Joseph's Blood-Dipped Robe

 

            Last week we started a series on Joseph. We talked about some of the family dysfunction that was going on in Joseph’s family such as Jacob’s favoritism of loving Joseph more than his other sons, and the jealousy that brought up in Joseph’s brothers. And we talked some about how Joseph didn’t do himself any favors in helping the relationship with his brothers with how he pridefully shared dreams in which his brothers were bowing down to him. He even tattled on his brothers when he observed them slacking on their jobs.

            Well, we pick the story back up today when Joseph is again instructed by his father to go and check on his brothers and make sure they are doing the job they’re supposed to be doing with shepherding the flocks. It is here when Joseph is approaching them way out in the wilderness that his brothers conspire to kill him out of jealousy and vengeance. They had likely been desiring to do evil against Joseph for a while, but it was a combination of their frustration that Joseph might come and give another bad report on them and their secluded location out in the wilderness that spurred them on in their evil act.

            Both of these reasons I just gave signaled something about Joseph’s brothers: who they were in public is not who they were in private. First we see this with their work ethic. That Jacob, their father, had to keep sending Joseph out to check up on their work shows something: it shows that they were not trusted to do good work unless they were being watched. Have you met someone like this? They’re always slacking off at work, maybe scrolling their phone, slouching in their chair, but then the boss comes by, all of a sudden they straighten up and they are diligently at work. They don’t really care about being a hard worker, only appearing to be a hard worker. In Ephesians 6 we’re told to not work hard only when our masters are looking.

            But secondly, Joseph’s brothers, they never would have dared to commit murder in public where they could be held to account or be made responsible for their actions. They only dare to do evil out in the wilderness away from prying eyes, where they can make up a story that Joseph was hurt by a wild animal, not by their own hands. Are not many of us like that too at times? In the sense that sometimes we only refrain from evil simply out of fear of punishment? We do good not because we are righteous or loving, but merely to be rewarded or to avoid consequences. Just look, for example, at people who create anonymous social media accounts or accounts with fake names. Because they don’t think that what they say will ever be linked back to them, because they won’t be held personally accountable for what they say, just look at how much more wickedly they feel empowered to act anonymously.

            But yes, Joseph’s brothers were not the same people in private as in public. They only did good when they were being watched, and only avoided evil when they were being watched. Jesus critiqued harshly those who acted this way. Sometimes he called such people white washed tombs, as in they care to try to make themselves look good and righteous outwardly, freshly painted, no chips, but inwardly they are full of everything dead and wicked. And Jesus, in the Sermon on the Mount, focuses our attention on the need to do good in private, in places where no one can see us or applaud us. For what we do when no one is looking likely reveals far more about our character than what we do when there are watching eyes. We must be those whose character is the same in public and in private. Because Jesus is not in the business of whitewashing tombs. He’s not in the business of making us appear to be better people. He demands that we really, truly become better people. Jesus is not in the business of whitewashing tombs; Jesus is in the business of resurrecting the tombs of our sinful hearts and making us new people, transformed from the inside out. Be consistent in who you are. I care little how nice of a person you seem on Sunday mornings if you are not at all that type of person every other day of the week, at home, at work, and in private.

            But, in the story, Joseph’s brothers were not fully beyond watching eyes. They weren’t entirely alone. Now it’s true there were no outsiders there, but each was surrounded by their brothers. And one might have thought that that at least would have held their evil in check. For if the brothers were not all of one mind on this plan of vengeance, they would not have felt wholly safe in their schemes. And you would think at least one of them would have a conscience. This is one aspect of this story that is most shocking: that together, as a group, they did this evil against Joseph.

On the one hand, it would seem perhaps easier to believe if one brother acted out this evil plan on their own, in private, than for something so wicked to be done by a whole group. But on the other hand, evil actions are sometimes more likely to be done in groups than all alone. Not always, but sometimes being part of a group gives a feeling of justification to our evil actions. We think that if everyone else is ok with doing it, it must be ok to do. And we feel less exposed as a group. Sort of the thinking of “they can’t arrest all of us.” In a group, it’s easier to not have to take responsibility for your own actions but to be able to blame others and claim they were the ring leaders, it’s their fault. In a group we can be swept up in a collective fervor where it feels very difficult to dare to swim against the current.

            Well, as we read on we do discover that not all of the other 10 brothers there were truly of one mind. Thankfully, one brother did have a conscience: Reuben. Reuben alone had any courage to try to do what was right. Though he was still pretty fearful of going against the crowd and opposing his brothers. So instead of straight up opposing them, he came up with a crafty plan. He convinced his brothers not to actively kill Joseph but just to throw him into a pit where presumably he would be left to die. They agreed. After all, this was probably going to be easier for them to do, to just leave Joseph in a pit than for any to have to strike the killing blow themselves. And Reuben came up with this idea because he had a secret plan. He thought that he could come back and rescue Joseph from the pit later. So we need to give some props to Reuben. He had some courage. And yet, he did not have quite enough. For we’ll see that Reuben’s plan, though clever, was ultimately unsuccessful in fully protecting Joseph. For before Reuben had a chance to return and rescue his brother, others of his brothers, led by Judah, would come back to the pit and sell Joseph into slavery to some passing traders.

This story reminds us that sometimes half measures aren’t good enough. Sometimes we only have one chance to step up and do what is right before it’s too late. Sometimes if we are not fully courageous our cowardice will allow someone else to be hurt. For Reuben, if he really had courage, would not just have spoken up to lessen the evil done to Joseph, he would not have merely had Joseph thrown in the pit instead of murdered… he would have instead said clearly and loudly, “What you all seek to do is wrong. Joseph is our brother. I know he has faults. I know there are things that irritate us about him. But violence is not the answer. You all should be ashamed of yourselves and stop what you are doing. Should you carry through on this despicable act, his blood will cry out from the ground against you. Your guilt will be great.” And if Reuben said this courageously and with conviction, perhaps his brothers would have been ashamed of themselves, come back to their right minds and not done any evil acts at all. Let us have robust courage. Let us be better than even Reuben. Let us not delay in doing good, for we are not guaranteed to have a second chance come along where we can then do what is truly right.

When Joseph is sold into slavery, his brothers add greed to their list of vices, profiting off the sale of their brother. But notice how the Bible takes the time to describe how the Ishmaelite traders were carrying gum, balm, and resin to sell in Egypt. Why would they take the time to describe these details that seemingly don’t matter to the rest of the story? Perhaps only to show that in slave trading, humans were being treated as no different than gum, balm, or resin, as material things to be bought or sold or owned. How despicable. Thankfully our society has progressed past its sins of slavery. But I wonder, are there still ways in which we treat other humans as commodities? As primarily things to profit off of? Do we treat people as things to use more than as people to love? Whenever we do this we still tap into the spirit of slavery. We must be on guard against this utilitarian way of treating others.

And note this: before the Israelites were ever forcibly enslaved by the Egyptians, they first sold one of their own into slavery in Egypt. When we devalue people and treat them as less than human, we perhaps create the type of world in which we risk that we too are devalued and treated as less than human.  

Fascinatingly, Judah, in trying to convince his brothers to sell Joseph into slavery instead of murdering him, appeals to the fact that, after all, Joseph was their brother, so we should not lay a hand on him. If only at this point they had gone the full way and realized, oh my gosh, Joseph is our brother, we probably shouldn’t sell him into slavery either… I wonder how often we are like Judah and we choose an act of some compassion, but we don’t quite go the full way. We cannot be like Reuben with half-baked courage, or like Judah with half-baked compassion.

As the chapter comes to a close, Joseph’s brothers make sure to cover up their evil act. They dip Joseph’s special robe in blood and bring it to Jacob to claim that Joseph was attacked by wild animals. And Jacob’s sadness was so great that he said that he would go to his grave mourning and crying and lamenting for the rest of his days.

A couple things to note. First, Joseph’s brothers could conceal their sin from Jacob, at least for a time, but no one can conceal their sins from God. Second, sin doesn’t keep its promises! The devil must have been whispering in the ears of Joseph’s brothers that if you just get rid of Joseph, your dad will love you, you’ll be the favorite! But that was not the case at all. Like we said last week, Jacob became a broken, shell of a man, unable to step up and better love his other sons. But this is always the case with sin, sin promises the world and yet delivers nothing but emptiness or destruction. Next time you face temptation, remind yourself of this: sin will not deliver on its promises. Do not listen to the lies of the devil. Happiness will not be found outside the paths of holiness.

But this is where chapter 37 ends: Joseph sold into slavery, Jacob in deep depression. But friends, take heart, this is only yet the middle of the story. If the story ended here it would be a tragedy of epic proportions. But it is not yet the end of the story. Some of you probably already know that some good things are yet to come in Joseph’s life. But think on your own life. Think on the tragedies of your life. And remind yourself, it is only yet the middle of the story. Remind yourself that the story is not over yet, and that God still has time to work the miracles of his redemption. Do not judge a story whose ending you have not yet read. Wait for the end of the story.

            And before we end today, just like last week, I want to highlight some pieces of good news. And I’m going to do this by comparing and contrasting some parts of this story with the story of Jesus. Joseph had an angry mob of kinsmen who sought to kill him. Joseph was sold for 20 pieces of silver by his brother Judah. Joseph’s robe was dipped in blood.  Look past Joseph to Jesus. Jesus was betrayed by Judas for 30 pieces of silver. Jesus had his own countrymen become an angry mob that shouted for him to be crucified. Interesting parallels.

            But contrast now the blood dipped robe of Joseph, the robe that brought about inconsolable agony in Jacob. Contrast that with the blood dipped robe of Jesus. Yes, in Revelation 19 Jesus is described as being clothed in a robe dipped in blood. Now, Joseph’s blood dipped robe symbolizes sadness, and it symbolizes all of our sin, and our guilt, the ways in which our sin and evil have harmed our brothers and sisters and fathers and mothers in this world. And all that Joseph’s blood dipped robe can try and do is to try and cover up our sin, to hide it, and pretend it didn’t happen. To try and place the blame upon a wild animal instead of admitting to the guilt of our own hands.

But Jesus’ blood dipped robe symbolizes something else entirely, forgiveness and grace. Jesus’ blood dipped robe is a reminder that God poured out his blood for us, he bore our guilt and sin for us on the cross. Jesus was willing to be the scapegoat for us. Jesus was willing to be the sacrificial animal that took away our sin. Jesus’ blood dipped robe reminds us that we do not have to cover up our sin. In fact, it tells us that we can’t. The one prerequisite to accepting Jesus’ sacrifice is to admit that we need it. We have to own up to our sins, that we’re guilty, and that we desperately need forgiveness. But the good news is that we don’t need to lay our guilt upon a wild animal, when we can lay our guilt upon Jesus, the lamb of God. How amazing that God, who knows us fully, who even knows those things we try to cover up and hide, who knows the full extent of our wickedness, still gave his cleansing blood for us all.

But, yes, that is the good news today: that we do not need to make our own blood dipped robes, we do not have to concoct stories to try and prove our innocence. No, we have the blood dipped robe of Jesus, and that is far better, for it does not just cover up sin, it conquers sin, and it undoes the damage of our wickedness with reconciliation and resurrection life. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.