Proper 19: Old Testament, Genesis 50:15-21                        

Genesis 50:15-21

Israel is home. Jacob the patriarch, renamed by God in his wrestling, has died and has been buried in his homeland. A land promised. A couple centuries earlier a grand promise had come from the mouth of God to Abram (see Genesis 12:1-3). Land was part of the deal. A huge part. And for Israel it was a burial plot. God is at work.

 And he is at work in the life of his sons - Joseph and the rest. If you know the account you realize that Joseph had every right to return to the deeds of his evil-hearted brothers with punishment. And although they had enjoyed a recent reunion, they now worried that with dad out of the way, Joseph may have just been putting on. But the forgiveness of Joseph is a beautiful picture of the forgiveness of our Savior. When Jesus forgives, he forgives all the way. “It may be that Joseph will hate us and pay us back for all the evil we did to him” (50:15). Their hearts linger on their sins. Joseph is presented with a “tale” of words that don’t really ring true, but their desperation breaks Joseph’s heart, “Do not fear, for am I in the place of God? As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today” (50:19b-20).

 I think that our received forgiveness is for us. I do. But I also think it serves a larger purpose. When I know that I am forgiven, and when I can see the Lord’s hand in it, it frees me to look beyond to see what this great keeper of promises is doing elsewhere.

 Do you and I rejoice in the forgiveness of others’ sins? Do we perceive the large promises of God that did not begin with us and hardly ever end with us? You see, God providentially cared for the “savior” in this account, Joseph. God forgave the sins of Jacob years before, forgave the sins of his wicked sons (including Joseph) and the grand scheme pushes through to the blessing of many. Trusting God’s goodness is a lifelong process, learning lessons along the way. But the scope of that goodness is always that it may stretch boundlessly beyond us.

When Jesus forgives, he forgives all the way.