Joseph and His Brothers, Part 5

So they sent a message to Joseph, saying, "Your father gave this command before he died: 'Say

to Joseph, "Please forgive the transgression of your brothers and their sin, because they did evil

to you."' And now, please forgive the transgression of the servants of the God of your father."

Joseph wept when they spoke to him. His brothers also came and fell down before him and said,

"Behold, we are your servants." But Joseph said to them, "Do not fear, for am I in the place of

God? As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that

many people should be kept alive, as they are today. So do not fear; I will provide for you and your

little ones." Thus he comforted them and spoke kindly to them.

Genesis 50:16-21 ESV

Grace and mercy. You’ve heard of them, I’m sure. You’ve met a woman named Grace before more than

likely. We love the idea of receiving it, but as sinful humans, we are far more desirous of being on that

receiving end than being givers of it. When we’ve been wronged, even when we just perceive that we’ve

been wronged, our sense of justice comes crashing through the walls of our peace of mind and the

instinctive reactions we tend to have are fueled by an internal rage and a desire at times for vengeance. I

remember reading an article once that really made me think, talking about how we as humans tend to

want things to be equalized: if I’m wronged, to the level I feel I’ve been wronged, I want whoever did that

to be wronged back in equivalence to keep things in check. Is that right? No, it’s not, but think about how

we tend to do this, whether we’re wronged, whether someone else gets something nicer than what we

might have, or even when people do great things for us, we might just want to give an equal response

back. Yet, when we do the wrong, our response internally with that guilt and shame is to expect

equivalency, and that’s why the Gospel can smack so hard at pride. My youngest son yesterday, when

explaining the Gospel to him, muttered the words through his tears, “Dad, it just feels like God is giving

me a free ticket,” indicating that he felt this was all too simple with no exchange. Oh, believe me, I made it

clear this was never a free offer; Christ paid the ultimate sacrifice so if it feels free to any of us, it didn’t

come without being paid for already. Let me course correct here, if you will.

Joseph’s brothers: can you imagine if Joseph treated them in response to the way he was handled by

them all those years ago? He would have thrown them all into a pit, perhaps leaving them for dead. He

could have made all of them become slaves or sent them thousands of miles away to unknown territories

in bondage. He could have simply killed them. You know, they knew this, and in fact, they feared this.

Remember how Pharoah’s baker was hung for some failure, who knows how simple, all while Pharoah

had a banquet nonetheless? That’s the culture of this. They expected this because they thought, if you

will, in accordance with a law-based mindset. They did wrong and they now only awaited their eventual

destruction. They appealed not to Joseph’s character but to their father’s wishes, perhaps in a way like

people appeal to their morality or religiosity rather than Christ for why He should accept them. Look at this

passage and you’ll see self-righteous people who’ve done great wrong approaching a man who in many

ways is foreshadowing Jesus Christ in this passage.

Joseph: facing his brothers, knowing what he was certainly capable of, this was not his intent. He wanted

their good and not only did he want their good, he wept when they did not trust that that was what he

wanted for them. His mercy prevented them from what they absolutely deserved: death or anything

moving in that direction. His grace provided them with protection, better lives, a place with the one who

was second in command of all Egypt and it might have as soon have been the world at the time. Left to

themselves, they would face famine and hardship in times of desolation that had swept across the land,

but Joseph had done the work to ensure not only that they’d survive (before he even knew they’d be back

in his life), but he also provided them better lives than the common person in those lands at the time.

They had access to him and to so much in ways that most others did not and never would. They deserved death, they simply asked him to not harm them, but his intentions for them were far more than

simply not harming them. So, too, is the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

If you’re tracking with me, I think we are seeing very many elements here that are foreshadowing not only

Jesus, but what it means to be brought into His family by His work on the cross. Again, I think we can also

see that despite so much being done and that character time and again being reinforced as “this is who I

really am!” that there is an instinct to expect damnation rather than loving protection and inclusion with

Christ. If the perfect Son of God went to the cross to die for our sins, what more can be done to prove His

love for us? And if that’s not enough for you or me, nothing ever will be. I think that’s the “so” in John

3:16’s opening statement, “For God so loved the world.” He loved us so much that He gave His Son to

come and die in our place.

Praise Him today for we have access to the Lord who is both gracious and merciful. Believe Him and

don’t doubt Him, for that only serves to spit upon what has been done and who He is. Rejoice in Jesus

today.

Be blessed, be brave.

Sam Stringer