Genesis 50:15–21—Joseph’s brothers had
done the unthinkable—they had sold him into slavery and told their father that
his son was dead, eaten by wild animals. Years later, they were astounded to
find out that Joseph was still alive and serving in Pharaoh’s court, as the
most powerful man in all of Egypt after Pharaoh.
So long as
their father was alive, they thought that they were safe from Joseph’s
retribution; however, after Jacob’s death, they feared for their lives. The
peace in the family would last so long as their father was alive. After he was
dead they could only anticipate the brunt of the wrath and fury of their
brother Joe. And who could blame them? Joseph
had much time to lament as he wasted away in prison those many years. In short, their crime continues to haunt them.
Incredibly, Joseph forgave them. He recognized
the hand of God at work in his life. Joseph’s treatment of his brother could
only have come from the hand of a merciful Savior. Joseph shifts the question
of forgiveness to the only relationship the brothers claim. They are God's
servants; is it not therefore God's business to forgive them? "Am I in the place of God?" he asks.
The implied answer being no, the next question, then, is, how does God see the
matter? "Even though you intended to
do harm to me, God intended it for good."
Joseph’s
forgiveness of his brothers ought to serve as an example to us, particularly
when we find it so hard to forgive petty sins of others. Love covers a
multitude of sins. So we ask our
Heavenly Father to teach us to forgive as the catechism teaches, “We pray that our Father in heaven would not
look at our sins, or deny our prayer because of them. We are neither worthy of
the things for which we pray, nor have we deserved them, but we ask that He
would give them all to us by grace, for we daily sin much and surely deserve
nothing but punishment. So we too will sincerely forgive and gladly do good to
those who sin against us.”
A prayer for deliverance from sin: We implore You, O Lord, in Your kindness to
show us Your great mercy that we may be set free from our sins and rescued from
the punishments that we rightfully deserve; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our
Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God now and
forever.
Schnorr von
Carolsfeld, woodcuts “Joseph reunited with his brothers” copyright © WELS
Permission to use these copyrighted items is limited to personal and
congregational use.
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