Tell my Father

Tell my Father

So you shall tell my father of all my glory (Genesis 45:13).

It is difficult to find a more compelling and complete illustration of the Lord Jesus in the Old Testament than that of Joseph. His story begins with the love that Jacob, his father, had for him and which he expressed in the gift of a coat of many colours. Woven into many features of the Tabernacle are the colours, white, blue, purple and scarlet. We see the glory of God in creation in its vast array of colours. The glory of God in salvation is seen in all the glorious ‘colours’ of the Lord Jesus, as God’s Sovereign King, the Servant of God, the Son of Man and the Son of God.

Before we read of Joseph’s sufferings, we are told both of Jacob’s love for Joseph and of Joseph’s future glory in Egypt, described in his dreams in Genesis 37. But the time came when the father Jacob sent Joseph, his son, to his brothers in Shechem. When Joseph arrived, his brothers had moved on. Someone asked Joseph what he wanted. He gave a simple answer, “I am looking for my brethren”. These few words illustrate the experience of the Lord Jesus in this world: “He came to His own and His own did not receive Him” (John 1:11). Joseph’s brothers conspired to kill him. But instead they sold him to Ishmaelite traders. The Lord Jesus was sold by Judas. He was not crucified by the Jews but handed over to the Romans to be nailed to the cross. Joseph sufferings ended in prison in Egypt. The Lord’s suffering ended in death. Pharaoh brought Joseph out of prison to save his family and the nation of Egypt. The God of peace brought the Lord Jesus out of death as the great shepherd of the sheep (Hebrews 13:20). Pharaoh honoured Joseph with the gift of his signet ring. He was dressed in fine linen. Pharaoh placed a gold chain around Joseph’s neck, and when he travelled in Pharaoh’s chariot, they cried, “Bow the knee.” The Lord Jesus ascended to heaven in glory, and one glorious day every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord to the glory of God the Father (see Philippians 2:10-11).

When Joseph was in prison, he interpreted the Cupbearer’s dream to foretell the man’s return to his position before Pharaoh. Afterwards, he said to the Cupbearer, “Only remember me, when it is well with you” (Genesis 40:14, ESV). After Joseph revealed himself to his brothers and assured them of salvation and safety in a new land, he says to them, “tell my father of all my glory in Egypt” (Genesis 45:13). This morning the Lord Jesus looks down upon His people in this world which He made and where He lived, suffered and died. It was here, too, that His glorious resurrection took place and from where heaven received Him in glory. He looks down with the desire He expressed, as the cross approached, in two powerful words, “Remember Me.” He has made it well for us, and now He asks us to think about Him. Joseph told his brothers, as they returned to Jacob to bring him to Egypt, to tell his father of all his glory. The Father spoke from heaven about His beloved Son. His Father is now our Father. And we are brought into His presence to speak from earth to heaven of the glory of His Son. Let us not be quiet.