Joseph a Picture of Jesus: Sold

Genesis 27:23-28; Matthew 26:14-16

In Zechariah 11, God has Zechariah shepherd some sheep. When the time is over, he tells Zechariah to go collect his wages from the owners of the sheep. They pay him 30 pieces of silver. God then tells Zechariah “Throw it to the potter, that valuable price at which I was valued by them” (Zechariah 11:13). While the immediate interpretation was that the Jewish people did not value God, we know that this was also a prophecy that Jesus would be sold for 30 pieces of silver.

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Now it happened, when Joseph reached his brothers, that they stripped Joseph of his tunic, the varicolored tunic that was on him; and they took him and cast him into the pit. Now the pit was empty, without any water in it. And they sat down to eat a meal. Then they lifted up their eyes and saw, and behold, a caravan of Ishmaelites was coming from Gilead, with their camels bearing aromatic gum and balm and myrrh, going to bring them down to Egypt. And Judah said to his brothers, “What gain is it that we kill our brother and cover up his blood? “Come and let us sell him to the Ishmaelites and not lay our hands on him, for he is our brother, our own flesh.” And his brothers listened. Then some Midianite traders passed by, so they pulled him up and lifted Joseph out of the pit and sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites for twenty shekels of silver. Thus they brought Joseph into Egypt.

Genesis 37:23-28

Then one of the twelve, named Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said, “What are you willing to give me to deliver Him to you?” And they weighed out thirty pieces of silver to him. And from then on he began looking for a good opportunity to betray Jesus.

Matthew 26:14-16

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Can you imagine paying a price to purchase a human? That seems so foreign to us today. It seems like such an antiquated thing from a history book. Sadly, it is not uncommon in our world today either. I do not know what the going rate for a human is, and honestly, I do not want to know. No matter what is paid, it is insulting.

Joseph and Jesus were both sold for the price of a slave. Joseph was literally sold into slavery, and Jesus was betrayed for the purpose of being killed like a common criminal. One, Jesus, is the greatest Man to ever walk the face of the earth, and the other, (as I mentioned before), is only one of two major personalities that the Bible does not detail a sin they committed. Yet, they were sold so cheaply.

Both men were hated, and those that hated them betrayed them to Gentiles. Joseph was sold to the Ishmaelites, and Jesus was sold into the hands of the Romans. Joseph was believed by his father to be dead, and Jesus was killed. It is also significant that Joseph was betrayed by Judah, and Jesus was betrayed by Judas (the Greek spelling of Judah). As painful as this experience was for Joseph, God used his pain to paint a picture of what would happen to His Son. The parallels are undeniable. Our sovereign God worked in this situation where people intended evil, so that He could work something good and show the Gospel message. Just as God worked in Joseph’s life to reveal the image of Jesus, so He will do in our lives as well. That is what it means to be a Christian. We look like Christ. It may not always be fun, but it is good. Romans 8:28 says just that, “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose”.

Father, we thank You that our pain and suffering are not for nothing. I pray that You increase our faith. Help us to remember that You are sovereign in all things and that You are revealing Jesus in us; both to us and to the world around us.