Joseph Patty; Associate Director of Student Ministries; Genesis 39:6b

Genesis 50:15-21
15 When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, “What if Joseph holds a grudge against us and pays us back for all the wrongs we did to him?” 16 So they sent word to Joseph, saying, “Your father left these instructions before he died: 17 ‘This is what you are to say to Joseph: I ask you to forgive your brothers the sins and the wrongs they committed in treating you so badly.’ Now please forgive the sins of the servants of the God of your father.” When their message came to him, Joseph wept.

18 His brothers then came and threw themselves down before him. “We are your slaves,” they said.

19 But Joseph said to them, “Don’t be afraid. Am I in the place of God? 20 You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. 21 So then, don’t be afraid. I will provide for you and your children.” And he reassured them and spoke kindly to them.

Reflection:
For many of us, the easiest way to find an enemy is to look around the dinner table at Thanksgiving. Many of us struggle to hope that unity within our families could ever be a reality again. The story of Joseph in Genesis plays this reality out through dramatic circumstances. At the end of Genesis, Joseph seems to forgive a lifetime of hurt in a moment. It’s easy to gloss over, but we are invited to linger in these words. As we sit with Joseph’s response, we discover how Joseph was able to forgive so quickly in the moment: the logic, the story, and the reconciliation. The logic is that Joseph knows that he, even in his high position, is not the judge–of himself, of his brothers, or of anyone. God alone is judge. Therefore, forgiveness is first and foremost a release of our perceived power over someone- our need to be right or for justice to occur. When we grasp at that perceived power, it destroys us from within. When we yield it to God, God has the power to judge rightly and to heal. 

I can get that logic in my head, but walking that out is a different story, so let’s look at the story. Joseph identifies his brothers’ actions as legitimately evil. However, along every step, Joseph is able to look back and see how God has been and continues to redeem his brothers’ actions in his life. Because of this reality, I believe Joseph had already forgiven his brothers before this moment, even before he got the apology from his brothers. When we are willing to invite Jesus to enter our hurt, even our most painful memories, he can heal them. The apology is not the antecedent to healing or forgiveness, Christ is. It just takes the courage to invite him into those tender places.    

Finally, the reconciliation. So, if Joseph had already forgiven his brothers, why does he weep? Even after you’ve forgiven, the pain often remains. The memory can be healed, but the relationship is still broken. To hear his brothers repent is an open door to which the key had been lost. Reconciliation had been a hope too fragile to touch. Because Joseph had been willing to let God work in the other places, he was ready to be reconciled when the moment presented itself. In the end, the miracle we see here is the final redemption in a long string of God’s redeeming acts in the life of Joseph. 

Invite Jesus to be judge in your own life and family. Invite Jesus to heal your memories. Invite Jesus to do a miracle in your family.

Prayer:
Good Father, you know that it can be painful hope, so help my unbelief. I invite you to be the judge of myself and others. I release my hold on justice and so trust you. I ask you to meet me in my memory. Bring to mind the places into which you wish to speak a redeeming word. I ask you to give me the patience and strength to return to forgiveness time and again, even if others never attempt an apology. Sustain me in your grace, and wrap me in your arms. Amen.