Genesis 40:9-42:28

It is hard for me to read the story of Joseph and his brothers without recalling the musical Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat. (I like corny musicals--sue me!) Andrew Lloyd Webber chose his inspiration well, as this is a wonderfully rich Bible story and absolutely one of my favorites. There are, to my mind, so many aspects of the story that foreshadow the life of Christ. Joseph's cell mates in prison are Pharaoh's cupbearer and baker whose dreams are of wine and bread--calling to mind the Last Supper and the body and blood of Christ. I also am reminded of the two criminals on Calvary, one of him is saved and the other of whom remains condemned. Not a perfect analogy, but if the entire Old Testament is part of the story of our salvation, which culminates in Christ, then I think it makes sense to recognize the foreshadowing aspects of these stories. Joseph is rescued from prison because of his ability to interpret dreams, and Pharaoh acknowledges that he is special: "Could we find another like him, a man so endowed with the spirit of God?" Joseph is very directly the means of Egypt's salvation: "In fact, all the world came to Joseph to obtain rations of grain (the body of Christ?), for famine had gripped the whole world." All the world including the sons of Israel, Joseph's brothers (all of them but Benjamin, whom Israel holds back out of fear that a fate similar to Joseph's might befall him). Joseph recognizes his brothers and puts them to the test. He is moved to tears in speaking with them, but hides it from them (as they do not recognize him), and he sends them back to their father with orders to bring Benjamin in return for the grain they seek.