Joseph’s Pit, Christ’s Cross

Context

Lesson today from Genesis 37.

The central figure is Jacob’s son, Joseph. The story of Joseph will occupy the rest of the book of Genesis 37-50.

Our preaching schedule allows us two Sundays to consider Joseph. So, I will preach on the two bookends of his life — this Sunday, the occasion when Joseph was sold by his brothers into slavery in Egypt. Next Sunday — when Joseph, then the prince of Egypt, forgives and rescues his brothers.

These bookends point us toward two essential facts about Jesus that we Christians greatly value:

He suffered for us and

he reigns for us.

Altered the text and title to make this clearer.

Today, the suffering of Joseph, son of the patriarch Jacob (also known as Israel).

Text

Genesis 37:1–28 NRSV

Jacob settled in the land where his father had lived as an alien, the land of Canaan. This is the story of the family of Jacob. Joseph, being seventeen years old, was shepherding the flock with his brothers; he was a helper to the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father’s wives; and Joseph brought a bad report of them to their father. Now Israel loved Joseph more than any other of his children, because he was the son of his old age; and he had made him a long robe with sleeves. But when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they hated him, and could not speak peaceably to him. Once Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers, they hated him even more. He said to them, “Listen to this dream that I dreamed. There we were, binding sheaves in the field. Suddenly my sheaf rose and stood upright; then your sheaves gathered around it, and bowed down to my sheaf.” His brothers said to him, “Are you indeed to reign over us? Are you indeed to have dominion over us?” So they hated him even more because of his dreams and his words. He had another dream, and told it to his brothers, saying, “Look, I have had another dream: the sun, the moon, and eleven stars were bowing down to me.” But when he told it to his father and to his brothers, his father rebuked him, and said to him, “What kind of dream is this that you have had? Shall we indeed come, I and your mother and your brothers, and bow to the ground before you?” So his brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the matter in mind. Now his brothers went to pasture their father’s flock near Shechem. And Israel said to Joseph, “Are not your brothers pasturing the flock at Shechem? Come, I will send you to them.” He answered, “Here I am.” So he said to him, “Go now, see if it is well with your brothers and with the flock; and bring word back to me.” So he sent him from the valley of Hebron. He came to Shechem, and a man found him wandering in the fields; the man asked him, “What are you seeking?” “I am seeking my brothers,” he said; “tell me, please, where they are pasturing the flock.” The man said, “They have gone away, for I heard them say, ‘Let us go to Dothan.’ ” So Joseph went after his brothers, and found them at Dothan. They saw him from a distance, and before he came near to them, they conspired to kill him. They said to one another, “Here comes this dreamer. Come now, let us kill him and throw him into one of the pits; then we shall say that a wild animal has devoured him, and we shall see what will become of his dreams.” But when Reuben heard it, he delivered him out of their hands, saying, “Let us not take his life.” Reuben said to them, “Shed no blood; throw him into this pit here in the wilderness, but lay no hand on him”—that he might rescue him out of their hand and restore him to his father. So when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of his robe, the long robe with sleeves that he wore; and they took him and threw him into a pit. The pit was empty; there was no water in it. Then they sat down to eat; and looking up they saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead, with their camels carrying gum, balm, and resin, on their way to carry it down to Egypt. Then Judah said to his brothers, “What profit is it if we kill our brother and conceal his blood? Come, let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and not lay our hands on him, for he is our brother, our own flesh.” And his brothers agreed. When some Midianite traders passed by, they drew Joseph up, lifting him out of the pit, and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver. And they took Joseph to Egypt.

Introduction

Theme: Christ suffered for us so that we could know and trust God’s great mercy toward us sinners.

The story of Joseph suffering at the hands of his brothers points us to this truth.

Joseph’s Pit, Is Jesus’ Cross.

Exegesis: Joseph suffers at the hands of his brothers

When we meet Joseph, we meet a special young man.

Joseph stands out in his moral outlook, in his favored status within his family, and by his special connection with God.

His moral strength is described in Genesis 37:2 “…Joseph, being seventeen years old, … brought a bad report of his brothers to their father.”

We ought not think of this report as silly tattle telling.

Some of Joseph’s older brothers (30-40s) had previously massacred many men in the area of Schechem (Genesis 34) — an act that father Jacob himself worried marked the whole family for retaliation) — and we see in today’s story that the brothers are capable of considering fratricide.

Rough fellows.

So Joseph was showing moral courage to report a serious concern about his brothers to his father.

Jospeh’s favored status is indicated by the special robe his father made for him. The famed coat of many colors.

The brothers and Jospeh knew that their father was a peculiarly spiritual man and that a divine blessing was passed down within the family in a peculiar way — through the youngest sons.

Their grandfather Isaac, was the younger son. Their father, Jacob, was the younger son.

And now, who wears the coat that symbolized inheritance of blessing? Not the elder brothers, but the younger, Joseph.

Yet despite his brothers’ misgivings Joseph, a dutiful son and ready for responsibility, wore the coat his father made for him and asked him to wear.

And, lastly, Joseph was prone to having potent and recurring dreams.

The ancients knew that such dreams were often God given, therefore were to be carefully interpreted and heeded.

Joseph’s brothers and father immediately knew Jospeh’s dreams were suggesting for him a future of power and position.

Joseph a special young man. Morally upright, Willing and Ready to inherit his father’s blessing, and he had a special connection with God.

Result of this? Did his brothers love him, appreciate or support him? No, his brothers hated him. They were jealous of him. They could not even greet him peaceably.

So, on an occasion when their father Jacob sent Joseph to them — to ensure that they were safe among so many enemies in Shechem — they plotted his demise.

When they saw him coming, they seized him, they stripped him, and they threw him into pit.

Joseph cried out, as one of the brothers later confesses, but they ignored his pleas. Instead they mocked him for his dreams: So we are going to bow down you, are we? Doesn’t look like it.

When traders come by they sold Joseph into slavery for pieces of silver.

The slavers took Joseph down to Egypt, where Joseph was sold to Potiphar the captain of the Royal Guard, which hints to us, ever so lightly that the story of Joseph is far from over…a great future is still before him, but first suffering.

Interpretation

I said earlier that the book ends of Josephs’ life teach us about Jesus Christ.

In this first movement of Joseph’s life, we see the first essential truth of the Gospel.

Jesus Christ suffered on our behalf.

Jesus is the Greater Joseph.

He is the Divinely Favored Son

This is my Son, in whom I am well pleased.

clothed with the many colored coat of the Holy Spirit.

Jesus is the Morally Perfect One

Hebrews. Son of God was made like us in every way, except sin.

When he came into this world, he gave a bad report on the world because its sin. The world has hated me because I have testified to it’s wickedness!

Jesus was the One with a Divine Destiny

You will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds and seated at the right hand of glory.

Philippians: At the name of Jesus every knee will bow and every tongue tat confess that Jesus is Lord.

Did these attributes - favor of God, holiness, and glory - win him love or admiration or respect?

No, the Son of God came to his own and his own rejected him, with hatred, even violent hatred.

Judas sold him out for silver, Peter and others abandoned him, the Jewish leaders delivered up to the Romans to be crucified.

When Jesus hung on the cross, the people jeered, let us see what become of his dreams now!

Jesus was thrown into the pit of the tomb and taken down into hell.

Jesus the Greater Joseph!

Like Joseph, Jesus was raised up out of the pit, and as Joseph went to serve in the household of the Captain of the Royal Guard, so Jesus went up to heaven where one day we will see him reigning.

Jesus is the greater Joseph prefigured for us all the way back in the book of Genesis so when we see Christ suffer for us, we can trust it is God’s plan for us.

Joseph could not have known the painful events that lay before him when he obeyed his father’s command: go to your brothers.

But when God the Father said to Christ, I must send you to your brothers and sisters, I must send you to those who are in trouble, who are in sin, who are at risk of dying in sin, who are being threatened by the master of Spiritual Shechem the Devil…Christ knew suffering was ahead, yet He did not hesitate to come and seek humanity out.

The Son of God lovingly suffered for us:

he willing took on the form of a slave for us.

so God could then raise him up and save us from sin.

Application - Willing to suffer

This truth is the first movement of the Gospel and it should shape our lives today in at least three ways.

Since Christ willing suffered for us:

#1: No matter how serious the sin, it can be forgiven.

Isaiah: even if your sins be as scarlet, they will be white as wool.

Thieves, murderers, adulterers, liars, demoniacs, Jesus forgave them all. His blood washed them clean. And Christ forgives us our serious sins.

Jesus said, it is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have come to call sinners to repentance. The more serious the sin, the more value of Christ’s suffering.

Example of going to the ER. Phoned in symptoms. The more serious it became the more eagerly we went to the ER. No one in line. miracle: Right to the doc! The more serious our sin, the more trustingly we should go to Christ to forgive it! He attends us immediately!

#2: No matter how often we sin and even if we repeat the same sin. Jesus suffered so that it could be forgiven.

Jesus said, If a brother or sister sins against you 7 times a day and yet repents, you must forgive. And that is what Jesus does for us.

Jesus forgives us, over and over, so that we can learn to rejoice not in our own strength, but in his inexhaustible love.

Jesus multiplied the loaves, more than enough!

#3: No matter how pervasive is sin, Jesus suffered so it could be forgiven.

Sinners all around us. Since Jesus willingly suffered for our forgiveness, we are called to forgive others even if we will have to suffer in the process.

So, we turn the other cheek, blessings for curses, we go the extra mile,…

When we suffer to forgive others, we appreciate all the more just how much Jesus loves us because he suffered even more for us than we do for others.

Example: my daughters are going back to school. When I was young, I didn’t appreciate how hard it was from my mother to say goodbye to me with a smile. But she did that for me. Now I girls off. And I understand my mother’s heart a little .

Conclusion

The pit of Joseph points to the cross of Christ.

The brothers of Joseph scorned him with the sentiment, your are dead to us, but we are to say to Christ, you died FOR me. Thank you and I trust you!

Christ suffered for us so that we can know the love of God for sinners.