Joseph's Release

The shackles hurt his feet; his neck was placed in an iron collar, until the time of his prediction came true. The Lord’s word proved him right. – Psalm 105:18-19 (NET)

Oftentimes, it is a relatively simple matter to find Jesus and the Gospel being spoken of in the Old Testament. On numerous occasions, we find Jesus reflected in accounts of the life of Joseph. Here in the one hundred fifth Psalm, the link between Joseph and Jesus, and with it the presentation of Jesus and the message of the Gospel (Jesus is the crucified and resurrected Lord of all), is one of the most explicit and direct that we will ever be able to find.

In verses eighteen and nineteen, as the Psalmist recounts part of the tale of Joseph in Egypt, we read that Joseph’s feet were in shackles, while his neck was in an iron collar. This situation existed until he was vindicated by a prediction that he had made. One would be hard pressed to find an analogy closer to that which was experienced by Jesus. With these verses, we are reminded of Jesus’ death, and His being placed in a tomb, as death and the grave take the place of the shackles and iron collar. Just like Joseph, Jesus was imprisoned. How long did His imprisonment last? Naturally, we know that it was three days, but on a deeper level, we know that it was until the time of Jesus’ prediction about His Resurrection came true. With that Resurrection, He was vindicated, or proved right.

In the verses that follow we are provided with an analysis of this release from prison. For Joseph, it is said that “The king authorized his release” (105:20a). Pharaoh released Joseph from his imprisonment, and we know that this release by the king to be true of Jesus as well. The Creator God, the sovereign ruler of the universe, released Jesus from death. Indeed, in the very first public proclamation of Jesus’ Resurrection, as recorded in the second chapter of Acts, Peter speaks about death and we hear that “it was not possible for Him to be held in its power” (2:24b). Of Joseph it is said that “the ruler of nations set him free” (105:20b). With His being freed from death, we speak of Jesus with such words, and find that it is also true of Joseph that Pharaoh “put him in charge of his palace, and made him manager of all his property” (105:21). If we were to turn to the original story of Joseph, we would find that Joseph was made second in command over the empire of Egypt. Only Pharaoh was greater than Joseph.

How does this apply to Jesus? While we know that Jesus is presently ruling as Lord of all things within the kingdom of heaven that commenced with His Resurrection, we find within what is billed as the great dissertation on the Resurrection from the fifteenth chapter of Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, that Jesus “must reign until He has put all enemies under His feet” (15:25), and that “The last enemy to be defeated is death” (15:26). Quoting from the eighth chapter of the Psalms, Paul adds, “For He has put everything in subjection under His feet” (15:27a), while also going on to point out that “when it says ‘everything’ has been put in subjection, it is clear that this does not include the One (Father) Who put everything in subjection to Him (Son)” (15:27b). Closely echoing the story of Joseph’s imprisonment, release, and exaltation to the place of second-in-command, we go on to read here in the Corinthian letter that “when all things are subjected to Him, the Son Himself will be subjected to the One Who subjected everything to Him, so that God may be all in all” (15:28).

We also read that, having been given his charge and management responsibility, that Pharaoh also gave Joseph “authority to imprison his officials and to teach his advisers” (Psalm 105:22). So too Jesus, having been freed from an imprisoning tomb of death, and having had a kingdom delivered over to Him, was also given authority that would be connected with teaching. With this, we look to the Gospel of Matthew, and latching on to the greater narrative structure that is to be found there, we hear Jesus---before His death and Resurrection, but just before we learn that “From that time on Jesus began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things… and on the third day be raised” (16:21), and so connecting authority with His death and Resurrection---speaking to His disciples and saying, “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth will have been bound in heaven, and whatever you release on earth will have been released in heaven” (16:19).

Clearly, Matthew has the authority of Christ (anointed one/Messiah/King of Israel) in mind as a key component of His presentation of Jesus, and this is made quite poignant in Matthew’s record of Jesus’ farewell address to His disciples. In it, Jesus makes an allusion to the seventh chapter of Daniel, with its kingdom and authority for the Son of Man, and says “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me” (28:18b). Together with the quote from the sixteenth chapter, we find this dovetailing quite nicely with the authority that had been delivered to Joseph. Building on this, Jesus extends and solidifies the Joseph connection and says, “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you” (28:19-20a).