I’m watching Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat today (the DVD version). It’s one of my favorite musicals, and one that I am determined one day to participate in. Being a Bible story, I obviously knew the plot long before I was ever introduced to the show, so it isn’t new to me by any means. However, something struck me today as I was watching.
Toward the end of the show, Joseph reveals to his brothers who he is (they don’t recognize him) saying:
Can’t you recognize my face? Is it hard to see that Joseph, who you thought was dead, your brother, is me?
He then embraces each of the brothers one by one and the expression on their faces is what got to me. I never really thought about it before, but this is such a powerful and personal scene.
Joseph’s brothers committed a crime of passion, being overcome by their jealousy and pride and selling him into slavery. He was still their brother though, someone they had grown up with, and for all they knew he was now dead as a result of their actions. I think back to when I was younger and was jealous of my siblings or upset with them for one reason or another. Despite those temporary negative feelings, I could never imagine my life without them. I have a sensitive conscience, and tend to feel bad about even the smallest things, but I imagine even if Joseph’s brothers had thicker skin than I do, they probably still reached a point of feeling remorse for their choice.
Imagine, then, how it must have felt for them to be reunited with the brother they’d lost so many years ago. So incredible! What an amazing experience for this somewhat-dysfunctional-yet-not-atypical family.