PARALLELS: JOSEPH & JESUS

(Message by Tanny Keng)

0. Let's look at the parallels: Joseph & Jesus 
(Text: Genesis 37 - 50)

1. The fathers loved them dearly...

a) Joseph

i) ³ Now Israel loved Joseph more than any of his other sons, because he had been born to him in his old age; and he made an ornate robe for him. (Genesis 37:3 NIV)

b) Jesus

i) ¹⁷ And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” (Matthew 3:17 NIV)

2. Shepherds of their fathers' sheep  ... 

a) Joseph

i) ² This is the account of Jacob’s family line. Joseph, a young man of seventeen, was tending the flocks with his brothers, the sons of Bilhah and the sons of Zilpah, his father’s wives, and he brought their father a bad report about them. (Genesis 37:2 NIV) 

b) Jesus

i) ¹¹ “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. (John 10:11 NIV)

ii) ²⁷ My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. (John 10:27 NIV)

3. Sent by father to brothers ...

a) Joseph

i) ¹³ and Israel said to Joseph, “As you know, your brothers are grazing the flocks near Shechem. Come, I am going to send you to them.” “Very well,” he replied. ¹⁴ So he said to him, “Go and see if all is well with your brothers and with the flocks, and bring word back to me.” Then he sent him off from the Valley of Hebron. (Genesis 37:13-14 NIV)

b) Jesus

i) ¹¹ Both the one who makes people holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters. (Hebrews 2:11 NIV)

4. Hated by brothers ... 

a) Joseph

i) ⁴ When his brothers saw that their father loved him more than any of them, they hated him and could not speak a kind word to him. (Genesis 37:4 NIV)

b) Jesus

i) ⁵ For even his own brothers did not believe in him. (John 7:5 NIV)

5. Others plotted to harm them ...  

a) Joseph 

i) ²⁰ “Come now, let’s kill him and throw him into one of these cisterns and say that a ferocious animal devoured him. Then we’ll see what comes of his dreams.” (Genesis 37:20 NIV)

b) Jesus

i) ⁵³ So from that day on they plotted to take his life. (John 11:53 NIV)

6. Tempted ... 

a) Joseph

i) ⁷ and after a while his master’s wife took notice of Joseph and said, “Come to bed with me!” (Genesis 39:7 NIV)

b) Jesus

i) Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. (Matthew 4:1 NIV)

7. Taken to Egypt ... 

a) Joseph

i) ²⁸ So when the Midianite merchants came by, his brothers pulled Joseph up out of the cistern and sold him for twenty shekels of silver to the Ishmaelites, who took him to Egypt. (Genesis 37:28 NIV)

b) Jesus

i) ¹⁴ So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, ¹⁵ where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: “Out of Egypt I called my son." (Matthew 2:14-15 NIV)

8. Tunics taken from them ... 

a) Joseph 

i) ²³ So when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of his robe—the ornate robe he was wearing. (Genesis 37:23 NIV)

b) Jesus

i) ²³ When the soldiers crucified Jesus, they took his clothes, dividing them into four shares, one for each of them, with the undergarment remaining. This garment was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom. (John 19:23 NIV)

The End ...