The first question the steward is to pose is, “Why have you
repaid evil for good?” That is the
central idea in the Joseph story isn’t it, repaying evil for good. Joseph was constantly the victim of such things
from his brothers, Potiphar’s wife, and the cupbearer. In the end of the story Joseph addresses the
sovereignty of God in all things using this good/evil terminology. If we go all
the way back to the beginning we will see that good/evil pervades the book of
Genesis. Our ability to know the
difference begins and ends with God, not some other source. Here, Joseph devises yet another test to see
if the brothers have changed. He sets us
Benjamin as the one who has stolen the cup and yet nowhere do we see the
brothers blaming Benjamin and turning on him, they all grieve as one over the
cup. Does this passage remind you of
Rachel and the household gods of her father in Genesis 31.30-35?
Is this passage about works righteousness? Are we saved by our works? Jesus says of judgment that those in the
tombs will come out, “those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and
those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment.” What we do reveals everything about what we
believe. The supreme example of “good”
is Jesus on the cross and yet the world sees that as something other than
good. If Jesus is simply a misunderstood
but innocent man dying on that cross then nothing is good at all. If He is guilty then nothing good is
accomplished by killing Him. If,
however, He is the savior of humankind and His death on the cross is the
atonement for sin, it is very good indeed.
Only, however, in light of what comes three days later, the
resurrection. If there is no
resurrection then Good Friday is simply the worst day in human history. That day tells us that we don’t know good
from evil and yet bids us come to the cross as the tree of life. The way we live our lives tells the tale of
whether we accept God’s definition of good or the world’s definitions of good. We are called to radical obedience, beginning
with the transformation of the way we think about everything.
Paul says there is no condemnation for those who are in
Christ Jesus but also says that we who are in the Spirit “walk not according to
the flesh but according to the Spirit.”
The way we walk out our faith matters.
What we set our minds on becomes what we value and what we pursue. Are we pursuing a bigger house, a better car,
a secure financial future, or are we pursuing righteousness and the kingdom of
God. The Spirit enables us to know good
and evil and choose between them. The
testimony of our lives should match the testimony of our lips, there should be
evidence that our values and priorities are different from those who don’t know
good from evil. Joseph tested his
brothers on the issue of good and evil in multiple ways to see whether they
were trustworthy men. Our choices reveal
much about us.
Let the heavens be
glad, and let the earth rejoice;
let the sea roar, and all that fills it;
let the field exult, and everything in it!
Then shall all the trees of the forest sing for joy
13 before the LORD, for he comes,
for he comes to judge the earth.
He will judge the world in righteousness,
and the peoples in his faithfulness.
let the sea roar, and all that fills it;
let the field exult, and everything in it!
Then shall all the trees of the forest sing for joy
13 before the LORD, for he comes,
for he comes to judge the earth.
He will judge the world in righteousness,
and the peoples in his faithfulness.
No comments:
Post a Comment