Jacob plays favorites and Joseph is immature and
obnoxious. Jacob favors Joseph because
he is the son of his old age. We
typically make far more over grandchildren than we do our children for this
same reason but Jacob is his father, not his grandfather and favoring one over
the other is not good for family relationships, particularly in a society that
favors first born sons, not last born sons.
Joseph is first seen here tattling on his elder brothers and then
sharing his dreams of grandeur with them.
These dreams, as we know, are of the Lord, this will indeed be the case
later in life but much would be required in the way of maturity before such
things could be. If Joseph had any idea
what he would endure before he saw these dreams realized he wouldn’t have been
so quick to share them with his brothers.
Jacob remembering these things sounds a bit like Mary pondering things
in her heart. Seemingly he knew and
anticipated this was perhaps more than a dream.
Mark gets down to business quickly, no birth or infancy
narrative. He is also quick to tell us
what this story is about and what he believes, “The beginning of the gospel of
Jesus Christ, the Son of God.” John is
the fulfillment of the prophecy of Isaiah of the forerunner, the one who will
prepare the way for Messiah. All the
country of Judea and Jerusalem were going out to John and being baptized by him
but John promised a greater one to come.
John’s ministry was simply prelude to the coming of this other one and
when Jesus was baptized, the heavens were torn open, the dove came and the
voice from heaven spoke. What, however,
was Jesus’ reaction to this revelation?
It was not like Joseph’s, boasting about Himself, it was to go out and
fast and be tempted by Satan to walk away from that future. Sometimes the most dangerous times of our
lives are when we have God’s favor, pride comes creeping round the door.
Paul, too, is a man who could have developed a pride
problem. He was called by God Himself to
be an apostle. He heard a voice from
heaven and lived, a la Isaiah. He,
however, understood that what he had was nothing more than grace. He knew that he was the chief of sinners, he
had not recognized Jesus, had persecuted the church, and should have been
judged and destroyed but God extended grace to him instead. He knew that even faith, even understanding,
had its source in God. Without
revelation he failed to grasp the truth.
He knew that it was all about Jesus in the end. Joseph would see the fulfillment of his
dreams but not until he was prepared to see his position as gift and
grace. Visions frequently require us to
endure trials to see them come to fruition so that we can enjoy them aright.
I trust in the steadfast love of God
forever and ever.
I will thank you forever,
because you have done it.
I will wait for your name, for it is good,
in the presence of the godly.
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