Genesis 50:15-21: a reflection

15When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, “It may be that Joseph will hate us, and will fully pay us back for all the evil which we did to him.” 16They sent a message to Joseph, saying, “Your father commanded before he died, saying, 17‘You shall tell Joseph, “Now please forgive the disobedience of your brothers, and their sin, because they did evil to you.”’ Now, please forgive the disobedience of the servants of the God of your father.” Joseph wept when they spoke to him. 18His brothers also went and fell down before his face; and they said, “Behold, we are your servants.” 19Joseph said to them, “Don’t be afraid, for am I in the place of God? 20As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to save many people alive, as is happening today. 21Now therefore don’t be afraid. I will provide for you and your little ones.” He comforted them, and spoke kindly to them.

With their father Jacob now dead, Joseph's brothers are afraid. They had sold Joseph into slavery years earlier, and now they fear he will finally take his revenge. They send a message begging his forgiveness and throw themselves down before him as his servants. But Joseph's response overflows with grace. He weeps at their fear, reassures them, and speaks some of the most profound words in all of Scripture about how God works through even the evil done to us.

Do not be afraid, Joseph says; am I in the place of God? As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring about the saving of many lives. Joseph does not pretend his brothers' betrayal was not evil; it was. But he sees a greater hand at work behind it. The very wrong they did to him, God had woven into a plan of rescue for many, including the brothers now trembling before him. And so Joseph forgives them fully, promising to provide for them and their children, and he comforts them with kind words.

This is one of the clearest windows in Scripture onto how God works. He does not cause the evil done to us, but he is able to weave even genuine wrongs into good, as he did with Joseph's betrayal. And Joseph's response models the forgiveness this truth makes possible. When someone has wronged you, you can, like Joseph, refuse to play God and take revenge, trust that God can bring good even from the harm done, and choose to forgive and even to bless. Ask God for Joseph's heart, able to say to those who wronged you: you meant it for evil, but God meant it for good.

Lord, Joseph told the brothers who betrayed him, you meant it for evil, but God meant it for good, and he forgave them fully and provided for them. Give me that same heart. When others wrong me, help me not to play God or take revenge, but to trust that you can weave even the harm done into good. Teach me to forgive as Joseph forgave, and to see your good hand at work even behind the wrongs I suffer. Amen.