the high priest, wasn’t concerned because it would be easier to just kill Jesus rather than worry about the risk of a revolution. He believed that this revolution would bring the world together.  

Matthew 26:3-5

3            At the same time the leading priests and elders were meeting at the residence of Caiaphas, the high priest,

4            plotting how to capture Jesus secretly and kill him.

5            “But not during the Passover celebration,” they agreed, “or the people may riot.”

This is a deliberate plot that we’re reading to kill Jesus. Without it, there likely would’ve been no outbreak of popular opinion against him. In fact, because of Jesus’ popularity, they were afraid to arrest him during Passover because of a riot. It’s the same reason why Pilate didn’t want to make the decision to crucify Jesus.

People will go out of their way to create an intentional plan to harm you. It may not be physical, like what Joseph and Jesus went through, but it may be mental and emotional. They will be the right time and place to cause you the most damage, whether to yourself, to others, to your image, or to your reputation. You’ll hear repeated throughout this series, and what we’ll talk about in our finale is that even though this evil was happening to God’s chosen people, he will use it for good. The harm you go through may be complicated, unbearable, or annoying in the moment, but God will do it for good and have sound come out of it before all is said and done.

We’ll be back in the next part to discuss how both of them were tempted and how they overcame it. Until then, stay blessed.