Sermons 2026

Genesis 50:15-21 

“God’s Good out of Evil”

Outline

1.    Joseph’s brothers meant for evil, wanted to kill Joseph
2.    God used Brother’s evil for good, saving of many lives even now

Sermon

Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father, and our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

My dear beloved flock, the text for our mediation is the Old Testament lesson of Genesis chapter fifty verses fifteen through twenty-one.

Beloved lambs, I pray that you are doing well. Do you always get along with your brothers and sisters? I am sure that your moms and dads would love it if you always got along. Sadly, I know that you do not get along. You fight with each other. You bicker and whine when you do not get your way. You yell at each other when a toy or book that you were using gets taken away. You push and shove, trying to get your way. Did you know that the same thing happened in Bible times? In our text for today, Joseph’s brothers did not get along with Joseph. They even tried to kill him. They sold him into slavery. That’s not good! How does God use what the brother’s did for good? What is Joseph’s response to his brother’s actions? Ponder these questions as you hear the rest of the sermon. You may go back to your seats and those who love you.

1.    Joseph’s brothers meant for evil, wanted to kill Joseph

Joseph’s brothers did horrible things. They confess in our text for today, “When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, “It may be that Joseph will hate us and pay us back for all the evil that we did to him.” For those of you who do not remember, Joseph is one of the twelve sons of Jacob. Jacob had two wives. Leah, who bore him ten of his sons, and Rachel, Jacob’s favorite wife, who bore him Joseph and Benjamin. 
Since Joseph was born from Jacob’s favorite wife, he became Jacob’s favorite son.  Jacob showed his favoritism to Joseph by giving him a robe. We often call it a coat of many colors. In actually, we know nothing about its color. Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew Definitions defines kethoneth not as a coat but as a tunic. Additionally, the Hebrew pas (passim) means a long and sleeved tunic (perhaps simply a wide one; from the origin sense of the root, i.e. of many breadths):- (divers) colours. . It usually describes something worn, like a tunic, which is long (to the ankles) and which has long sleeves (to the wrists or palm) with decorative needlework. This type of robe was worn by kings, princes, and priests as they did their duties. Luther remarks that “This word, moreover, is found nowhere else in Holy Scripture except in 2 Sam. 13, about Tamar, whom her brother Amnon defiled. For in that place the text says: “She put ashes on her head and rent her polymitam robe, her פַּסִּים.” “For with such cloaks (מְעִילִים) the virgin daughters of the king were clad of old” (cf. 2 Sam. 13:18, 19). I would like to interpret it as a beautiful white smock, a white garment such as was in use in oriental regions, in which the most beautiful and most distinguished garment was white and made of linen. Western people, by contrast, are delighted with purple. ”

No matter what color the robe was, it served a purpose. The robe distinguished Joseph from his brothers. While they worked in the fields, Joseph stood out. The long sleeves down to his wrists, the hem all the way to the ankle, screams “Here is the Favored Son of the Family!”. The coat signified Joseph as being Jacob’s choice as the future head of the clan—an honor normally bestowed upon the firstborn son.

This favoritism, as well as the strange dreams that Jospeh had concerning his brothers, mother, and father, made his brothers jealous of him. Favoritism still makes children jealous in families still today. The brothers came up with this plan. They desired to kill Joseph by putting him into a dry cistern so that he would die of starvation. As they were eating their lunch near the pit, a band of merchants came by. The brothers figured that they may as well get some money out of their deed, so they sold Joseph into slavery. They placed blood upon the robe and asked Jacob if this was the one that belonged to the beloved son.

Now, after living with their guilt, lies, and, shame of what they did for a period of about 17 years, the brothers have been reunited with Joseph. He is no longer a lanky, unsure 17-year-old. Rather, he has become second in command of the entirety of Egypt. He says go do this. The order is carried out, no questions asked. Jacob has recently died, and the brothers are wondering, what now? We no longer have dear old dad to protect us. We did all these bad things to Joseph, surely now he is going to get his revenge.”

 Much like the brothers, we let favoritism, jealousy, anger, as well as many other emotions rule over our lives. Parents still play favorites with their children, preferring one child over the other. Children play favorites with each other, “You can play with me on the playground today but not you.” Families easily fracture apart into various camps when gossip is told about what a family member did. How often have you said a word in anger that you wished you could take back? Someone says something that annoys you and we lash out in anger. Our favorite sports team loses the game. What happens? You become sad and mope the rest of the day. Jealousy rules over our lives when we see that our neighbor has something better than we do, so we let jealousy and covetous rule, as we seek to get better things for ourselves upon this earth by any means necessary. 

All of this, plus many more sinful actions, shows as clear as day that you and I deserve to be paid back for the evil we have done. We have angered. We have killed in our thoughts and words. We have lied and our words have not told the truth. We played favorites. We break God’s Law and we deserve Him to wipe us out from the face of the earth. We do not deserve to even be a slave in His household.

1.    God used Brother’s evil for good, saving of many lives even now

Yet, the brothers do not get what they deserve, nor do we. Rather than seeking revenge, Joseph shows mercy, grace, and forgiveness to his brothers. He does not say, “Finally! You are going to be slaves and in prison for just as long as I was, that will teach you a lesson!” Rather, he says, “You meant it for evil, but God meant it for good, for the saving of many lives.” 

The brothers meant evil. God used their evil action for His good purpose. If the brothers had not sold Joseph into slavery, he would not have been there to become second in command. Millions of people would have died in the ensuing years famine, the family of Jacob among them. This meant that there would have been no Israel. The family line of the Messiah would have died out. Thus, in His gracious will and mercy, God uses the brother’s evil for His good. Joseph is sold into slavery in Egypt. He does suffer horribly. Yet, he learns from his suffering. We are not told when but he forgives his brothers for their evil, even if they are unaware of the forgiveness, and even now speaks kindly to them, including taking care of them, their flocks, and their children.

The grace and forgiveness that Joseph shows to his brothers mirrors the forgiveness given to us in Jesus Christ. Joseph does not wash over their sin or say, “It’s okay.” Rather he forgave their sin and showed the great mercy of God and how God used even their evil action for their good.

The same is true of us. God does not wash over our sins and say, “It’s okay. Rather, God washes us in the blessed waters of Holy Baptism, washing us in the blood of the Lamb, Jesus Christ. The forgiveness of sins was given to us when we were unaware of it, the same as Joseph’s brothers. It was given, as Saint Paul writes, “While we were still enemies of God, Christ died for us.” Jesus died upon the cross for us. He took your sins, and mine. In exchange, Jesus gives us His perfect righteousness.  Rather than speaking harshly to us. Rather than repaying evil for evil, our Lord speaks kindly to us. He says, “You are loved. You are precious in my sight. See, My hands, feet, and side. See how vast and deep my love for you is. You are my child, now and forever.”

This is true, even in the midst of the evil of the world. The brothers meant evil for Joseph and God used it for good for the saving of many lives. Evil still happens in our lives, in the world, and in our communities today. Jealousy over not having the best, anger over someone acting stupid on the roadway, the murdering of children, both in the womb and outside. People are getting hungry and thirsty while others have clean water and full fridges. Seeing all this evil around us gives you and I an opportunity to proclaim God’s Word.  As Luther writes in one of his house postil’s “If we want to be Christians, we must be merciful in the same way our heavenly Father is merciful; not merely to our friends, nor only to those engaged in wrongdoing, but to everyone. That includes those whom we dislike, those who dislike and persecute us, people of whom we think: “[they’re not even worth a hello.]” (Luter’s House Postil, Vol. 2, page 259)” 

We do not need to fear that God will repay evil for evil because He has promised there is love and forgiveness freely given by Jesus Christ. We show that love and forgiveness freely, just as Joseph did to his brothers and as Christ has done for you. Jesus Christ died and rose from the dead so that you could be forgiven and proclaim that forgiveness in your thoughts, words, and actions, until the day when He grants you deliverance.

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, guard, and keep, your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.