Reflection from Daily Reading, Jan 23rd

In my daily reading I am finishing up the book of Genesis, which means a lot about the story of Joseph. Consider how Joseph serves to foreshadow Christ for us. Joseph is the most beloved son of Jacob (Gen 37:3), as Jesus is God’s son, whom he loves (Matthew 3:17, Mark 1:11, et al).  Joseph’s brothers, his own flesh and blood, betrayed him (Gen 37:19-28), as did Jesus’ own people (John 1:11).  Jacob is deeply grieved and tears his robes when Joseph is presumed to be dead (Gen 37:34); God the Father rends the temple curtain, turns day to night, and shakes the earth when Jesus dies (Matt 27:52, Luke 23:45). Yet, Joseph and Jesus forgave those who betrayed and did evil against them (Gen 45, Luke 23:34, John 21:15ff). And, in both cases, while the deed was carried out according the wicked intentions of man, it served God’s purposes to bring/save life (Gen 45:5-7, Gen 50:19-21 and Acts 2:23, Acts 4:27-28).  Millenniums before Jesus stepped foot on the earth, God was preparing his people to understand the salvific miracle of Jesus, his Son, given for us! DW