Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice are famous for writing musicals which have been popular around the world such as Jesus Christ Superstar, Evita, and others. One of their earliest collaborations was Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat which began as a 15-minute-long school musical in 1968 and over the next 6 years developed into the show which is still performed around the world today.
The musical tells the story of Joseph which we can read in the book of Genesis. We heard the beginning of the story in last week’s Old Testament reading and a lot happens between that and this week’s reading. Joseph’s story is very dramatic, which is why it might have inspired Lloyd Webber and Rice to write their musical. It is a story of dysfunctional families, false accusations, tragic twists, and reconciled relationships. Through it all, Joseph remains faithful to God and does what is right, even in the face of harsh and unfair treatment.
Joesph’s story begins in Genesis 37. He was Jacob’s favourite son because he was the oldest child of Rachel, the love of Jacob’s life. Joseph’s ten older brothers were jealous of him and sold him into slavery. Joseph was taken to Egypt where he served an Egyptian official named Potiphar, whose wife made advances towards him and then accused him of wanting to sleep with her. Potiphar threw Joseph into prison where he met Pharoah’s cupbearer and baker who had also been imprisoned. After interpreting their dreams, Joseph asked the cupbearer to remember him when he returned to serving Pharoah, but he forgot about his promise to Joseph. Years later, Pharoah was looking for someone who could interpret his dreams when the cupbearer remembered Joseph who was still in prison. Joseph interpreted the dreams and Pharoah made him his second in charge to help Egypt prepare for an approaching famine. During the famine, Joseph’s brothers went to Egypt looking for food. They didn’t recognise Joseph, who tested them to see if they have changed. After showing that they were much more loving and compassionate towards Joseph’s younger brother, Benjamin, he made himself known to them, as we heard in this morning’s Old Testament reading.
Joseph then moved his family to Egypt. Seventeen years later their father died. Joseph’s brothers were worried that Joesph still resented them because they had sold him into slavery many years before. They went to Joseph with a story they had invented about their father telling Joseph to forgive them for what they had done. Joseph replied by saying,
“Don’t be afraid of me. Am I God, that I can punish you? You intended to harm me, but God intended it all for good. He brought me to this position so I could save the lives of many people.” (Genesis 50:19,20 NLT)
Even after all the suffering Joseph endured through his life because of what his brothers had done to him, he remained faithful to God, showed grace to his brothers by forgiving them, and saw God’s hand working for good through everything that happened.
We can learn a lot from Joseph’s story about being faithful to God in challenging and difficult circumstances.
Firstly, we might be horrified at the way Joseph’s brothers firstly wanted to kill him, then sold him into slavery, and later made up a story about their dad to get Joseph to forgive them. We might also be shocked at the way Joseph treated his brothers when they came to Egypt, testing them to see what kind of people they had become. It tells us that there are no perfect families, but every family has some degree of dysfunction. We can sometimes think that other people’s families look more harmonious than our own, that their children are better behaved, or they get along better than our family. When we look below the surface, just about every family has conflict or struggles of one kind or another. This can give us peace and hope in our own family situations, no matter how messy they might be. We don’t have to pretend we have the perfect family, and we can drop any facades we might put up about our struggles. When we are open and honest about our families and our difficulties as families, we can find acceptance and support in our own situations.
Secondly, Joseph remained faithful to God throughout his life, even when people were hurting him. Joseph never gave up on God, even when his brothers sold him into slavery, he was wrongly imprisoned, and he was forgotten by Pharoah’s cupbearer. He trusted God and did what was right in all those situations, and God blessed him. Potiphar made Joseph his personal attendant, bringing God’s blessing to his house (Gen 39:2-5). The warden put Joseph in charge of the other prisoners and everything that happened in the jail (Gen 39:21-23). Pharoah promoted Joseph to second in charge over the whole land (Gen 41:37-44). All this happened because Joseph trusted God and followed in his ways. God was with Joseph, causing everything he did to succeed (Gen 39:2,23l). In the same way, when we face difficult times, we can trust God like Joseph and follow in the ways Jesus teaches us. In his way and in his time, God will bless us and grant us success, whatever that might look like.
The third thing we can learn from Joseph’s story is that God intends good for us even when others intend to harm us. The story culminates in Genesis 50:19,20 when Joseph talks with his brothers after their dad’s death. Joseph could see God at work throughout his life so he could save the food needed to feed the people during the famine. In the same way, if people intend to harm us, God asks us to trust that he is at work for our good. The Apostle Paul echoed this idea when he wrote that ‘God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them’ (Romans 8:28 NLT). There probably would have been times when Joseph was sold into slavery or wrongly imprisoned that he would have struggled with his faith, just like we do. When we get through our struggles and look back from the other side, God give us the grace to be able to see how he was doing good, both for us and for others through us.
It is worth reading the whole story of Joseph from Genesis chapters 37 to 50 and see the ways God works for good, even when people intend to harm others. In our lives, God always intends good for us, even when it doesn’t seem like it. Our families might not be as messed up as Joseph’s, and God might not be asking us to trust him when we are sold into slavery or wrongly imprisoned. However, in the challenges and hardships of our lives, we can trust that God intends good for us, so we can bring his saving love to many people, just like Joseph.
More to think about or discuss:
- What are your thoughts about Joseph’s story? What do you like about it? What is difficult for you to understand about it?
- What does Joseph’s reply to his brothers in Genesis 50:20 tell you about grace? Do you think it would have been easy or hard for Joseph? Explain why…
- Is there anything from Joseph’s story that you can apply to your own life? What might your life be like if you trusted God and loved others the way Joseph did?
Pastor Eugene Online 
Leave a comment