An Instrument of God’s Peace
Genesis 45:1-15 NLT
Joseph could stand it no longer. There were many people in the room, and he said to his attendants, “Out, all of you!” So, he was alone with his brothers when he told them who he was. Then he broke down and wept. He wept so loudly the Egyptians could hear him, and word of it quickly carried to Pharaoh’s palace.
“I am Joseph!” he said to his brothers. “Is my father still alive?” But his brothers were speechless! They were stunned to realize that Joseph was standing there in front of them. “Please, come closer,” he said to them. So, they came closer. And he said again, “I am Joseph, your brother, whom you sold into slavery in Egypt. But don’t be upset, and don’t be angry with yourselves for selling me to this place. It was God who sent me here ahead of you to preserve your lives. This famine that has ravaged the land for two years will last five more years, and there will be neither plowing nor harvesting. God has sent me ahead of you to keep you and your families alive and to preserve many survivors. So, it was God who sent me here, not you! And he is the one who made me an adviser to Pharaoh—the manager of his entire palace and the governor of all Egypt.
“Now hurry back to my father and tell him, ‘This is what your son Joseph says: God has made me master over all the land of Egypt. So come down to me immediately! You can live in the region of Goshen, where you can be near me with all your children and grandchildren, your flocks and herds, and everything you own. I will take care of you there, for there are still five years of famine ahead of us. Otherwise, you, your household, and all your animals will starve.’”
Then Joseph added, “Look! You can see for yourselves, and so can my brother Benjamin, that I really am Joseph! Go tell my father of my honored position here in Egypt. Describe for him everything you have seen and then bring my father here quickly.” Weeping with joy, he embraced Benjamin, and Benjamin did the same. Then Joseph kissed each of his brothers and wept over them, and after that they began talking freely with him.
Matthew Henry
Our Lord Jesus being, like Joseph, exalted to the highest honours and powers of the upper world, it is his will that all that are his should be with him where he is (John 17:24). This is his commandment, that we be with him now in faith and hope, and a heavenly conversation; and this is his promise, that we shall be forever with him.
Endearments were interchanged between Joseph and his brethren. He began with the youngest, his own brother Benjamin, who was but about a year old when Joseph was separated from his brethren. After he had embraced Benjamin, he, in like manner, caressed them all and then his brethren talked with him freely and familiarly of all the affairs of their father’s house. After the tokens of true reconciliation follow the instances of a sweet communion.[1]
A LITURGY FOR BECOMING AN INSTRUMENT OF GOD’S PEACE
Douglas Kaine McKelvey, adapted from Francis of Assisi
Lord, make me an instrument of thy peace – where hate rules, let me bring love; where malice, forgiveness; where disputes, reconciliation; where error, truth; where doubt, belief; where despair, hope; where darkness, thy light; where sorrow, joy!
O Master, let me strive more to comfort others than to be comforted – to understand others than to be understood; to love others, more than to be loved! For he who gives, received; he who forgets himself, finds; he who forgives, receives forgiveness; and dying, we right again to eternal life. Amen.
Prayer of St. Francis
If you have found this meditation helpful, take a moment and give thanks to God. Then share what you learned with a friend. This is how the grace of God spreads (2 Corinthians 4.15).
[1] Matthew Henry, Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible: Complete and Unabridged in One Volume (Peabody: Hendrickson, 1994), 86.
