Jesus Christ Shines Through People

In what way is the redemption story of Christ shining through your life?

Throughout the Scripture, the life of Christ shines through His people.

Take for example Joseph in the Old Testament!

“Joseph answered Pharaoh, saying, “It is not in me; God will give Pharaoh an answer of peace.” [1]

Jesus Christ is the One who declares or explains God to people, so in a sense, Joseph is a type of Christ in this verse as he gives glory to God for making him the revealer of God’s Words.

“No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.” [2]

The word for “declared” in the original Greek of the New Testament is “εξηγησατο” from the verb “exégeomai” which means to lead out or to unfold, often used in the context of explaining or interpreting something. Joseph could interpret Pharoah’s dream because the same God who gave Pharoah the dream explained its meaning to Joseph.

Joseph could tell Pharaoh, “God has shown Pharaoh what He is about to do” because the Lord’s Spirit bore witness with his spirit that this dream and prophetic utterance was from God. He could assure Pharoah, “The thing is established by God, and God will shortly bring it to pass.” [3]

Pharoah asked his servants, “Can we find such a one as this, a man in whom is the Spirit of God?” [4]

The fruit of Joseph’s fellowship with the Lord during his exile in Egypt brought glory to God and saved the lives of many people. Joseph named his sons accordingly. “Joseph called the name of the firstborn Manasseh: ‘For God has made me forget all my toil and all my father’s house.’ And the name of the second he called Ephraim: ‘For God has caused me to be fruitful in the land of my affliction.’” [5]

In a similar fashion to Joseph, due to the sins of others, God’s Son, Jesus, was temporarily exiled from heaven, but during His walk on earth, He still enjoyed sweet fellowship with the Father, and His ministry on earth brought healing and salvation to the world.

There’s an allusion to the three days of Jesus in the tomb and of the resurrection in the fact that Joseph imprisoned his brothers for three days and then, said to them on “the third day, ‘Do this and live.’” [6]

Joseph was led by God’s Spirit to convict his brothers of their sins and to lead them to repentance. This is the work that Jesus (the Word of God) and the Holy Spirit do in the lives of sinners to save them from sin, and from the consequences of sins.

“Then they said to one another, ‘We are truly guilty concerning our brother, for we saw the anguish of his soul when he pleaded with us, and we would not hear; therefore, this distress has come upon us.’ And Reuben answered them, saying, ‘Did I not speak to you, saying, do not sin against the boy; and you would not listen? Therefore behold, his blood is now required of us.” “Their hearts failed them and they were afraid, saying to one another, ‘What is this that God has done to us?’” Their words relate to the Gospel in which the people cried unto Pilate, “His [Jesus’] blood be upon us and upon our children.” [7]

Reuben offers his two sons to his father Jacob as a ransom for the lives of Joseph and Benjamin if anything happens to Benjamin during their trip to Egypt. This act relates to one’s debt of sin being paid off by the sacrifice of another who doesn’t deserve to die. “Then Reuben spoke to his father, saying, ‘Kill my two sons if I do not bring him back to you; put him in my hands, and I will bring him back to you.’” [8]

The “stolen” silver cup as a cause to arrest the sons of Israel and imprison them relates to the 30 pieces of silver for which Judas Iscariot betrayed Messiah. After the betrayal, Jesus was arrested. [9]

The brothers falling down before Joseph relates to every Israelite and Gentile eventually bowing the knee and professing that Jesus Christ is Lord. Hopefully, we will all say to the Lord, “God has found out the iniquity of Your servants; here we are, my Lord’s slaves” before that day and thus be saved by Jesus before it is too late to repent and serve Him. [10]

Finally, Joseph explains (exegetes) for his brothers that his being thrown in a pit, resurrected from the pit, and sold into slavery for silver by them was a redemptive act of God. “I am Joseph your brother, whom you sold into Egypt. But now, do not therefore be grieved or angry with yourselves because you sold me here; for God sent me before you to preserve life.” “God sent me before you to preserve a posterity for you in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance. So now it was not you who sent me here, but God; and He has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt.” [11]

In a sense, Joseph died, resurrected and became lord over his brothers. He is a type of Christ because God chose to make of him such a person. Thankfully, he enjoyed a relationship with God because God helped him to understand the events of his life in relationship to the redemption story of Messiah Jesus. He is one person of many in the Scriptures whose life point to the one Messiah for all people everywhere, even Jesus Christ.

May the Lord help each of us to see how He is using our lives to point others to Christ!

[1] Genesis 41:16 
[2] John 1:18
[3] Genesis 41:28, 32
[4] Genesis 41:38
[5] Genesis 41:51-52
[6] Genesis 42:17-18
[7] Genesis 42:21-22, 28; Matthew 27:25
[8] Genesis 42:37
[9] Genesis 44:1-14
[10] Genesis 42:6; 43:26, 28; 44:16
[11] Genesis 45:4-5, 7-8