SCRIPTURE: Genesis 37
OBSERVATION/APPLICATION:
(Read my reflection from 2008)
So when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of his robe—the ornate robe he was wearing— and they took him and threw him into the cistern. [Genesis 37:23]
Joseph was the favoured and spoiled son, and his brothers resented it.
But he was also chosen by God to fulfill a special mission, as the dreams revealed.
Loved by his father, hated by his brothers, everything seems to go bad for him.
Stripped of the special robe given to him by his father, his brothers plot to kill him, then end up selling him as a slave.
And they crucified him. Dividing up his clothes, they cast lots to see what each would get. [Mark 15:24]
Jesus reminds me of Joseph in some ways – not all.
Jesus was not spoiled, and He did not receive special status over everyone else.
In fact the robe that His Father put on Him was a servants robe.
He clothed Himself in humanity and humility.
Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross! [Philippians 2:5-8]
And yet the people He came for, the people He did this for, rejected Him.
He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. [John 1:11]
Stripped of the special robe given to him by His Father, His brothers plot to kill him, then end up selling him to the Romans (in exchange for Barabbas), who crucify Him.
Joseph bragged about his special status, but Jesus did not.
God still chose to use Joseph (as we shall see in the coming chapters), but he was not a model servant at this point.
But when Jesus comes, He stands out as someone worthy of respect, not because He demands it but because He deserves it.
As we shall see, Joseph does come out on top in this story.
The same is true for Jesus; because of His humble self-denial, He is exalted!
Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. [Philippians 2:5-11]
We love Jesus because of His humility and love, and we also imitate Him.
We long to be like Jesus, not like Joseph, striving to be humble and servant-hearted.
In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness…
PRAYER:
Lord, thank You for demonstrating humility for me, for taking my burden to set me free. Help me to live and love and serve like You.