Joseph Being a Prefigurement of Jesus Christ - Report Example

Joseph being a Prefigurement of Jesus Christ Thesis In the book of Genesis, it could be argued that there are similarities between Joseph and Jesus. That the two could be one and the same, through the shared values and Morales that both men carried, is not disputable. Due to most of their shared values and Morales, and considering that Joseph had come earlier before Jesus was born; it is possible to see Joseph being a Prefigurement of Jesus Christ, who was meant to come and prepare the lifestyle which Jesus would recap. Starting from their mysterious births, where Jesus was born of the Virgin Mary and Joseph born of the barren Rachael, whose womb was opened by God, a lot of parallelism can be drawn from the two, indicating that their life was one and the same, only that, the life of Joseph was a preparation of that of Jesus, since they could go through the same lifestyle1. Therefore, I will argue that there are many similarities between Joseph and Jesus Christ, and thus Joseph can be viewed as a Prefigurement of Jesus Christ. Comparison Intro This section seeks to draw all the points of similarities between Joseph and Jesus during their lives, with a focus on how the similarities point to a possibility of Joseph being a Prefigurement of Jesus Christ. 2a. Betrayed by brothers A parallelism that can be drawn between Joseph and Jesus is the fact that both of them were betrayed and hated by others3. Joseph was hated by his brothers, who opted to sell him to slavery; because they could not stand him around, considering that he was the favorite of his father, who loved him very much. The same happens to Jesus, because he was hated by his own people, the Jews, who conspired to have him crucified, because they could not stand him, owing to the fact that he was loved by God and other tribes4. 2b. Ministry A life of ministry is yet another aspect that draws parallelism between Joseph and Jesus. Both Joseph and Jesus dedicated themselves to a life of ministry, where they served people as opposed to concentrating on a personal life2. For Jesus, a life of ministry started at a tender age and continued until his death. There are no instances where it was recorded that Jesus was working for himself or even serving his family interests, but was rather dedicated to serving others throughout his life. The same is observed with Joseph, who spent his childhood as a shepherd looking after his father’s animals, before he was sold to the alien land where he was imprisoned and later promoted to be the government caretaker, a position that entailed serving other people3. His responsibility was that of ensuring that food distribution was done accordingly; a ministry that entailed caring for the welfare of the people. 2b. Ministry 2c. Food The concept of Food provision also draws some parallelism between the life of Joseph and Jesus. Jesus was always caring to feed the people who formed his congregation, and had to turn five loaves of bread and two fish into a feast that was celebrated by thousands of people, who ate to their fill and left more baskets of leftovers. On his part, Joseph was the government caretaker responsible for ensuring that people were supplied with food during the drought season, through accumulating reserves during the productive seasons and distributing the same to the people during drought2. These are just few instances and occurrences that draw a similarity in the life of Joseph and that of Jesus, which points to the possibility of Joseph being a Prefigurement of Jesus Christ. 2d. Nations coming before each A similarity between the two men can also be drawn from the fact that both of them commanded the respect of nations, which came before them to obtain their favors. Joseph was sold into slavery by his brothers, but later found the favor of the ruler of the alien country where he was sold, and was placed as the overall caretaker in charge of food distributions during the drought season. Considering that most nations were badly hit by the drought spell, they had to come to the country where Joseph was sold to buy food. Therefore the position that Joseph was holding in the alien country saw many nations come before him, so that he could allocate them some food to push them through the drought season4.The coming of nations to obtain favors can also be seen in the case of Jesus, where many people from different nations would come before him, just to obtain different favors, which included healing of the seek and releasing of the demons from the demon-possessed. The favor that God has bestowed on Jesus; ability to heal the sick and help people out of various problems, saw many nations come and bow before him, asking to obtain the favors, which Jesus granted indiscriminately. Therefore, a parallelism can be drawn between Joseph and Jesus, by the virtue of their obtaining favors that brought many nations before them3. 2e. Mercy on others Among the shared value is that of forgiveness and having mercy on others, where both Joseph and Jesus had a forgiving heart. This is displayed in the instance where Joseph forgave his brothers after they had sold him to slavery, and welcomed them warmly in the new country where he had become the overall caretaker of food distribution, when they came to buy food during a drought season2. The same is observable with Jesus, where he decided to forgive those who were persecuting him, observing that they did not know what they were doing. 3. Argument Intro: This section argues that Joseph was a Prefigurement of Jesus Christ 3a. Prefigurement of Jesus The Prefigurement of Jesus in Joseph can be drawn from the fact that Joseph was preparing a way for Jesus to live a normal life, but sustain his divinity. Most significant in this argument, is the sanctity of the lives of the both Joseph and Jesus, as recorded in the religious books. There was not at any one particular time, when either Joseph or Jesus was associated with any sin3. Both of them lived a life of piety until their death, without even an attempt to avenge themselves for the wrongs that had been perpetrated against them by others, despite the fact that they had the ability and the opportunities to do so. This observation strongly accounts for Joseph being a Prefigurement of Jesus Christ, since despite both of them living in the world like normal men; there are no instances where any sin was identified with them. While it can be seen that even the people that were loved and highly favored by God had committed sins at one time or the other, it is very unique with Joseph and Jesus, who could live a normal human life, suffer from the betrayal of their people and wrongful accusations, and yet emerge as pious as they did2. 3b. Joseph having 12 brothers; Such as Jesus having 12 disciples The concept of having equal number of people who worked closely together with Joseph and Jesus points to a precedence by Joseph for the Prefigurement of Jesus Christ1. Joseph had 12 brothers whom he worked closely with during his childhood, looking after his father’s animals, until the brothers betrayed him and sold him to an alien land. The same happened with Jesus, who chose 12 disciples with whom he worked together in the ministry during his lifetime, until he was betrayed by one of them and crucified. The similarity of their working and association pattern points to the possibility of Joseph coming earlier to make precedence for Jesus to walk in the same footsteps, indicating that Joseph was a Prefigurement of Jesus Christ. 3c. Was Joseph a stepping stone for what Jesus had in-store Joseph was a stepping stone for what Jesus had in-store, because he charted a pattern of life that Jesus was to follow from birth to his death. Starting from their mysterious births to hatred and betrayal by their own people, suffering in the hands of foreign rulers and serving the ministry without any incidence of committing sin, the pattern is a clear indication that one was meant to prepare the way for the other4. Considering the similarity in the pattern of the life for the two, yet they lived at different times, is a pointer of the fact that Joseph was a stepping stone for what Jesus had in-store. 4. Evidence Even though there lacks any clear evidence that shows Joseph as a Prefigurement of Jesus, there are sufficient pointers that indicates this could be true. The most solid basis for this observation is that, the pattern of life for both Joseph and Jesus were essentially the same, yet they lived at different times, an indication that one occurrence was a precedence of the other3. 5. Conclusion The issue of Joseph being a Prefigurement of Jesus Christ can only be explained by the similarity observable in their life patterns. While both were living a normal human life, there are many points of distinction between their personal lives and those of the other people whose life is also recorded in the book of Genesis. This serve to indicate that the similarities shared by both Joseph and Jesus could not just be a mere coincidence, and thus giving a conclusion that Joseph can be viewed as a Prefigurement of Jesus Christ. Reference list 1Arnold, Eric. 2002. Parallels between Joseph and Jesus. The Bible Radio Network. 2Phillips, John. 2001. Exploring Genesis: an expository commentary. Grand Rapids, Minn: Kregel Publications. 3Pink. A. W. 2006. Gleanings in Genesis. Filiquarian Publishing, LLC. 4William Mouser. 2004. Joseph Foreshadows Jesus. Sermon Central.com. Read More