Stephen’s Defence, Part 2

The way Joseph Shared Jesus (and how similar it is to the way Jesus shared Jesus)  

In our last post from the book of Acts we discussed Stephen’s Spirit and how, while his Spirit and his wisdom were both obviously important, his Spirit may have been even more important than his wisdom. We also looked at how what happened to Stephen is an indication of what might happen to someone who behaves like Jesus (Part 1).

Today we’ll take look at Stephen’s wisdom. Watch for parallels between Joseph and Jesus.

Acts 7:1-16

And the high priest said, “Are these things so?” And Stephen said:

“Brothers, fathers, hear me. The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran, and said to him, ‘Go out from your land and from your kindred and go into the land that I will show you.’ Then he went out from the land of the Chaldeans and lived in Haran. And after his father died, God removed him from there into this land in which you are now living. Yet he gave him no inheritance in it, not even a foot’s length, but promised to give it to him as a possession and to his offspring after him, though he had no child. And God spoke to this effect—that his offspring would be sojourners in a land belonging to others, who would enslave them and afflict them four hundred years. ‘But I will judge the nation that they serve,’ said God, ‘and after that they shall come out and worship me in this place.’ And he gave him the covenant of circumcision. And so Abraham became the father of Isaac, and circumcised him on the eighth day, and Isaac became the father of Jacob, and Jacob of the twelve patriarchs.

And the patriarchs, jealous of Joseph, sold him into Egypt; but God was with him and rescued him out of all his afflictions and gave him favor and wisdom before Pharaoh, king of Egypt, who made him ruler over Egypt and over all his household. Now there came a famine throughout all Egypt and Canaan, and great affliction, and our fathers could find no food. But when Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent out our fathers on their first visit. And on the second visit Joseph made himself known to his brothers, and Joseph’s family became known to Pharaoh. And Joseph sent and summoned Jacob his father and all his kindred, seventy-five persons in all. And Jacob went down into Egypt, and he died, he and our fathers, and they were carried back to Shechem and laid in the tomb that Abraham had bought for a sum of silver from the sons of Hamor in Shechem. ”

Jesus in the Old Testament

Problem: for the brothers the dreams aren’t Joseph’s, they’re from God, and God’s dreams always come to pass.

As Reuben listened to the plot, it dawned on him that, as the oldest son, he’ll be held responsible for Joseph.

“Let’s not kill him, let’s not shed any blood,” he said. “Instead we’ll throw him into this empty cistern, but don’t hurt him.“ Reuben thought, I’ll come back later to pull Joseph out of the cistern. Then Ill return him to our father.

Reuben‘s hope is that by throwing Joseph in the cistern, he can satisfy his brothers. Remember that Pontius Pilate had Jesus scourged, hoping to satisfy the Jews who cried, “Crucify him!“

Upon Joseph‘s arrival the brothers stripped him of his mantle, the one of many colors and oversized sleeves; the robe Israel had given him. They continued to mock and laugh even as they threw him in the empty cistern.

Joseph was stripped of his special garment, even as Jesus was stripped of his seamless garment. And down into the empty cistern Joseph goes, even as Jesus went down into the grave. (Matthew 27:59-60, Mark 15:46, Luke 23:53, John 19:41-42)

It was lunchtime now, and they sat down to eat. As they’re eating, they saw a caravan of Ishmaelite’s coming from Gilead. The caravan is loaded with spices, balm, and myrrh. They’re on their way to Egypt for trading.

One brother, named Judah, came up with an idea (or, the idea was given to Judah by the Lord). He said, “What do we gain if we kill him? Instead, let’s sell him to the Ishmaelite’s and not hurt him; after all, he is our brother, our own flesh and blood. “

Judah and his brother’s thought, we can avoid having Joseph’s blood on our hands if we turn him over to these Gentiles. Likewise, the brother’s descendants said it was against Roman law for the Jews to execute Jesus themselves. So they turned Jesus over to the Gentiles. It’s interesting to note, though, that they said, “We have no right to execute anyone,” they were perfectly willing to stone the woman caught in adultery, and they were more than enthusiastic about throwing Jesus off the cliff. But it was prophesied Jesus was to die by crucifixion and only the Romans executed criminals in that manner. . . .  this took place to fulfill what Jesus had said about the kind of death he was going to die. (John 8:1-11, Luke 4:29, John 18:31-32) 

We see here the result of envy. Matthew Henry’s Commentary states: “Where envy reigns, pity is banished, and humanity itself is forgotten.” And Proverbs 27:4 tells us, Wrath is cruel, and anger is outrageous; but who is able to stand before envy? In our story we see siblings driven by envy to plot the death of their own brother, even as he desperately pleaded for his life! (Genesis 42:21) Envy. Stay clear of it. Don’t allow yourself to be caught by the green-eyed monster, or you may find yourself doing things you never dreamed you were capable of.

Judah’s brothers bought into the idea of selling him as a slave. When the Midianite traders approached, they pulled Joseph out of the cistern and sold him into slavery for twenty shekels of silver ($62.30 today). The brothers watched Joseph leave as the Midianite’s continued on their journey to Egypt.

Jesus was sold, for 30 pieces of silver, by one of his brothers. (Matthew 26:14-16, Mark 14:10-11, Luke 22:3-6, Zechariah 11:12-13)

The Bible does not tell us where Reuben had been. But when he returned he saw Joseph wasn’t in the cistern, he ripped (ripping or rending is a striking expression of grief and anger at the loss of a loved one) his clothes. He rushed back to his brothers and said, “The boy’s not there! What am I going to do?“

Reuben thinks he’s undone because of Joseph’s plight. In reality, had Joseph not been sold into slavery, they all would have been undone by famine. When the two Mary’s returned and saw Jesus wasn’t in the tomb, they were also distressed. But, in reality, had the tomb not been empty, we all would be undone (Luke 24:1-8).

The brothers killed a goat and dipped Joseph’s robe in its blood. When they arrive home they show it to Israel and said, “We found this. You better have a look at it, it might be Joseph’s robe.“

Of course Jacob recognizes it right away and says, “It is my son’s robe! Some wild animal has devoured him! He’s been torn to pieces for sure!“

Then Jacob tore his clothes, puts on sackcloth (hair of a goat woven into a coarsely woven fabric), and agonizes for Joseph for many days. All of his sons and daughters come to comfort him, but he refused their consolation. “No!” he said, “I will continue to mourn until I join my son in the grave.” Jacob continued to weep for Joseph.

To Jacob, Joseph is dead. But, there’s good news he doesn’t know about.

Meanwhile, the Midianite’s sold Joseph to Potiphar, Pharaoh’s captain of the guard.

To the disciples and all who knew of His crucifixion, Jesus was dead. But there was good news coming they didn’t know about. It was dark on Friday, but Sunday was coming.

The following parallels tell us how we can see Jesus in this story:

Joseph was his father’s favorite, even as Jesus would be his Father’s favorite: Genesis 37:3, Matthew 3:17

Joseph was a shepherd, even as Jesus would be the good shepherd: Genesis 37:2, John 10:11, 27

Joseph was sent by his father to his brothers, even as Jesus’ Father would send him to his brothers, the Jews: Genesis 37:13-14, John 5:30

Joseph was hated and envied by his brothers, even as Jesus would be hated and envied by his brothers: Genesis 37:4, Matthew 27:17-18

Joseph’s brothers plotted to kill him, even as Jesus’ brothers would plot to kill him: Genesis 37:20, John 11:53

Joseph was tempted and resisted, even as Jesus would be tempted and resist: Genesis 39:7-8, Matthew 4:1

Joseph was stripped of his robe, even as Jesus would be stripped of his clothes: Genesis 37:23, John 19:23

Joseph’s life was sold for silver, even as Jesus’ life would be sold for silver: Genesis 37:38, Matthew 26:15

Joseph was falsely accused, even as Jesus would be falsely accused: Genesis 39:12-20, Matthew 26:59-60

Joseph was with two other convicts, one who would be saved, and one who would be lost. Jesus was on the cross with two other convicts, one who would be saved, and one who would be lost: Genesis 40:2-3, Luke 23:32

Joseph was 30 years old when he entered the service of Pharoah king of Egypt, even as Jesus would be 30 years old when he entered the service of the King of kings: Genesis 41:46, Luke 3:23

Joseph was exalted after his suffering, even as Jesus would be exalted after his suffering: Genesis 41:41-43, Philippians 2:9-11

Joseph forgave those who wronged him, even as Jesus would forgive those who wronged him: Genesis 45:1-15, Luke 23:34

Joseph saved the nation of Egypt, and other nations, even as Jesus would save his people, and the nations of the world: Genesis 45:7, John 3:16-17

What men did to harm Joseph, God used to save people, even as what men did to harm Jesus, God would use to save people: Genesis 50:20, 1 Corinthians 2:7-8

Speaking of Jesus, Luke 25:7 says, Beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.

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Kurt Bennett is a writer best known for his book, Love Like Jesus. After attending church and studying the Bible for most of his adult life, he was challenged by a pastor to study Jesus. That led to an obsessive seven-year deep dive. After pouring over Jesus’ every interaction with another human being, he realized he was doing a much better job of studying Jesus’ words than he was following Jesus’ words and example. The honest and fearless revelations of Bennett’s own moral failures affirm he wrote Love Like Jesus for himself as much as for others. You can find more of his stduies in his writings on his blog.

Before becoming an author he served as a firefighter in Medford, Oregon. He was born in Chicago, Illinois. He currently lives in Hillsboro, Oregon, just a few miles from his son Gabe, daughter (-in-law) Charise, and grandson Andrew. He has another son Nate and daughter (-in-law) Anastasia who live in Sammamish, Washington.

References:

Matthew Henry Commentary

Walton, Matthews, Chavalas, (2000), IVP Bible Background Commentary, O.T. 

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Article By Kurt Bennett, and Photo by  Brad West Published With Permission