Stiff upper lip. Hold it together. Dignify yourself. We understand these phrases. Today, we read how Joseph lost it. We might think that his emotions got the better of him. But maybe the tears are not a weakness. Maybe it is the whole point.
“Then Joseph could no longer control himself before all his attendants, and he cried out, “Have everyone leave my presence!” So there was no one with Joseph when he made himself known to his brothers. 2 And he wept so loudly that the Egyptians heard him, and Pharaoh’s household heard about it.” (Genesis 45 v 1-2)
The second most authoritative person in all of Egypt, who had masterfully handled the famine crisis and had contributed to the nation’s stable position, is now undone.
Combustion happened inside of Joseph. His own brothers had sold him. God had kept him. These two major factors of his life were now standing together in the same room after all these years.
Joseph didn’t begin with a speech. He didn’t launch into a severe reprimand, setting the record straight. Surely that would have been understandable, even expected. He wept. Uncontrollably and loudly weeping.
Do you remember Jesus weeping before he called Lazarus out of the tomb? It is the shortest verse in the Bible and probably one of the most powerful (John 11:35). The connection to this story is very close. The one with all the power chooses to enter the pain first rather than simply deal with it. Both were heard. “See how he loved him, ” was partly the response from the crowd. Others were frustrated, thinking Jesus should have prevented the death.
Both wept.
Love never treats suffering as merely a problem to be solved.
Joseph’s brothers were seeing a man losing control, his heart was breaking, and his world could hear him. His brothers are still not recognising him, but they would never forget this display of weeping, especially when his identity is revealed.
When they finally understood who he was, they would remember that the most powerful man in their world had wept for them before he said a single word. That is the shape of grace.
Joseph weeps in Egypt, and Jesus stands at Lazarus’s tomb in tears. Love always weeps first.
Missions Paul 