Genesis 42:29-45:15

This is perhaps my favorite story in the Bible (of the ones I am familiar with today). I relish the interactions among the brothers, their individuality, and the strong emotions they feel and express. I have a sister and many brothers and I enjoy watching this drama unfold. I am moved that, at multiple points, Joseph is so overcome by emotion that he must excuse himself so that he may weep openly. He puts his brothers to the test, testing their honesty, their fealty, and their constancy. Happily, they pass the tests. Again, there are wonderful echoes of Christ here. (Ok, a detour: "echoes" is a strange word to use here, since, of course, Jesus lived long after Joseph. I have been resisting its use until now. But the fact is that I am reading the Old Testament through the prism of the New Testament--with the understanding that Jesus Christ, who lived and died and lives again, is the culmination, the fulfillment, of all that happened before. So, "echoes" seems appropriate in that context.) Anyway, we are reminded of Jesus when Judah offers to lay down his life as ransom for his brother, Benjamin, and when Joseph himself, seeing the hand of God in all that has happened, says, "God, therefore, sent me on ahead of you to ensure for you a remnant on earth and to save your lives in an extraordinary deliverance."  Is there a better description of what Christ is for me? For us? It also anticipates the words of consolation Jesus himself will say to his disciples before he ascends into Heaven.