Or we could call it, "RE-garding Joseph." This time around with the story of Jacob's youngest son, I was struck by the number of "RE" words that characterize it. Take a look:
RE-venge: As we heard last week, Joseph's brothers were less than affectionate. After years of Jacob playing favorites (remember the multi-colored coat?), Joseph did some vision-casting that had them and their father bowing down to him. Their solution: throw the boy in a pit and sell him to an Egypt-bound caravan, of course.
RE-covery & RE-play: So Joseph ends up as an indentured laborer in Egypt. But he does well. Everywhere he goes, blessing follows; everything he touches, God turns to gold. Potiphar, a powerful man, notices this and puts him in charge of his household. When Potiphar's wife tries and fails to seduce him, she accuses Joseph of the same, and he ends up back in the pit - this time, prison.
RE-storation & RE-habilitation: Joseph again rises to a position of responsibility and esteem in prison. He interprets the dreams of one of Pharaoh's servants who recommends Joseph's services to the ruler when he is released. Pharaoh brings Joseph to him, heeds his interpretation and advice, and raises him to a position of great importance and influence. The scene where Joseph is vested with the symbols of his new office has us recalling the coat of many colors with which his father clothed him in childhood.
RE-versal: Joseph's brothers travel to Egypt to buy food for their famine-stricken family. They visit the Pharaoh's right-hand guy, having no idea that he's the boy they sold into slavery. One noticeable part of the story here is Joseph's weeping. Four times he breaks down crying in his exchanges with his brothers. First, when he overhears them expressing remorse; second, when he meets the young brother he never knew, Benjamin ...
RE-veal: Third, when RE-veals his identity to his brothers in this week's reading and ...
RE-conciliation: Fourth, when they ask his forgiveness. And after that, the story goes, "his brothers talked with him."
The RE-word that is the backdrop for all of these is RE-demption. When he is RE-united with his brothers, Joseph's own meaning-making becomes most heart-breaking part of the story. "No!" he pleads with the men who betrayed him, tears blurring his vision, "You didn't do this! You may have had destruction in your hearts, but God's intention, God's vision is so strong, it obliterated your darkness and brought all of us into the light ... and we didn't even know it was happening." Everybody - not just the boy - got dragged out of the pit in this situation. Joseph was RE-scued, but all was redeemed.
(by the way, "Re" or "Ra" was an Egyptian god - I didn't think about that until just now!)
(Danielle Thompson)
