Scripture: Genesis 45
Sermon: Easter in Genesis
Topics: Resurrection, Election, Death
Preached: May 4, 2003, Woodlawn pm intergenerational service
Rev. Mike Abma
Genesis 45: 14-28
14Then he fell upon his brother Benjamin’s neck and wept, while Benjamin wept upon his neck. 15And he kissed all his brothers and wept upon them; and after that his brothers talked with him.
16 When the report was heard in Pharaoh’s house, ‘Joseph’s brothers have come’, Pharaoh and his servants were pleased. 17Pharaoh said to Joseph, ‘Say to your brothers, “Do this: load your animals and go back to the land of Canaan. 18Take your father and your households and come to me, so that I may give you the best of the land of Egypt, and you may enjoy the fat of the land.” 19You are further charged to say, “Do this: take wagons from the land of Egypt for your little ones and for your wives, and bring your father, and come. 20Give no thought to your possessions, for the best of all the land of Egypt is yours.” ’
21 The sons of Israel did so. Joseph gave them wagons according to the instruction of Pharaoh, and he gave them provisions for the journey. 22To each one of them he gave a set of garments; but to Benjamin he gave three hundred pieces of silver and five sets of garments. 23To his father he sent the following: ten donkeys loaded with the good things of Egypt, and ten female donkeys loaded with grain, bread, and provision for his father on the journey. 24Then he sent his brothers on their way, and as they were leaving he said to them, ‘Do not quarrel along the way.’
25 So they went up out of Egypt and came to their father Jacob in the land of Canaan. 26And they told him, ‘Joseph is still alive! He is even ruler over all the land of Egypt.’ He was stunned; he could not believe them.27But when they told him all the words of Joseph that he had said to them, and when he saw the wagons that Joseph had sent to carry him, the spirit of their father Jacob revived. 28Israel said, ‘Enough! My son Joseph is still alive. I must go and see him before I die.’
This is the Word of the Lord
Thanks be to God
INTRODUCTION
In May of 1997, Shirlene and I saw Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat in Toronto’s Elgin Theatre. The production is a musical based on the life of Joseph in the Bible. It just happened to be Donny Osmond’s last performance in the lead role of Joseph. He had been playing Joseph since the showed opened in 1992. So after 5 years he was going to move on to something else. But this, his last show, was a memorable one and an emotional one. It was clear, from start to finish, that the cast was having lots of fun putting on the production. It seemed as if everyone one in the cast was trying to get Donny Osmond to laugh as often as possible. And there were many times when Donny could hardly hold back from breaking out in guffaws of laughter. And there were a few times when he simply couldn’t sing his lines because he was laughing so hard. But this being his last performance, there was also time for tears, especially near the end. When the show was over, Donny and cast received a standing ovation longer than any I have ever been a part of before.
Clearly I was thrilled by that show. It was, as its title implied, AMAZING! And yet, …in many ways, it still did not do justice to the Joseph story of the Bible. The Biblical narrative of Joseph is one of the longest and in ways most intricate narratives in the Old Testament. It goes on from Genesis 37 to 50. It sits there as the denouement, the climax and fitting end for the book of Genesis.
So I will be honest with you. I feel a little guilty preaching simply one sermon on this amazing story. It warrants a whole series of sermons, not just one. And I feel a little guilty preaching from chapter 45, which is in many ways the climax of the story, without traveling through the 9 nine chapters beforehand. So I will simply admit that we will not be able to do justice to this magnificent story this evening. What I do hope we can do this evening is begin to see this story through Easter eyes. By the end of this evening I hope you know what I mean be that.
DEATH
Let’s start by reflecting on the beginning of the Joseph story. Joseph is the beloved son of his father. He receives a special coat that displays this fact. He also receives some dreams that make it sound like not only will his brothers end up bowing to him, but his father will too. His brothers start to boil with jealousy. They begin to hate their little half-brother. So one day, when Joseph meets them way out in the pastures of Shechem, his brothers grab him and are about to kill him. But Reuben restrains them and they decide to throw him in a pit instead. Later, Judah suggests selling him to some traders on their way to Egypt. The brothers bring back the bloody coat to their father. So, from then on, the father assumes that Joseph is dead. And for the brothers, Joseph is as good as dead.
This isn’t the first and only time Joseph ends up in a Pit. Here he is lowered into a Pit only to become a slave. Later, in Egypt, he will be arrested as a criminal, and lowered into a Pit of a prison. According to Psalm 30 that we read earlier, to be lowered into a Pit was like entering into Sheol, the underworld, the land of the dead.
So here was Joseph, despised and rejected by his own. Here was Joseph, lowered into a Pit, treated as a slave and later a criminal. Is it any wonder that in the Middle Ages, when a picture Bible — the Biblia Pauperum or Bible of the Poor — was printed for the many people who could not read, , they had a picture of Joseph being lowered into the Pit on one page, and the body of Jesus being lowered from the cross on the page right beside it. Clearly people were to see the parallels between Joseph, a beloved son being lowered into the Pit, and Jesus, the Beloved Son of God, being lowered from the cross into the tomb.
ELECTION
Joseph experiences a type of death and Joseph also experiences a type of resurrection. But before talking about the resurrection, let me say a few words about the other members of Joseph’s family.
In the book of Genesis, the line of election goes from Abraham to Isaac to Jacob to the sons of Jacob, especially Judah. We may sometimes assume that being elect came with all kinds of blessings. That if you were elect, everything was for you. I would like to simply pause for a moment to reflect on how hard being one of the elect was for Jacob and Judah.
Take old father Jacob. He loses his wife Rachel with the birth of Benjamin. Then, not much later he learns that his son Joseph is dead. Later yet, he loses much of his wealth because of a severe famine. When his sons are forced to go to Egypt because of the famine, he loses another son. Simeon is kept in Egypt as a hostage. And then, Jacob is faced with what was clearly a heart-breaking choice. The brothers make it clear that for them to return to Egypt for more food, they must take Benjamin with them. And so, Jacob is asked to sacrifice all over again. You can hear the anguish and pain in his voice when Jacob says to his sons in Genesis 42:36:
You have deprived me of my children!
Joseph is no more. Simeon is no more.
And now you want to take Benjamin!
Everything is against me!
But in time, this suffering father reluctantly sends Benjamin to Egypt with his brothers. And can we blame him for expecting bad news? Can we blame him for thinking that everything is against him?
Then there is Judah. Judah is the one who suggested that Joseph be sold to traders before Reuben could rescue Joseph from the Pit. Over time, Judah also realized that being elect is not easy. It comes with being ready to give what one loves most, even ones life. When the brothers take Benjamin with them to Egypt, and when Benjamin is caught with the silver cup in his bag of grain, who is it that comes to Benjamin’s rescue? It is Judah. In one of the most moving parts of the story, Judah, in Genesis 44, offers his life in exchange for Benjamin’s. He does this out of love for his father.
RESURRECTION
It is at this point that Joseph cannot hold back his emotions. It is at this point that he can no longer hide his identity from his brothers. He orders all the Egyptians out of the room, and he says to his brothers, “I am Joseph! Is my father still living?”
And what was the reaction of the brothers who for over a decade, over ten years, thought their brother was as good as dead? They are stunned. They are speechless. And they are terrified.
Then Joseph needs to assure them, saying, “Do not be distressed” in the NIV and “Do not be afraid” in other translations.
Doesn’t this sound a lot like the reaction of Jesus’ followers on that first Easter day. The women come to the disciples with the news, “Jesus is alive!” The disciples are stunned. They are speechless. And later, when they meet the risen Lord in person, they are terrified.
And Jesus must reassure them with the words, “Do not be distressed. Do not be afraid.”
Just as the disciples who saw the risen Lord became messengers of the good news, the brothers of Joseph end up acting as messengers of the good news. They travel back to their father in Canaan and say, “Joseph lives! In fact he is ruler of all of Egypt!”
And what is old Jacob’s reaction. He too is stunned, speechless, and like the disciple Thomas, he will not believe it until he sees evidence. Then old Jacob sees the carts that his sons brought back from Egypt – carts and donkeys loaded with all kinds of gifts and treasures from Egypt. When he sees this, his spirit revives and he blurts out, “I am convinced – I believe – My son Joseph lives.”
REVIEW OF THE THEMES
So what is the story of Joseph when seen through Easter eyes?
It is a story of a type of death: of a beloved son
who is despised and rejected by his own
and is lowered into the Pit of forsakenness.
It is a story of a type of resurrection: of a beloved son
being raised up out of the Pit to
become the ruler of all and the provider of life for many.
It is a story of redemption: the one who is rejected by his brothers,
is the one who does not reject his brothers
but instead saves them from death
It is a story of forgiveness and reconciliation: the brothers know that they
deserved to be punished for what they did.
They know they had put their brother through hell
and now it was time to pay.
But when they meet their rejected brother, they do
not receive anger, they receive mercy; they do not receive
punishment, they receive an embrace and tears of joy.
It is a story of providence: in the end, the once-dead-now-resurrected
brother confesses his faith in God’s providence.
In some mysterious way,
it all had to happen this way.
It was not his will but God’s will that had to be done.
LIVE AS THE REDEEMED BROTHERS
So what does this story have to tell us and teach us.
According to the book of Hebrews, Jesus is like a brother to us.
And so, if we extend the analogy some more, we should see ourselves as something like the brothers of Joseph.
And how do the brothers live in light of their rejected brother’s resurrection?
They live in the bounty, the mercy, and the reconciliation of the king.
Joseph embraces them, kisses them, and weeps over them the way the father welcomes the Prodigal Son home.
And just as the father kills the fatted calf, Joseph smothers his brothers with blessings.
“Leave all your old stuff behind” these brothers are told. “You – your wives, your children, your grandchildren — will now enjoy all the riches of this kingdom (45:20). And so, we too leave all our old stuff behind – all the treasures of this earth that rust can corrode and that moths can destroy and that time can decay – we separate our hearts from all the things we cling to so dearly here. We leave them behind because in comparison, they are like nothing we are promised in the kingdom.
We’re also told in 45: 22 that each of the brothers received new clothing – the new clothing of their new king and brother. Again, how much this sounds like a number of different New Testament passages, like Romans 13:14 “Clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ. Passages like Colossians 3, where we are encouraged to take off the old to put on the new. To take off envy, hatred, immorality, lies, in order to put on the new: compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience, and love. We are encouraged to put on the clothes of Christ our risen king and brother.
LIVE WITH HOPE, AS JACOB, THE FATHER
This being an intergenerational service, there is also something in this story that ties us to the brothers, but also something that ties us to old father Jacob. There is something that ties us to his sacrifices and his suffering. Here is a man that spent so much of his early life acquiring – acquiring his father’s blessing, acquiring wives, children, flocks and herds, wealth. Then he spends so much of his later life losing – losing a wife, Rachel, losing a son, Joseph, then later during the famine he loses his flocks and herds and wealth. In the end, he stands to lose Benjamin as well.
The life of the elect, the life in the kingdom, is not a cake-walk. It is a faith-walk.
It means being ready to give up everything for God’s sake, even what we love most, even our own lives.
And the amazing wonder is that at the very moment when old Jacob is ready to hear more bad news – that Benjamin is lost too.
— at the very moment when he is ready to have his heart broken again
— at the very moment he is ready to die another death
that is the moment he hears news that is too good to be true.
that is the moment hope is reborn, and a fore-taste of heaven is given.
Here is the mystery of election.
When we are ready to give up everything for God’s sake,
even when everything seems lost …. everything is not lost.
Even when everything seems dead …. everything is not dead.
Even when everything seems hopeless … everything is not hopeless.
We are believers in the resurrection.
We believe that with God the impossible is possible.
We are believers in the resurrection:
We believe that there is always more to our story than what we can see and than what we can know.
We are believers in the resurrection.
Though for now we have heard the good news proclaimed,
And we can see the evidence of God’s goodness,
We long for the day when we will see our risen Lord face-to-face;
When we will know our story fully
even as our story is fully known. Amen.
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