“I am your brother”
Jesus is found everywhere in the pages of the
Bible. Jesus is not just found in certain places that the prophets wrote
regarding his coming, but rather Jesus is found on almost every page and place
of the Holy Bible. Jesus is the whole point, Jesus is what all time and
eternity is about, Jesus is the focus of everything and anything that the Great
God is has, is, or will ever do. Jesus is not side point to a greater story;
Jesus is the greater story. He is the point of it all. Jesus emerges from the
pages of the Holy Word; he and his salvation work are through Scripture.
Joseph
We can see Jesus Christ emerging in and out of
the life of the Patriarch Joseph, from the start of Joseph's life to the very
end we can see Jesus. We can see Jesus even as Joseph, who sat as Prime
Minister under Pharaoh, reveals himself to his brothers.
A Famine Upon the Earth
"Then Joseph said to Pharaoh, “The dreams of Pharaoh are one and the same. God has revealed to Pharaoh what he is about to do. The seven good cows are seven years, and the seven good heads of grain are seven years; it is one and the same dream. The seven lean, ugly cows that came up afterward are seven years, and so are the seven worthless heads of grain scorched by the east wind: They are seven years of famine.
“It is just as I said to Pharaoh: God has shown Pharaoh what he is about to do. Seven years of great abundance are coming throughout the land of Egypt, but seven years of famine will follow them. Then all the abundance in Egypt will be forgotten, and the famine will ravage the land. The abundance in the land will not be remembered, because the famine that follows it will be so severe. The reason the dream was given to Pharaoh in two forms is that the matter has been firmly decided by God, and God will do it soon."Gen:41:25-32
Through Joseph, Egypt made provisos to store
up food during years of plenty so that the lives of the people would be
preserved and for resale to nations around them strengthening and maintained
the Egyptian economy during the time of famine.
"And Joseph was thirty years old when he stood before Pharaoh
king of Egypt. And Joseph went out from the presence of Pharaoh, and went
throughout all the land of Egypt. And in the seven plenteous years the earth
brought forth by handfuls. And he gathered up all the food of the seven years
which were in the land of Egypt, and laid up the food in the cities: the food
of the field, which was round about every city, laid he up in the same. And
Joseph laid up grain as the sand of the sea, very much, until he left off
numbering; for it was without number." (46-49)
When the time of famine came, Pharaoh gave Joseph
the command to open the store houses so that there might be provisions for the
people.
"And the seven years of
plenty, that was in the land of Egypt, came to an end. And the seven years of
famine began to come, according as Joseph had said: and there was famine in all
lands; but in all the land of Egypt there was bread. And when all the land
of Egypt was famished, the people cried to Pharaoh for bread: and Pharaoh said
unto all the Egyptians, Go unto Joseph; what he saith to you, do. And the
famine was over all the face of the earth: and Joseph opened all the
store-houses, and sold unto the Egyptians; and the famine was sore in the land
of Egypt.And all countries came into Egypt to Joseph to buy grain, because the
famine was sore in all the earth."(53-57)
They Do Not Recognize Him
The brothers of Joseph were sent to Egypt by
their father Jacob to purchase food, for Jacob has heard a report that Egypt
has gains and other food stuffs for sell.
"Now Jacob saw that there was
grain in Egypt, and Jacob said unto his sons, Why do ye look one upon another?
And he said, Behold, I have heard that there is grain in Egypt: get you down
thither, and buy for us from thence; that we may live, and not die. And
Joseph's ten brethren went down to buy grain from Egypt. But Benjamin, Joseph's
brother, Jacob sent not with his brethren; for he said, Lest Peradventure harm
befall him. And the sons of Israel came to buy among those that came: for the
famine was in the land of Canaan." Gen: 42:1-5
As Joseph's brothers interacted with him, for
Joseph oversaw the selling of food graine and stuffs, they did not recognize
that it was he, their very own brother whom they had years prior sold into
slavery.
At first, Joseph deals with them in a manner
which hides who he is and his true desire that they night know him.
"And Joseph was the governor
over the land; he it was that sold to all the people of the land. And Joseph's
brethren came, and bowed down themselves to him with their faces to the earth.
And Joseph saw his brethren, and he knew them, but made himself strange unto
them, and spake roughly with them; and he said unto them. Whence come ye? And
they said, From the land of Canaan to buy food." (6-7)
Through a sequence of rather confounding, yet well-orchestrated
events by Joseph, he prepares his brothers for his own self disclosure as to
who he is. Through these events Joseph arranges for his brother Benjamin, whom
their father Jacob would not allow to travel on the journey to Egypt to buy
food, to be brought to Egypt as well, so all of them are now present with
Joseph in the land of Egypt and are gathered before him in his house.
I am Joseph
As
the brothers are before him, they are confounded and frighten, they are
uncertain as to what has and is about to happen as they face Joseph the
Egyptian Prime Minister.
Through it all, the men did not know Joseph even though he was their very
own brother. What they perceived about him was limited, he seems distant
and foreign.
As Joseph looks upon his brothers, he feels the deep desire for each them to
know that it is he their very brother. This deep desire is, for Joseph, over
whelming, he wants them to know him and have a relationship with him to know
that their sins toward him have been forgiven. All the past wrongs have
been expunged. They are free be brothers with him.
Joseph, driven by the desire to reach out to them and reveal himself become
intense. He finally reaches the point where love is the driving force, he
dismisses his servants and alone with his brothers Joseph tells them who he is.
"Then Joseph could no longer control himself before all
his attendants, and he cried out, “Have everyone leave my presence!” So there was no
one with Joseph when he made himself known to his brothers”. Gen: 45:1
"Joseph said to his brothers, “I am Joseph! Is my father
still living?” (3a)
They Are Afraid
At this the moment of
Joseph’s self-revelation, which brings them to see Joseph for who he is, as one
who is in a place of power and great authority, the sons of Jacob now realize
whom it is who stands before them, fear fills them, they now see Joseph for who
he is, and they recall the wrongs which they have done to their brother. They
fall speechless before him, they do not know what will become of them as their
sins against him are brought to mind.
"But his brothers were not able to answer him, because
they were terrified at his presence."(3b)
Come Close
Joseph however, does not speak condemnation to
his brothers but rather invites them to draw near and speaks words to ease
their fears. Joseph tells them that what they had done was within the purpose
of God and was redemptive to preserve their family line and for the saving of
their lives and many others and to carry on the promises passed down from Abraham.
Then Joseph said to his brothers, “Come close
to me.” When they had done so, he said, “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 be no 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." Gen: 45:3-7
Embraced by Joseph
As the brothers come to see that all is
forgiven Joseph reached out to them and embrace them all starting with Benjamin.
"Then he threw his arms around his
brother Benjamin and wept, and Benjamin embraced him, weeping. And he kissed
all his brothers and wept over them. Afterward his brothers talked with
him." Gen:
45:14-15
Do Not Recognize Jesus
We can all be like the brothers of Joseph who
were being led through a series of events to be brought to the place where
Joseph revealed himself. God leads us all through many life events so
that we will ultimately come to see Jesus for who he is.
In Our Time of Famine
As with the brothers of Joseph, we may be in a
time of personal famine, where the things of this life will not sustain us. The
things which we had always looked to no longer fill us full. We look for
something to fill the need deep within us all, it is such times of personal
famine that God the Father will send us on a journey which untimely lead us to
his Son Jesus Christ. All humanity is drawn to Jesus whether they realize it or
not, he draws all to himself.
"And I, when I am lifted up from the earth,
will draw all people to myself." Jhn: 12:32
The great God can be working in our lives dealing with us and blessing us,
yet he might be unrecognized by us as Joseph was by his own brothers. All was
being done so that they could see him, and be in relationship with them.
"no man comes to me except the Father draw him" Jhn: 6:44
God works in our lives even in our mistakes to bring us to that place and
that moment when our Lords opens our eyes to who he is and all that he wrought
in our lives for our good so that we might know him.
"This is eternal life that they may know
you the only true God and Jesus Christ whom you have sent" Jhn: 17:3
When We See Jesus
For many, the moment when they come to see
Jesus and see him for who he is, is much like that of the brothers of Joseph,
there is the realization that we have sinned against him. When the great God
uses a series of events and circumstances to bring us before Jesus, and there
is that moment when he reveals himself to us. We, like the brothers before
Joseph, may be uncertain as to what will happen, fear can fill us.
Come Closer to Jesus
Yet, like Joseph, Jesus speaks to us, to calm
our fears and invites us to come closer to him. We need not fear the presences
of our Lord. Jesus assures us that all our past mistakes and sins have been
washed away, we are welcomed into fellowship with him. There is
reconciliation.
" that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ,
not counting people's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message
of reconciliation." 2Corth:5:19
Jesus' desire is for us all to know him, as
Joseph was overwhelmed to reveal himself to his brothers.
"Both the one who makes people holy and those who are made
holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers and
sisters”. Heb: 2:11
This speaks of our Lord's great desire for all humanity to know
him and have a relationship with him to see him for who he is, to know that he
is our brother sharing our humanity as one of us, yet highly exulted as the
eternal Son of God.
We need not fear this moment, rather Jesus
reaches out to us and embraces as his brethren, he shows us his love and mercy
for each and all. Jesus calls each and all to come closer and be embraced by
him.
We need not fear that moment when we see Jesus.
Benediction: May we each and all have that moment when we
see our Lord Jesus as our loving brother and are embraced by his overflowing
love, today, tomorrow and forevermore. Amen
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Rev.Todd Crouch, Norman, Oklahoma
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