Genesis 44:14-17 (ESV)
When Judah and his brothers came to Joseph's house, he was still there. They fell before him to the ground. Joseph said to them, “What deed is this that you have done? Do you not know that a man like me can indeed practice divination?” And Judah said, “What shall we say to my lord? What shall we speak? Or how can we clear ourselves? God has found out the guilt of your servants; behold, we are my lord's servants, both we and he also in whose hand the cup has been found.” But he said, “Far be it from me that I should do so! Only the man in whose hand the cup was found shall be my servant. But as for you, go up in peace to your father.”
When Joseph was sold into slavery and ended up in Egypt, his brothers lied to their father and told them he was dead. They simply had a major coverup to protect themselves from the wrong they had done. However, when they come to Egypt to buy food they did not know that the person who would be over them to provide them food would be Joseph. But, in Joesph’s mind it was not about meeting his brothers again. It was about wondering if they would, once again, sell one of their brothers into slavery to protect themselves. That is the context of the above story. Joseph had set them up with a test of their love and faithfulness. He was willing to forgive them but he still needed to know if he could trust them. This story might be the source of the phrase, “Trust, but verify!” Joseph hid a silver cup in his little brother’s sack; Benjamin. The implication was that Benjamin had taken the cup and therefore, Benjamin should be punished. Joseph was in essence asking, “Will you once again sell a brother into slavery to make life better and comfortable for yourselves?” The brothers, Judah in particular, do not sell Benjamin. Judah actually offers his own life in exchange for Benjamin. This is a tremendous change in character for these brothers. That is what Joseph wanted to see. Joseph was willing to trust them as a result of their repentance and display of sacrifice. Trust can only be built upon follow through of a changed heart. You can’t keep acting the same way and expect people to trust you. These brothers had to change their ways if they expected to find freedom from their past guilt. They did not yet know that the man in front of the them was Joseph. That discovery would come in the next chapter. But, they did know that they had wronged their father in the past and they didn’t want to do that again. That does speak of both repentance and the possibility that Joseph could trust them again. The compensation of past faults was the offer of substitutionary atonement of Judah for his brother. Judah was willing to pay his own life in ransom for Benjamin. That is what Jesus did for us. He paid for us to be redeemed.
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