But Joseph immediately says to them, "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." (Gen. 45:5)
And, again, a moment or two later, he affirms, "God sent me ahead of you to preserve 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." (Gen. 45:7-8)
After the death of their father Jacob, Joseph again reassures his brothers of his heart toward them: "You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives." (Gen. 50:21)
Long years of suffering had the power to foster a bitterness that would make his heart an acrid, barren place, Instead, Joseph displays a breath-taking grasp of God’s sovereign ways. In his seeming absence, he has been present, at work behind the scenes, preparing the way for a rescue that could not have been foreseen. And Joseph demonstrates a humble willingness to embrace God’s purpose in his suffering, recognising his own creaturely limitations ("Am I in the place of God?"), and embracing his brothers in forgiving grace.
It is his readiness to forgive that carves out for his brothers an opportunity to demonstrate repentance and so to know their sins cancelled and cleared. Their lives can begin again from this point. The past no longer needs to corrupt their future.
What Joseph had come to know is not a lesson that is casually learned. Such gains are exceedingly hard won. This is not a minor skirmish; it is a full-on battle that is fought on the ground of our desolated history. We must not condemn ourselves if we struggle to forgive when we know the deepest pain of being harmed by others.
Joseph’s reconciliatory spirit was forged over long years in the crucible of suffering. The grace he offered was not cheap, neither for him nor his brothers. All we can do is to ask the Lord to help us, in our distress. Ask him to heal our hearts, to pour his consolation into our souls, so that we might be taken closer to where Joseph now stood.
That consolation has not simply its root but its whole life and substance in the one who loved us and gave himself for us. This scene in Genesis leads us, with great and clarifying power, to see afresh the glory of the submission and humility of our Lord Jesus on the cross. How deeply and joyously glad we can be for his words, "Father, forgive them, they don’t know what they’re doing."
Over time, and as we consciously place ourselves into the hands that were pierced for us, the hands of the physician of souls, we might find that we are able to begin to pray - falteringly, haltingly, but truly - “Make me, O Lord, a channel of your peace.” The Lord Jesus, in his healing love, is able to make the words and the wisdom of James become visibly true in our lives, that “peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness”.
It is his readiness to forgive that carves out for his brothers an opportunity to demonstrate repentance and so to know their sins cancelled and cleared. Their lives can begin again from this point. The past no longer needs to corrupt their future.
What Joseph had come to know is not a lesson that is casually learned. Such gains are exceedingly hard won. This is not a minor skirmish; it is a full-on battle that is fought on the ground of our desolated history. We must not condemn ourselves if we struggle to forgive when we know the deepest pain of being harmed by others.
Joseph’s reconciliatory spirit was forged over long years in the crucible of suffering. The grace he offered was not cheap, neither for him nor his brothers. All we can do is to ask the Lord to help us, in our distress. Ask him to heal our hearts, to pour his consolation into our souls, so that we might be taken closer to where Joseph now stood.
That consolation has not simply its root but its whole life and substance in the one who loved us and gave himself for us. This scene in Genesis leads us, with great and clarifying power, to see afresh the glory of the submission and humility of our Lord Jesus on the cross. How deeply and joyously glad we can be for his words, "Father, forgive them, they don’t know what they’re doing."
Over time, and as we consciously place ourselves into the hands that were pierced for us, the hands of the physician of souls, we might find that we are able to begin to pray - falteringly, haltingly, but truly - “Make me, O Lord, a channel of your peace.” The Lord Jesus, in his healing love, is able to make the words and the wisdom of James become visibly true in our lives, that “peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness”.
************
At the cross where Jesus suffered,
I lay down my bitter blame;
Where he prayed, Father forgive them,
Lord I know I must do the same.
Laying down my pain, my anger,
Vengeful thoughts nailed to the cross;
Take the sting of wrongs remembered,
No more measuring my loss.
I'll not use my words as weapons,
Or the past to gain control;
On my tongue no trace of venom,
Only grace to comfort and make whole.
I am weak but God is with me,
Past and future in his hand;
Turns to good the ill we suffer,
Works all things into Love's plan.
Holy Dove, return and rest here,
As I think and speak the best;
Though it takes ten thousand choices,
I'll press on to honour and to bless.
For the love of Christ my Saviour,
By the strength he daily gives,
This will be the thanks I offer:
I will totally forgive.
For my Father in heaven
Showed mercy to me
How can I not be merciful
When God's been merciful to me,
God's been merciful to me
(Graham Kendrick
Copyright © 2009 Make Way Music)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_T_lCAgrklg
