Links for today’s readings:
Read: Genesis 40 Listen: (2:59), Read: Matthew 1 Listen: (3:29)
Links for this weekend’s readings:
Read: Genesis 41 Listen: (7:30), Read: Matthew 2 Listen: (3:18)
Read: Genesis 42 Listen: (5:08), Read: Matthew 3 Listen: (2:17)
Scripture Focus: Genesis 40.7-8, 23
7 So he asked Pharaoh’s officials who were in custody with him in his master’s house, “Why do you look so sad today?” 8 “We both had dreams,” they answered, “but there is no one to interpret them.” Then Joseph said to them, “Do not interpretations belong to God? Tell me your dreams.”
23 The chief cupbearer, however, did not remember Joseph; he forgot him.
Reflection: Dream On
By John Tillman
From favorite to outcast. From a son treated like a prince to a slave treated like a criminal. From dream teller to dream interpreter.
The ups and downs of Joseph’s life sound exciting in a story but would be awful to live through.
Joseph was rejected, abused, and nearly killed for his dreams. After his brothers’ attack, the muck of the cistern, the shame of enslavement, the shock of sexual abuse, the scandal of false accusation and being imprisoned for something he did not do, he must have been questioning his and his family’s interpretation of his dreams.
Instead of the Sun, Moon, and stars bowing to him, Joseph is imprisoned. Instead of being the dreamer, he hears others’ dreams. Instead of sharing dreams that make others jealous, he hears others’ dreams and wishes for a similar outcome.
I’ve often wondered if interpreting the dreams of the prisoners was a flash of hope for Joseph or a mark of despair.
Was it exciting to use his skills? Or, was it a painful reminder of his apparent failure? Did it boost confidence that God would fulfill his dreams? Or did he wonder why these men’s dreams should be fulfilled within days while he waited years? Did he see them as encouragement from God? Or did he wonder why a pagan cupbearer’s dream should come true, when his dream, given by the one true God, seemed denied?
The repetition in the last verse of this chapter, I think, hints at Joseph’s mood. “The chief cupbearer, however, did not remember Joseph; he forgot him.” (Genesis 40.23) Repeatedly, Joseph’s hopes were dashed and his dreams crashed.
Do you feel unremembered? Forgotten? Have you been in a downward spiral away from the dreams you thought God had for you? Have you gotten cast into cisterns, mired in mud, mistreated, or thrown in a prison of doubt?
Joseph’s journey is a picture for us of the path of Jesus, our suffering savior. As we follow Jesus, we will walk this path too.
Joseph was not forgotten in prison. Jesus was not abandoned in the grave. Certainly we are not forgotten or abandoned when the ups of our lives turn to downs.
Let us remain faithful in the downs and humble in the ups. Not every dream is of God, but every dream from God will come true. All God’s promises are “yes,” in Jesus.
Divine Hours Prayer: The Request for Presence
Be pleased, O Lord, to deliver me; O Lord, make haste to help me. — Psalm 40.14
– Divine Hours prayers from The Divine Hours: Prayers for Springtime by Phyllis Tickle.
Read more: Dream Like Joseph
Both of the Bible’s dreaming Josephs are sons of Jacob and lived for a time in Egypt.
Read more: Inaugurating The Era of the Servant
Jesus is the fulfillment of every era and every need. Today, his body, the church, is called to live out the era of love and service.
Dream on.