Joseph: Blameless Servant
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When do you typically hear someone say “God Bless”?
When someone sneezes? Right.
I discovered that that response came out of the 6th century during the first bubonic plague to spread through Europe and the Mediterranean. Tradition holds that Pope Gregory at the time instructed Christians to say God Bless when someone sneezed as an immediate petition to God for their healing, since it was a possible sign of someone infected.
Now there are other times when we hear that phrase. I recall someone, it was probably a Christian comedian, talk about how for Southern women, “God Bless” is a precursor to gossip. “God bless ‘em, you know he cheated on his wife right?” Or when they are talking to someone they believe is an idiot: “God bless you.”
Not much of a real blessing.
A real blessing is found in Numbers 6:24-26
The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.
What does it mean for the Lord to bless us? From that verse, blessing is connected with the light of God’s presence with us, his favor shown on us, his peace given to us.
In the Old Testament, the Hebrew word for “to bless” is “bah-rahk” which means invoking divine favor, expressing gratitude, or bestowing prosperity. According to Strong’s dictionary, “The word can also imply the act of kneeling, which is often associated with worship or showing reverence. In the Bible, "barak" is used to describe God's blessing upon individuals, the blessings people bestow upon one another, and the blessings offered to God in worship.”
Today, I want us to consider what it means to be blessed by God.
We are continuing on with our series on Joseph and if you were here last week, you recall that Joseph - the favored son of Jacob, much to the chagrin of his brothers - had a set of dreams that he shared with his family that showed Joseph being raised up to a position of power and rule, while his family bowed before him. This angered the brothers who conspired together to get rid of this “Dreamer” - so they sold him into slavery.
The one who was highly favored, is betrayed and forced into a low position.
As we just heard in today’s reading, he was purchased by Potiphar, an officer of Pharoah and we are told “The Lord was with Joseph…”
At first glance, it seems that the evidence that the Lord was with him is found in the fact that “he became a successful man.”
His master saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord caused all that he did to succeed in his hands.
He did so well, he was placed in charge of everything that belonged to his master. This will be a quality that Joseph will possess throughout his life. We see partial fulfillment of the dream - Joseph is put in charge, he seems to have the gift of leadership and wisdom, he rises in status and power, others depend on him.
Next, we see his character tested. Potiphar’s wife tries to seduce him - but Joseph shuts down her advances. He says he has been entrusted with so much, how could he betray that trust? He adds “How then can I do this great wickedness and sin against God?” Joseph feared the Lord and knew that any sin he committed was disobedience to God.
King David would come to that same realization much later when he committed adultery with Bathsheba and then killed her husband. When he was called out on his great sin by the prophet Nathan and his heart was convicted, he cried out to God and his words were captured in Psalm 51:3-4
For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment.
All sin, first and foremost, is against God. Joseph was not spiritually blind - he knew his actions had consequences - not just in this world, but in God’s kingdom as well. This story serves as a foreshadowing of Jesus’ temptation. Jesus was tempted by Satan in the wilderness three times, and yet remained without sin or compromise. He kept his eyes on His Father and was obedient first and foremost to Him.
Joseph not only turned down the advances of his master’s wife, he stopped listening to her and avoided her whenever possible. To the best of his ability - he established boundaries. We can learn much from Joseph in how we handle our own temptations.
In a typical Egyptian residence of that time period, to get to the supply room, which he would need to do as manager of the household, one would need to go pass through the main room - so it was not possible to avoid all contact. Potiphar’s wife saw an opportunity one day and took it - she grabbed him by his clothing and said “let’s get it on” and in response Joseph doesn’t play around - he takes off running. He left so fast that whatever he was wearing that she grabbed ripped right off.
The apostle Paul warned in
Abstain from every form of evil.
the Greek word translated as abstain is apecho and means “to deliberately withdraw from; to stay away from; to put distance between oneself and something else”
Joseph did everything right. He clearly stated he was not interested - he did not entertain the idea. He knew it was a sin against the God he served. He put boundaries in place. And when trapped in a compromising position, he didn’t try to reason with Potiphar’s wife - he immediately fled.
And yet, even though he did everything right, he ended up suffering.
Potiphar returns home, his wife shows him the garment and says “see how your servant treats me!” As a slave, Joseph had no rights, no way of arguing his innocence. Potiphar was angry and tossed Joseph into the prison where the king’s prisoner’s were kept. The fact that he was not put to death may indicate that Potiphar did not fully believe his wife’s story - but this was how these matters were handled.
Once again, the one who was highly favored is betrayed and forced into a low position.
It is easy to see Joseph being blessed when he is successful in life - but what about when circumstances go south?
Don’t we wonder the same thing when we face hardship or tragedy? Why has God allowed this to happen? Am I no longer blessed? Do I not have his favor?
Maybe we are not asking the right questions. Maybe we are not measuring blessings correctly.
I want to point us back to Numbers 6:24-26
The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.
Again, we hear that blessing is connected with the light of God’s presence with us, his favor shown on us, his peace given to us.
What is does not say is “The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make all hardship and pain go away. The Lord give you worldly riches and power. The Lord make sure you are never wronged.”
I’m reminded of Jesus’ blessings in Luke 6:20-23
And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples, and said: “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. “Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you shall be satisfied. “Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh. “Blessed are you when people hate you and when they exclude you and revile you and spurn your name as evil, on account of the Son of Man! Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven; for so their fathers did to the prophets.
It seems that being blessed by the Lord is not so much connected to worldly success and comfort - but simply to know that God is with you when you stand with Him and the added hope that one day you will be free from all hardship and pain.
Joseph was learning the same lessons that Job would learn one day.
And he said, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.”
You may be in a good place right now in life. If so, give thanks to the Lord. You are blessed. Or you may be in a tough place right now. If so, give thanks to the Lord. You are blessed.
As long as you are breathing, the story is not over.
Joseph went from favored son to being a slave.
He went from manager of a wealthy household to prisoner.
And in every instance, God was with him.
Listen to how this chapter concludes - Joseph is in prison and we read:
But the Lord was with Joseph and showed him steadfast love and gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison. And the keeper of the prison put Joseph in charge of all the prisoners who were in the prison. Whatever was done there, he was the one who did it. The keeper of the prison paid no attention to anything that was in Joseph’s charge, because the Lord was with him. And whatever he did, the Lord made it succeed.
Once again, glimpses of the dreams fulfillment shines through. Joseph is put in charge and others depend on him. God is not done with him yet, the story is not over.
As I stated last week, through the life of Joseph, God in His infinite wisdom, prepared His people for the arrival of Jesus. Joseph, in many different ways, serves as a foreshadowing Christ figure.
We see in the life of Jesus one who remained blameless.
He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth.
For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.
We also see in the life of Jesus one who was highly favored betrayed and forced into a low position.
Jesus starts off his ministry being baptized by John and hearing the voice of God proclaim “this is my son, whom I love, with Him I am well pleased.” But the trajectory of Jesus’ ministry leads him to be betrayed by Judas and hung on the cross as a common criminal.
And just as the Lord was with Joseph and put him in charge of all in the prison, “Whatever was done there, he was the one who did it” (v.22), there is a Christian theological teaching based on several bible passages, including Ephesians 4 and Psalm 16, that when Jesus died, he descended to Sheol, the place of the dead, proclaimed the good news and setting the prisoners free.
Jesus is in charge of all the high place and low places.
I shall ransom them from the power of Sheol; I shall redeem them from Death. O Death, where are your plagues? O Sheol, where is your sting?
And lastly, just as Potiphar made Joseph “overseer in his house and put him in charge of all that he had” and just as the warden made Joseph “in charge of all the prisoners” - God the Father has put Jesus in charge of all things.
And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.
We are blessed when we know Jesus, the blameless servant who died on our behalf, defeated the grave and set the prisoners free, and now reigns in glory at the right hand of God the Father.
May we live into our blessing by keeping our eyes on Him and working out all things to His glory.
Amen.
