What lies behind the kind of violence we see in this passage, in which Joseph’s own brothers sell him into enslavement? What motivates and unites these men as they make terrible and terrifying decisions against a person they understand to be “our brother, our own flesh”? I wonder if these realities sometimes feel far from our own. We likely don’t deny that things like this happen in our world—but we might think that we ourselves would never be a part of it. Perhaps Joseph’s story invites us to see things differently, to see ourselves differently, to be challenged and changed.
Many of us may read these texts and immediately relate to Joseph. We’ve often been trained to read in this way. We might walk away with the moral: God has a plan, even when you can’t see it yet. Or, You will prevail against those who want to harm you. Just trust God and be faithful. Or, Don’t let anyone discourage you from pursuing the dreams God has given you.
And these might all be good takeaways. But they all center Joseph.
