The brothers immediately worry that Joseph has treated them
well and not sought revenge for their father's sake and now that he is gone it
will all change. After whatever period of
years they have sojourned in Egypt they have not yet come to believe that
Joseph meant what he has said about the past.
It is hard to believe isn't it?
We rarely experience such forgiveness and we expect something very
different. In some ways it is understandable
here since they had never fully admitted their sin against him. In chapter 45 Joseph says you sold me into
Egypt and that he has accepted his fate but the brothers never speak it
themselves. The reality is that we
aren't exactly as sure as we think we are about who sold Joseph into
slavery. If you go back and read chapter
37 and the story of the sale of Joseph again you might find it isn't as clear
as you think that his brothers sold him into slavery and they don’t
specifically say it here. At any rate,
Joseph reassures them that he has indeed forgiven them and will provide for
them. This is a perfect picture of what
forgiveness means.
The Pharisees ask for a sign and Jesus refuses. If they had followed Him these past three
days they would just have seen a sign but their interests weren't in following
Him. Honest seekers follow Jesus to see,
they don't come demanding He prove Himself.
He warns the disciples about the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees
and they, remarkably, conclude He is talking about bread and they have
forgotten to bring any. How could they
be so dense? Can you imagine the look on
Jesus' face as He reminds them of what had just happened in the feeding of the
multitude? Why does it take two tries to
heal the blind man in Bethsaida and why does Jesus tell this man to go home
afterwards? Is there something lacking
in the man's faith that is strengthened by the partial healing? We don't know the answer to that question but
we do know there is nothing lacking in Jesus.
The problem could be linked with the idea of the leaven of the Pharisees
and Sadducees, men whose faith was incomplete in that they doubted the signs,
they were materialists.
We, as the body of Christ, have been given spiritual gifts
in order that collectively we can fulfill our mission. None of us is complete in himself, only Jesus
is complete. We are meant to be part of
the body in order that we find that mutual dependency and see the fullness of
Christ among us. When we are Lone Ranger
Christians both we and the body where He intends us to be and serve are
incomplete, handicapped. The gifts are
meant to allow us to serve and flourish in the kingdom of God. A body with missing gifts is always less than
it is intended to be, less effective, less joyful, imperfect. It is sin to withhold our gifts from the
church and it is sin when the church neglects the gifts of its members. The family of Joseph wasn't complete unless
all were present. The signs the world
will see are only possible if we all take our part.
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