Joseph had just framed his brother Benjamin by having his servant secretly put his silver cup into Benjamin’s sack. Then, when the brothers began to go back home, Joseph’s servant caught up to them and accused Benjamin of stealing. The horrified brothers all came back to Egypt, where they heard Joseph utter the most terrifying words of all. Benjamin—their father’s favorite son—would be a slave in Egypt for the rest of his life. It would kill their father.

Did Joseph hate Benjamin that much? No! Joseph loved Benjamin. Joseph wanted to see how his brothers would react. He wanted to see if they loved Benjamin too, or if they couldn’t care less about him in the same way that they couldn’t care less about Joseph so many years before.

It didn’t take Joseph long to get an answer. None of the brothers bailed on Benjamin. Then, Judah—in Christlike manner—stepped forward, offering his life as a substitute for Benjamin’s life. He pleaded with Joseph, begging for mercy—that he would let Benjamin go and enslave him instead. Perhaps it’s a good time to pause and think… Would I act as Judah acted? Would I act as his descendant Jesus acts?

Of course, the brothers have no idea they stand in front of the brother they sold into slavery so many years ago. So, now the ball is in Joseph’s court. Will he seek revenge, retribution, and reprisal—avenging himself with a mighty vengeance as he has the power to do as a ruler in Egypt? Or will he show love, compassion, and mercy—forgiving them just as he has been forgiven by the Lamb of God slain before the foundation of the world?

As soon as he hears Judah’s anguished plea for mercy, he can’t control his emotions. Quickly—very quickly—he shoos all the Egyptians out of the room. Weeping, he simply says, “I am Joseph! Is my father still alive?” Gone is the stern, harsh voice of the Egyptian ruler. All they hear is the voice of a son who hasn’t seen his father in years. All they hear is the voice of a brother whom, the last time they saw, they were selling him to a caravan of international traders.

The terror they felt at the prospect of Benjamin being enslaved in Egypt, pales in comparison to the news that the Egyptian ruler right in front of them is the very brother ten of them wanted to kill, but sold into slavery instead. They instantly realize their fate is entirely in his hands, and they are completely, totally petrified. They can’t say a word. They take a step back. Thoughts run through their minds of everything he can do to them. The brother they despised and got rid of might as well be back from the dead!

Something similar happened on a day called Pentecost. Ten days after Jesus ascended into heaven, the apostle Peter preached a message to those gathered around him in Jerusalem. He said,

“Hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know— this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it… This Jesus God raised up, and of that we all are witnesses. Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing… Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.”

Jesus’ own people had handed Him to the Romans to crucify, and now He’s raised from the dead. Realizing what this meant—the people become as terrified as Joseph’s brothers.

The people listening to Peter’s message are “cut to the heart.” The news of what happened deeply slice into their emotions, as they realize that the man they thought was dead could come after them and hunt them down in bloodthirsty vengeance. They plead with Peter: “What shall we do?”

Peter could have said any number of things: “Figure out how to save yourselves from His wrath.” Or “die, heathens, die!” Or “I don’t care what you do!” But Peter doesn’t say any of that. He says, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ (trust Jesus Christ and receive baptism into His name), for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” The Holy Spirit is collateral that Christ Jesus really has claimed us. Peter preaches Good News of forgiveness, life, and salvation through the bitter, yet glorious suffering and death of our Lord Jesus Christ and His triumphant victory over the grave.

Joseph could have told his brothers any number of things: “I hate you guys.” Or “Haha! I was just joking; you’ll all be my slaves with Benjamin.” Or “Die, heathens, die!” But he doesn’t do any of that. He doesn’t seek revenge, retribution, or reprisal. Joseph knows—as we should all know—that vengeance is the Lord’s. And even the Lord doesn’t want to dole out vengeance. He will if He has to do so, but He’d much rather forgive sinners. In Christlike manner, Joseph doesn’t seek to pay back the ten brothers for the horrible wrong they did to him. He realizes that the same Lamb of God slain for his sins before the foundation of the world has also laid down His life for their sins—and He’s laid down His life for your sins.

Joseph extends love, compassion, mercy, forgiveness, and reconciliation. As they struggle to speak, he graciously helps them out by confessing their sin on their behalf. He announces again, “I am your brother, Joseph, whom you sold into slavery.” Having declared the sin of their guilt—knowing that they are repentant for what they had done to him—Joseph shows grace and mercy to them.

I mentioned a number of weeks ago, that we should look out in Scripture for the unique, perhaps unusual ways grace and mercy is shown, such as Jesus telling Peter to “Feed my sheep,” “Tend my lambs,” and “Feed my sheep,” that was the Lord’s gracious and merciful response to Peter’s three denials.

Joseph offers another example. He shows grace and mercy to his ten brothers by telling them, “God sent me before you to preserve life.” Then he tells them, “God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth.” He tells them, “God sent me before you to keep alive for you many survivors.” Then he tells them, “It was not you who sent me here, but God.” Through the various events that had happened in his life, Joseph has realized that the Lord used the evil that they did in order to save the lives of many—including the family of the Messiah. Then, the Lord used the faith of Joseph to brings his brothers to repentance of their sin.

Joseph seeks to reassure his ten brothers that he has no desire to get revenge on them. Quite the opposite. He seeks to provide for them. He seeks for them what God in Christ Jesus has done for him—what God in Christ Jesus does for you and me. He forgives us, renews us, leads us, and provides for us. Do we seek the same for one another? You see, Joseph and his eleven brothers aren’t merely a biological family. They literally are—at this time—the core of the Church. Jacob and his family are the Church, with his sons being the next generation of leaders. So, do we as part of the Church seek to extend grace, peace, and mercy to one another just as we have received?

Slowly, Joseph’s brothers see that he doesn’t intend them harm. They cry and hug together as reunified and reconciled siblings. And the brothers are finally able to speak after being scared stiff. Joseph tells them that he wants them to move their father and the rest of the family down to Egypt. Showing his leadership, he’d obviously been thinking and planning while he waited for his brothers to come back to Egypt. He has land picked out for them. He has a plan to provide for the family.

With all the commotion and hubbub of Joseph demanding all the Egyptians leave, and the loudness of his weeping when he revealed himself, Pharaoh eventually hears the report that Joseph’s brothers are in Egypt. Joseph has been a very faithful and capable ruler with whom Pharaoh is well-pleased. He’s happy to hear of the reunion, and he’s more than willing to help Joseph’s family. He also insists that the whole family move to Egypt, promising “the fat of the land.”

The number of foreshadowings of Christ Jesus we have in this chapter is amazing! Before Joseph’s brothers sold him into slavery, they stripped him of his spectacular robe. And now, as he sends them home to their father, he clothes them. A great exchange has taken place, just as our Lord Jesus Christ has exchanged our unrighteousness, having clothed us with His righteousness.

At first, Jacob refuses to believe the news his sons bring. It’s hard not to blame him. He has resigned himself to the sad news of Joseph’s death for so, so many years. Their story just makes him feel numb inside. He isn’t buying it. But something about those Egyptian wagons… He comes to his senses and realizes the wagons didn’t come by chance or mistake. It could only be that Joseph is indeed alive. Jacob becomes a new man, and before he dies, he wants to see Joseph. The family packs up and starts to move to Egypt.

There’s only one problem in the back of Jacob’s mind. He’s afraid to go to Egypt. He was away from home for so long in the land of Haran, and then he came back with his family to the land God had promised him and his descendants. Now, he’s leaving the Promised Land again. Something about that isn’t feeling right. Deep down, he doesn’t like it. He’s afraid to go. He’s looking for reassurance that he’s doing right.

He comes to Beersheba—the southern border of the Promised Land—the place where his grandfather Abraham and his father Isaac had worshiped the Lord. The thought that he may not be doing the right thing keeps gnawing at him. For the last time that the Lord appears to the Old Testament patriarchs, the Lord appears to Jacob in visions.

The Lord reaffirms His promises to Jacob. “I am God, the God of your Father.” The Lord identifies Himself as Jacob’s God. He calms Jacob’s fear about going to Egypt, telling him that’s where his family will become a great nation. Furthermore, the Lord promises to go with him and his family, and He promises to bring Jacob’s family out of Egypt. God promises that Joseph will care for him in death.

So, the family of Jacob moves to Egypt. A lot has happened. The once-enslaved, presumed to be dead son, is alive again. All the sons of Israel are reconciled, and through their children they are becoming tribes of a growing nation. God promised Abraham three things: the land, a nation, and the world’s Savior. They’ve traveled a little further from the land, but the nation is taking shape, and in that nation the Lord is preserving the direct family line of the Messiah. We will hear more about that later. Amen.