Genesis 42:21

Then they said to one another, “In truth we are guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw the distress of his soul, when he begged us and we did not listen. That is why this distress has come upon us.” 

Joseph's brothers make an interesting association between their deeds and their distress. Their idea of divine justice is like the idea of 'karma' found in popular culture. What goes around comes around. The inaccuracy of their thought is plain to the reader, who sees Joseph testing his brothers, hoping to discover in them some spark of pity for their father's plight, or some sign that their hearts were turned to repentance. But to anyone who does not know how the story ends, this is a moment of high tension in the narrative. From the point of view of narrative balance, this is where the first-time reader expects Joseph to get his revenge. Having him at their mercy, they sold him into slavery; having them at his mercy, he can do to them what they have coming. We know that the narrative heads into a resolution, however. In terms of storytelling, the narrative line proposes something revolutionary: it is supposed to surprise us when we read -

Joseph said to his brothers, “Come near to me, please.” And they came near. And he said, “I am your brother, Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt. And now do not be distressed or angry with yourselves because you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life. For the famine has been in the land these two years, and there are yet five years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvest. And God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth, and to keep alive for you many survivors. So it was not you who sent me here, but God. He has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house and ruler over all the land of Egypt.

But we also know that the grace of that resolution was not easily understood or accepted by the brothers. Joseph had to comfort his brothers, who still believed that he would kill them. He said to them:

“Do not fear, for am I in the place of God? As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today. So do not fear; I will provide for you and your little ones.” Thus he comforted them and spoke kindly to them.

Distress begets distress. That was the creed of the brothers. But God's intervention introduced grace to heal the family. God's plans and purposes overturn distress, establishing life, provision, comfort and kindness. Writing about the cross of the Christ, theologian R.T. Kendall observed this:

It was not until the Spirit fell on the disciples at Pentecost that the whole event came together. Then Peter and the disciples understood it all for the first time. They then saw that it was for our sins that Jesus died. They saw that it was all a part of God's pre-determined plan. "This man was handed over to you by God's set purpose and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross"

{R.T. Kendall, Understanding Theology (Christian Focus, 1998) p. 103.}

The brothers got this right: "In truth we are guilty..." But there is a greater truth. Karl Barth wrote this:

It cannot be proved naturally or logically, legally or historically, but it is as true as the eternal Light, which differs from all other lights inasmuch as it requires neither fuel nor candlestick. It is as true as the mercy which we have experienced...

{K. Barth, Christmas (Oliver and Boyd, 1959) p. 46.}

The experience of mercy is a nebulous thing. Mercy transforms only when appropriated. The brothers had been shown mercy, but lived in fear. They required their brother to comfort them, and sought to force him to show mercy through moral blackmail, a thing which made him weep. Joseph wept when his brothers came to him, claiming that their common father sought forgiveness on their behalf, because he knew that they did not believe themselves forgiven. He knew that they had not received mercy, though it had been extended. He knew they were not his brothers, though he had extended them fraternal affection, and had sought to honour them as his own. But his answer was not bitterness, but grace. The sinner has difficulty believing inwardly that his heinous sins are not being held against him any more. (The brothers saw the distress of Joseph's soul, when he begged them and did not listen: his begging cries haunted their waking nightmares, and they daily saw the anguish of their bereaved father.) But although such sins have been removed as far as the east is from the west, the sinner believes the world will bring them back again. Why? Because "what goes around comes around" is a lie that dies hard. It has the semblance of rudimentary justice about it, and justice, being an attribute to God himself, is imprinted on his image bearers. Even though we scoff at it, and rebel against it, we know it is there... The language of forgiveness is the language of new birth for this reason. If there is no new creation - if I am not truly a new person - then I anticipate the consequences in this body of the sins the body has committed. But if there truly is a new creation - if I really am remade in a different personhood - then I live out my new status of "sonship". J.I. Packer makes this insightful comment about our adoption as sons of God in Christ:

...the entire Christian life has to be understood in terms of it. Sonship must be the controlling thought - the normative category, if you like, at every point. This follows from the nature of the case, and is strikingly confirmed by the fact that all our Lord's teaching on Christian discipleship is cast in these terms.

{J.I. Packer, Knowing God (Hodder & Stoughton, 1973) p.236}

And so it is. I was very struck by this paragraph in a book by Mark Driscoll, which speaks of the effects of this adoption:

The Gospel Builds a Spiritual Family One of the prominent metaphors of the church in the New Testament is a household - or an extended family - held together by the blood of Christ. No wonder the New Testament tells Christians to treat one another as brothers and sisters. In our day of devastated families and generational fracturing, churches that operate like loving spiritual families, caring for and correcting one another in love, can be the most convincing proof o the power and benefits of the gospel.

{Mark Driscoll, The Radical Reformission (Zondervan, 2004) p.60}