It was by a strange and seemingly circuitous route that these brethren of Joseph were brought near to him. Between Joseph and his brethren there was an immeasurable distance all the difference between a nature given over to God and one abandoned to the force of evil passion. We may see in this narrative a type of the ways and means God still employs for bringing the wandering brothers of Joseph's great Antitype near to Him.
I. In order that the brothers may be really drawn near to Joseph, they have first to be separated from him by their own sin.
II. The next step towards bringing them near is their own want.
III. When they get into Joseph's presence they are suddenly subjected to the most unlooked-for and crushing trials.
IV. They are smitten to the heart with the recollection of bygone sins; these are brought to their remembrance as sins against their brother.
V. They were alonewith Joseph when he made himself known to them.
W. Hay Aitken, Mission Sermons,1st series, p. 290.
This was the address of Joseph to his brethren to the brethren who had despised and hated him. There is no anger in the address; it is the expression of love. Joseph seeks not to punish, but to forgive and console them.
I. Christ, the true Joseph, is ever making the same appeal to the hungry and the sinner. There was famine in the land, and the brethren of Joseph were in want of food. Joseph alone has the key of the storehouses that overflow with food. He will not send the empty away, but will fill the hungry with good things. It is so with Christ. If we acknowledge our hunger and turn to Him, He will feed us with the bread of heaven.
II. To the sinner.The appeal of our Lord to those who have sinned against Him is, "Come near to me, I pray you." The appeal is to man's free-will. Christ is ready, but man must make a step towards Him.
III. I pray you.How earnest is the entreaty! I who am God, your Creator; I, whom you have forgotten, wronged, pierced with your sins, and crucified again "I pray you!"
S. Baring-Gould, Village Preaching for a Year,vol. ii., p. 78.