DISCUSSION:
Isn’t this a sticky situation? Here we have the ten brothers of Joseph coming to Egypt to buy food for their family due to the famine from none other than their brother Joseph. The Bible tells us that even though they don’t recognize him, he recognized them. In the process of meeting with them, he begins to question their intentions and toy with them and make them sweat. It doesn’t take long before the brothers begin to say to one another, in Genesis 42.21, something to the effect of “this is all happening to us because of what we did to our brother Joseph all those years ago.” I would venture to say that this wasn’t the first time this thought came to their minds. I wonder if anytime something did not go their way, they thought that their misfortune was due to their sin against their brother. Having that feeling of guilt can be a very painful thing to carry. Given the opportunity, I am sure they would have done things differently. However, all they have now is that heaviness of heart due to the guilt that they are feeling. In their minds, this guilt would never go away, because there was no way to ever make their wrong into right. I am so thankful that we don’t have to feel that heaviness of guilt in our heart for very long, because today God has given us the wonderful gift of forgiveness. Jesus says to us “Come to me all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11.28). By coming to Jesus, he has the power to forgive our sin and lift off the heavy burden of the guilt we might carry. In the end of the story, the brothers get an opportunity to seek the forgiveness of their sins against Joseph and their father; in turn restoring that relationship that had been strained due to their sin. I am sure they were able to rejoice to have this heavy burden lifted off them. Today we can experience the same rejoicing, by seeking the forgiveness we so desperately need. It sure is much easier to live our lives for Jesus without carrying around the heavy burden of guilt.