Genesis 37:23

And it came to pass, when Joseph was come unto his brethren, that they stript Joseph out of his coat, his coat of many colours that was on him;

There is more happening here than brothers roughing up Joseph.

That coat was not just clothing. It was the mark of his father’s love. It spoke of favor. It spoke of relationship. It spoke of the place Joseph held in his father’s heart. And the first thing his brothers do is tear it off him.

That is how hatred works. It does not just wound the man. It goes after what identifies him.

And once again Joseph points us to Jesus.

Who else was stripped of His robe?

Jesus.

John tells us that His garment was seamless, woven from the top throughout. The soldiers took it from Him as He was handed over to suffer. The beloved Son was stripped before He was crucified. Joseph felt that shame in part. Jesus would bear it fully.

Joseph’s brothers stripped off the coat given by his father.
Jesus was stripped of the robe He wore as the Father’s beloved Son.

You can see the shadow already forming.

The innocent one is humiliated.
The beloved son is stripped.
The one sent by his father is handed over to cruel men.

And it reminds us that the path of rejection did not begin at Calvary. The pattern was already there in Genesis. Joseph was hated, stripped, cast down, and rejected by his own brethren. Jesus came unto His own, and His own received Him not.

But I like this. Men may strip the robe from the body, but they cannot strip away what the Father has declared. Joseph was still his father’s beloved son even without the coat. Jesus was still the beloved Son of the Father even while mocked, beaten, and nailed to a cross.

That matters.

Because this world may strip a man of dignity, possessions, reputation, and place. But it cannot undo what God has spoken.

And in Jesus we see the greater truth. He was stripped so that we might be clothed. He was shamed so that we might be received. He was treated as an outcast so that we could be brought near.

That coat coming off Joseph was a cruel moment.

That robe coming off Jesus was a holy moment too, because the greater Joseph was moving toward the cross, where He would bear our sin and open the way for our salvation.