Lessons from Joseph

A few years ago I got a chance to see a school
production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor
Dreamcoat. I remember really enjoying it and saying
to myself “How wonderful!” It was also food for
thought. For the first time I asked, “Why did Joseph
pretend not to know his brothers? Why did Joseph
accuse his brothers of being spies? Was it just to be
mean and vindictive? Did Joseph hate his brothers?”
As I returned to the Biblical story, I found the
answer to be a resounding “no.” Joseph loved his
brothers, witness his tears and what he does for them
all in the end. Neither was Joseph cruel and
vindictive. Rather, Joseph was showing his brothers
their sin. When Joseph accuses them of being spies,
not hearing their pleas for mercy or their
protestations of innocence, he is revealing their
transgression against the young Joseph. Just as
Joseph cried and pleaded from the pit into which his
brothers had thrown him, so now his brothers' pleas
are not heard. The eleven realize all of this from the
first, saying to one another as they are being
threatened by the incognito Joseph, “We are truly
guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw the
anguish of his soul when he besought us and we would
not hear, therefore this distress has come upon us.”
Even when Joseph threatens to take away Benjamin, this
too serves a purpose. The eleven brothers understand
for the first time what it meant to their father Jacob
when Joseph was taken away, the grief they have loaded
on their papa’s aged head.

This is a good lesson for us. God like Joseph
sometimes brings us to grief in order to show us our
sin. For instance, sometimes in church when I hear
the beautiful music or when I am preparing a sermon, I
realize how good God is and how merciful and at that
moment I feel sorry and grieved. I feel sorry for my
sourness and selfishness and self-pity. This is
because at that moment I know that unlike me, God is
loving and selfless, giving his only begotten son for
our sakes and I want to be better. You see, church is
not just a place to come to feel content about
ourselves. Rather church is a place where God strikes
to the heart, convicting us of our sin. It is true
that the Lord loves us and is faithful to us while we
are yet sinners. God loves sinners, so much so that he
sent his only son. And yet, he does not allow us to
remain in our sin. He is the Great Physician,
sometimes cutting and grieving us to the heart in
order to rid us of the cancer of our iniquity. Thank
God that he does not just let us alone. Rather, Jesus,
like Joseph, is our dear brother and he loves us and
shows us the truth, giving us wholeness and peace.