42:5 The sons of Isra’el came to buy along with the others that came, since the famine extended to the land of Kena‘an. 6 Yosef was governor over the land; it was he who sold to all the people of the land. Now when Yosef’s brothers came and prostrated themselves before him on the ground, 7 Yosef saw his brothers and recognized them; but he acted toward them as if he were a stranger and spoke harshly with them. He asked them, “Where are you from?” They answered, “From the land of Kena‘an to buy food.”
17 Then he put all of them together in prison for three days.
18 On the third day, Yosef said to them, “Do what I say, and stay alive, for I fear God. (v) 19 If you are upright men, let one of your brothers remain incarcerated in the prison you’re being kept in, while you go and carry grain back to relieve the famine in your homes. 20 But bring your youngest brother to me. In this way your statements will be verified, and you won’t die.”
So they did it. 21 They said to each other, “We are in fact guilty concerning our brother. He was in distress and pleaded with us; we saw it and wouldn’t listen. That’s why this distress has come upon us now.” 22 Re’uven answered them, “Didn’t I tell you, ‘Don’t wrong the boy’? But you wouldn’t hear of it. Now comes the reckoning for his blood!” 23 They had no idea that Yosef understood them, since an interpreter was translating for them. 24 Yosef turned away from them and wept; then he returned and spoke to them. He took Shim‘on from among them and put him in prison before their eyes.
14th Week in Ordinary TimeAll the world came to Joseph. (Genesis 41:57)
If anyone had reason to break ties with his family and his God, Joseph did. Sold into slavery by his own brothers, Joseph found himself in a foreign country. Yet look at his faithfulness! In each new position—slave, prison inmate, then administrator—Joseph looked to God for wisdom and for strength to serve. He resisted temptations that cropped up at every turn. In the end, Joseph proved himself to his brothers by lavishing mercy on them. It’s a pretty safe guess that God delighted in Joseph’s faithfulness!
But at its heart, the story of Joseph is really a story of God’s faithfulness. After all, it was God who blessed all that Joseph did and gave him the remarkable spiritual insights that caught Pharaoh’s eye. In his own timing, God raised Joseph to the world’s stage, as we see in today’s first reading. And you could say that God was even faithful to his miscreant brothers who sold him into slavery. He saved them from famine and brought them into fertile Goshen.
So what does this mean for you today? Well, for one, it means that God honors your faithfulness too. He sees your devotion in praying and serving and loving. He hears your prayers. He remembers you. He considers your sacrifices, even the small ones that you think go unnoticed. Even when you’re not faithful to him, because we all make mistakes, he remains true to you.
It also means that today, he is working behind the scenes. He’s using your faithfulness to do more than you can probably imagine. When you feel imprisoned by guilt, fear, or resentment, he is at work, forging a way out for you. When you feel unable to forgive someone who has wronged you, he is at work, finding ways to help you soften your heart. Just as he worked through Joseph’s challenging situations, even when it seemed hopeless, your faithful Father is working in you. So hang in there! Try your best to be faithful, and trust that he will raise you up in his own time and in his own way. Always remember that God loves writing long tales of faithfulness.
“Lord, your faithfulness stretches to the heavens! Thank you that your gaze of love is on me today.” Amen!
Psalm 33:2 Give thanks to Adonai with the lyre,
sing praises to him with a ten-stringed harp.
3 Sing to him a new song,
make music at your best among shouts of joy.
10 Adonai brings to nothing the plans of nations,
he foils the plans of the peoples.
11 But the counsel of Adonai stands forever,
his heart’s plans are for all generations.
18 But Adonai’s eyes watch over those who fear him,
over those who wait for his grace
19 to rescue them from death
and keep them alive in famine.
Matthew 10:1 Yeshua called his twelve talmidim and gave them authority to drive out unclean spirits and to heal every kind of disease and weakness. 2 These are the names of the twelve emissaries:
First, Shim‘on, called Kefa, and Andrew his brother,
Ya‘akov Ben-Zavdai and Yochanan his brother,
3 Philip and Bar-Talmai,
T’oma and Mattityahu the tax-collector,
Ya‘akov Bar-Halfai and Taddai,
4 Shim‘on the Zealot, and Y’hudah from K’riot, who betrayed him.
5 These twelve Yeshua sent out with the following instructions: “Don’t go into the territory of the Goyim, and don’t enter any town in Shomron, 6 but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Isra’el. 7 As you go, proclaim, ‘The Kingdom of Heaven is near,’
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