August 11, 2002 Genesis 45:4-8
“I am your brother Joseph, the one you sold into Egypt! And now, do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here, because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you. For two years now there has been famine in the land, and for the next five years there will not be plowing and reaping. But God sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance. “So then, it was not you who sent me here, but God. He made me father to Pharaoh, lord of his entire household and ruler of all Egypt.
We are quickly approaching the one year anniversary of 9-11. Almost one year ago, a group of terrorists hijacked passenger planes and flew them into the world trade center towers, to everyone’s surprise. Life is full of unpredictable things. What is even more surprising is that this attack actually piqued an interest in Islam, so that it is now the fastest growing religion in the world. Who would’ve thunk it? Certainly not I.
Surprise is the opening element of today’s lesson, as Joseph reveals his identity, and it continues throughout the whole chapter. Some unimaginable things take place between Joseph and his brothers. So today, as we continue to look at the story of Joseph, we’ll consider that very theme,
Who Would’ve Thunk It?
Let’s review the story once again up to this point. Joseph had been in slavery 22 years at this point, and his brothers had now made their second trip to Egypt for food. They had brought Benjamin along as Joseph instructed them to. However, he then proceeded to plant his silver cup of “divination” in his bag, framing him for a crime that he didn’t commit. It was at this point that Judah pleaded with Joseph saying, “what can we say. God has uncovered all of our guilt. We all deserve to be your slaves.” But when Joseph only requested Benjamin, Judah pleaded with him to let Benjamin go and send him into slavery instead.
Joseph had been pretending to be an Egyptian king up to this point, putting his brothers into jail and drilling them up to this point, to try and get them to reflect upon their sin and come to repentance. When Judah, then, gave this wonderful confession and offered this sacrifice, Joseph could no longer contain himself. In an instant he ordered all of his servants out of the room, and the well waters opened, as he burst out in tears. The brothers must have wondered what was happening when Joseph just blurted out, “I am Joseph! Is my father still living?” This was not a very “royal” thing to do!
I. He lives
Think about that. What were the odds that Joseph would end up as the GOVERNOR of the Egyptians and the FATHER of the Pharaoh himself? In human terms, it would be a million to one. Yet God had predicted it through Joseph’s dreams, and so the probability was actually very high - more like one to one. The brothers were beyond dumbfounded. It actually says, his brothers were not able to answer him, because they were terrified at his presence. If they had met Joseph on the road, back in Israel, or even as a slave, that would have been surprising enough - they wouldn’t have had to fear his vengeance. But as the ruler of Egypt, they suddenly realized that their hopes of a happy future were unlikely. The odds were for them to be whipped, stoned, or throne into prison.
This reminds me of how terrifying it will be for those who have rejected Christ - when he appears on Judgment Day. Revelation 1:7 says, Look, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him,
even those who pierced him; and all the peoples of the earth will mourn because of him. So shall it be! Amen. John the Baptist said, His winnowing fork is in his hand to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire. When all of those unbelievers stand before the throne of God, imagine the awe that they will be in! “Oh no, he really was the Christ! He really was the Savior! He really does live! It can’t be true! It can’t be true!” Their knees will shake. Their jaws will drop. But by then, there will be no time for bargaining. No second chances. The books will be opened and shut - the verdict made. Jesus will say to them, “so, you wanted to live without me? Now you can live without me forever, in hell.”
II. He forgives
Joseph’s brothers were expecting such a verdict - one of condemnation - for they certainly deserved it. But what did Joseph say to them? I am your brother Joseph, the one you sold into Egypt! And now, do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here. Instead of condemning them and exposing their old blemish, Joseph only briefly mentioned that they sold him into Egypt. Since they had shown their repentance, from that point on, he forgave them. Four times he has to do so, even over 30 years later, to try and convince them that he really wasn’t going to get revenge.
Isn’t this just a wonderful illustration as to what God does with us? We, like Joseph’s brothers, live with unresolved guilt. Our consciences continue to bring up past sins, and we search for refuge, but don’t seem to find it in the excuses and attempts to reform our lifestyles. We are born with a deep fear of knowing that we deserve punishment from God. Even the most remote African tribes end up developing sacrifices and self punishments to try and purge their consciences. It terrifies us to think of standing before a holy God.
But in an unpredictable way - our holy God and King, like Joseph, instead of condemning us as He should - does his best to reassure us, “you’re forgiven!” He cries with the Holy Spirit - “when you were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.” (Romans 5:3) He promises us in Psalm 103:12 that, as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us. These promises take the guilt off of our shoulders, keep our knees from knocking, and give us comfort. They take us out of the depths of hell and plant us into heaven itself, all through the righteousness of Christ.
Did these words of promise work with Joseph’s brothers? Not at first. When Joseph first revealed themselves, it doesn’t say that Joseph’s brothers had said anything to him or done anything. They just stood and listened. It sounded nice, but was it really true? This reminds me so much of the reaction that some people have as I go through a first Bible Information Class. I can tell them that God loves them and Jesus died for them, but they just sit there. Some don’t really smile. Some don’t look up. Some . . . just sit there. They might think to themselves, “that’s a nice thing to say.” I wonder to myself, “how can you not say anything? How can you not respond? I just gave you the most wonderful news in the universe - eternal life free of charge, and you aren’t saying anything!” If I didn’t know any better, I would have to conclude that they must not really get it yet. Do you get it?
III. He hugs
One time I told my mom I loved her rhubarb pie. But every time she offered it to me, I wasn’t hungry, or I was too full. Finally she wondered whether what I was SAYING was really true? And the truth was, I was lying. I really didn’t like it. Sometimes WORDS just don’t do enough to convey the message. So Joseph used another way to assure his brothers of their forgiveness. What did he do? First of all Joseph said, “Come close to me.” Afterward, it says, he threw his arms around his brother Benjamin and wept, and Benjamin embraced him, weeping. 15 And he kissed all his brothers and wept over them. In a very PHYSICAL way, the king embraced his brothers and let them see and feel that he really had forgiven them. The same was true with Jacob. GOD’s Word says, when they told him everything Joseph had said to them, and when he saw the carts Joseph had sent to carry him back, the spirit of their father Jacob revived.
God could have just told us we were forgiven, but he goes beyond that. He also gets physical. With the waters of baptism, God says, “I am washing your sins away!” With His body and blood, Jesus puts his arms around us and says, “I died FOR YOU! Stop being angry with yourselves. Calm down! I have already died for you. When I said, ‘it is finished,’ I already made that payment for your sins.” It’s like when your spouse or your mom gives you an actual hug. There’s something to be said for physical contact. Even though physical touch has been terribly abused and misused, there is good to it too. When children have a certain kind of mental retardation, it causes them to never hug their parents. When you interview those parents, they will cry, just wishing their children would show some emotion. It is as if they are starving for it. God doesn’t make us starve for it. He feeds us with his sacraments.
IV. He holds the future
You would think Joseph’s simple hugs and tears and words of comfort would have been enough. But Joseph even went beyond this. What did he say? It was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you. Not only did Joseph’s slavery end up saving his family’s life, but it also saved millions of other people’s lives throughout Egypt and beyond. For the next five years Joseph would be keeping this part of the world alive. If this were not enough, Joseph even went on to say, God sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance. This really gets down to the crux of the story - of the Old Testament for that matter. God was keeping a remnant of Jews alive - so that a great deliverance - that of Jesus Christ saving the world - would ultimately take place through the line of Judah.
Peter used a very similar comfort with those Jews who had ultimately called for and crucified Jesus. First of all he hammered them with the law - You handed him over to be killed, and you disowned him before Pilate, though he had decided to let him go. . . You killed the author of life, but God raised him from the dead. . . But this is how God fulfilled what he had foretold through all the prophets, saying that his Christ would suffer. 19 Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord. Peter acknowledged that they had done evil, but then he comforted them with the fact that they were actually fulfilling God’s purpose and prediction!
In both of these instances, repentant sinners were assured that God turned what evil they had done into good! That their breaking of God’s commandments actually ended up saving the world! Unbelievable! It reminds me of some people who purposely get stung by bees! One woman says that 80 stings every other day helped reverse her rheumatoid arthritis. A woman with multiple sclerosis found that her the leg spasms she’d been having calmed down after she started using bees to sting herself a few times each day. On the surface, you’d say, “who wants to get stung by a bee?” But afterward, the results speak for themselves.
If there is any consolation that we can have over our past sins, then what is it? Not only does God forgive us and embrace us with words and sacraments. This would be enough. He goes beyond that, and EVEN assures us that the evil that we once intended to do actually somehow worked out for good. All evil, which God does allow to happen in this world, somehow works for BELIEVERS’ good. If only Saul would have believed this and Judas. They could have had so much comfort from these words. But instead, they rejected it. Don’t reject God’s Word for this morning. Take comfort from it.
V. He works like God
Joseph, therefore, gives us a good illustration in to how God works. Everything seems to be a great paradox to the human mind. In order to give us comfort, he first of all terrifies us. In order to make us live, God first of all kills us. In order to set us free, he first of all enslaves us. In order to make us holy, he first of all shows us how sinful we are. On the front side, it seems impossible, but from the back, it makes sense.
Therefore, in order to approach your holy God and stand in judgment, you have to think - not like man, but like God. Come before God with NOTHING but Christ, and He will give you EVERYTHING. Tell him you are a SINNER, and He will declare you to be a saint. For Romans says that, “in Christ you have become the righteousness of God.” (1 Corinthians 5:21) Allow him to condemn you, so that He can in turn acquit you - in Christ.
In conclusion. . .
In the last few years “mercy killing” has really become a hot topic. Just recently in Hawaii, the state came unbelievably close to passing a law to allow people to assist suicides. The popular thought today is, “if someone wants to die, why not let him kill himself.” What would have happened if Jacob had thought that way? If Jacob had reasoned this way, he never would have seen his son again. He would have died in misery and agony. But because he WAITED, God worked it all out for good. The unimaginable happened! His son Joseph was alive! He was a king! And he was saving the world! Who would have thunk it?
You may not imagine that God could work any good out of your worthless life. Maybe you’ve really messed up - with drugs, sex, alcohol, your marriage - whatever. If you’re thinking to yourself, “what good am I doing here? There’s no way this can work out.” God’s Word to you this morning is - JUST WAIT. Jesus has already done the unthinkable - He already died for you and rose from the dead. God has forgiven you - unthinkable! Can he work out your evil and turn it into good? Can he turn your life around? Look back at Joseph’s life. Look back at what God did with Jesus. Think about it. Amen.
