It is an interesting thing that our judgments of someone else’s motives may say more about who we are than about who they are. There are times when we are suspicious of someone else, not because of what they have done, but perhaps because of what is in our hearts.
This is the case with Joseph’s brothers in our passage for today. The brothers have spent years deceiving their father about their actions regarding Joseph, trying to be dutiful sons, trying to live as upstanding family men, taking care of their own business, perhaps trying to forget what had happened with Joseph.
A famine dragged them out of whatever comfort they had built for themselves. The only way to save their families was to go and get food in Egypt, and this they have done. There were strange interactions with the Pharaoh’s second in command. He wanted to know a lot about their family, kept one of them with him, sent their money back with them, and told them not to come back without Benjamin, his father’s favorite since Joseph was gone.
At first they resisted going back, but things got desperate enough that they finally had to return to Egypt. It was their only hope for survival. Admittedly Joseph’s behavior toward them had been odd, but I can’t help but believe that their fears and suspicions toward him had more to do with what they knew of their own treachery than what they had experienced from him. Jacob also, said, “you shouldn’t even have told him that you had another brother!” He too had experience of treachery and deceit, and had little reason to expect honest dealing from anyone else.
Even when their fears come true and they are faced with losing Benjamin, the brothers only tell part of the truth. Judah does humble himself to Joseph, begging for the mercy they had not shown to be extended to Benjamin and to Jacob. And the brothers bow to Joseph as he had foreseen.
Lord, let me see with your eyes and a pure heart when I interact with people around me.
Tracy Ainsworth, Fort Worth, Texas
