Genesis 45:1-28
Velazquez, Joseph's Coat 1630
Joseph, who had been sold into slavery by his brothers, now stands before them, & they don’t recognize him. Little brother Joseph has been transformed into a big man in the Pharaoh’s court, & his brothers are in Egypt to beg for food, for back in Palestine famine has taken the land. By now Joseph has adopted royal ways, succeeded in a sophisticated culture a long way from his family’s nomadic roots. The law of retaliation ought naturally come into play. It wouldn’t be out of character for Joseph to seek revenge. But this is not the same Joseph.
He says in a regal tone, “I am Joseph”. Then, his voice cracks, tears cannot be restrained, and he falls upon them saying, “I am your brother, Joseph”. Official speech, as Brueggemann would have it, gives way to intimate talk of family. We have here a story about envy, cruelty, jealousy, love, tenderness and all the other sometimes painful, often blessed experiences of human families. And the story says, this is where God meets us. God uses even the messy brokenness of our families for divine purposes. “God sent me before you,” says Joseph, “to preserve life”.
“And he said, ‘I am your brother, Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt. And now do not be distressed, or angry with yourselves, because you sold me here; for God sent me before you to preserve life…. And he kissed all his brothers and wept upon them”.
Joseph is not the same person. With philosopher, historian, Hannah Arendt, “without forgiveness, our capacity to act would be confined to one single deed from which we could never recover”. Lie upon lie, deception after deception, when will it all end? When one, who, like Joseph, is manifestly entitled to retribution chooses not to take it.
“I say to you that hear, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. To him who strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also…”.
When will it ever end? If ever there were one who was entitled to retaliate for the injustice, the betrayals, the scorn, it was Jesus. But we hear from the cross: “Father, forgive them…”. He is crucified, so that we no longer need to crucify one another.
