The Jesse Tree: Day 7

Joseph’s story is famous and inspiring; he is an overcomer, but sometimes we are too quick to see ourselves in his story, rather than the story of his brother! They sold him for twenty pieces of silver, beat him, and stripped him of his beautiful coat, the symbol of his father’s favor. And if we’re honest, we might have done the same.

Joseph was daddy’s favorite, likely to inherit his everything, and the dreams he shared could have suggested he was going to make his brothers into beggars, bowing before him. Survival and self-protection can make rationalizations feel necessary.

Yet God was still at work. Twenty years later, in the midst of a famine, Joseph sat as Pharaoh’s second-in-command, with significant resources at his disposal to provide for those who would bow before him. So when his brother came to him for grain, Joseph saw the fulfillment of his boyhood dreams—he could have exacted revenge, but instead he offered forgiveness:

That coat, once a symbol of favoritism and betrayal, now reminds us of God’s providence. Joseph’s forgiveness, undeserved and costly, points forward to Jesus, the ultimate Joseph. Betrayed for thirty pieces of silver, humiliated, stripped, accused, and crucified, He bore it all and offers forgiveness and life to anyone who will receive it. What Joseph did in Egypt is a shadow of Christ on the cross: taking what was meant for evil and turning it into salvation.

This Advent, Joseph’s story calls us to three things: request, trust, and live forgiveness.
First, come humbly to Jesus and ask for forgiveness. Second, trust it’s real; believe that God’s promises and His mercy are true. Finally, live it, let forgiveness shape your life and relationships, reflecting the life God gives through Christ.

As you see the coat, remember both betrayal and redemption, and ask: how will you request, trust, and live the forgiveness so generously given this Advent?