Genesis 37:15-18
And a certain man found him, and, behold, he was wandering in the field: and the man asked him, saying, What seekest thou? And he said, I seek my brethren: tell me, I pray thee, where they feed their flocks. And the man said, They are departed hence; for I heard them say, Let us go to Dothan. And Joseph went after his brethren, and found them in Dothan. And when they saw him afar off, even before he came near unto them, they conspired against him to slay him.
I love this little phrase from Joseph.
“I seek my brethren.”
That is not the language of resentment. That is not the language of distance. That is not the language of a young man saying, “I am done with those guys. Let them figure it out themselves.” No, Joseph is looking for them. He is seeking them. He is pursuing them because his father sent him, and because that is where his heart is.
And once again, you can see Jesus so clearly here.
For what did Jesus say?
Luke 19:10
For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.
Joseph says, “I seek my brethren.”
Jesus says, “I came to seek and save.”
That is beautiful.
Joseph is wandering in the field, not because he is confused spiritually, but because he is determined. He has not found them yet, but he is still searching. He is not turning back. He is not saying, “Well, I tried.” He keeps going until he finds them.
That, too, is a glimpse of Christ.
Because Jesus did not merely come near the lost. He sought them out. He came after us. He entered the field of this fallen world looking for brethren who were not looking for Him.
Think about that.
Joseph is searching for men who hate him.
Jesus came seeking people who would reject Him.
That is grace.
And then the scene turns dark.
Joseph is told, “They have moved on. They are in Dothan now.” So Joseph keeps going. He goes after his brethren and finds them in Dothan.
And what happens?
Before he even gets near them, before a word is exchanged, before there is any conversation at all, they see him afar off and conspire to kill him.
That is chilling.
He is coming in love.
They are waiting in hatred.
He is seeking reconciliation.
They are planning destruction.
And again, the picture points to Jesus.
Before many of the Jewish leaders ever really knew Him, before they listened honestly, before they weighed His words fairly, the plot was already taking shape.
John 5:18
Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God.
That is the pattern.
Joseph is afar off, and the conspiracy is already alive.
Jesus is ministering openly, and the hatred is already burning.
It is amazing, really. The one sent by the father, the one seeking his brethren, is the very one the brethren want destroyed.
And there is something painfully honest here about the human heart. Left to itself, the heart does not naturally welcome the sent one. It resists him. It suspects him. It plots against him. Joseph did not come with a sword in his hand. He came seeking his brothers. But because their hearts were already twisted by envy and hatred, they interpreted his very presence as a threat.
The same was true of Jesus.
He came healing, teaching, serving, loving, reaching. Yet sinful men looked at Him and said, in effect, “We have got to get rid of Him.”
That is what sin does.
It turns love into threat.
It turns truth into offense.
It turns the seeking Savior into an enemy.
But Joseph keeps coming.
I like that.
He does not stop at the first obstacle. He does not go back when he cannot find them in the first place. He asks. He listens. He keeps walking. He goes all the way to Dothan.
So did Jesus.
He came all the way.
All the way into our world. All the way into rejection. All the way into betrayal. All the way into the hands of sinful men. All the way to the cross.
And why?
Because He was seeking His brethren.
Saints, that ought to do something in us. Because when we were wandering, when we were distant, when we were lost in the field, He came seeking us. And not only when we were confused, but when we were hostile. Not only when we were needy, but when we were resistant.
He came anyway.
That is the glory of Christ.
And there is a practical word here too. If you are going to walk with the Father, there will be times when your love is misunderstood. Times when your obedience is misread. Times when you go in sincerity and are met with suspicion or coldness or even hostility. Joseph knows something about that. More importantly, Jesus knows everything about that.
So do not be surprised if seeking brethren sometimes leads you into pain.
It led Joseph there.
It led Jesus there.
But thank God, the hatred of man never overturned the purpose of the Father. Not in Joseph’s story. Not in the gospel story either.
What men meant for evil, God meant for salvation.
Beloved, thank God for the greater Joseph, the One who could say in truth, “I seek my brethren,” and who kept coming even when death was waiting in the distance. Thank God for Jesus Christ, who sought us, found us, and saved us. And may the Lord give us hearts that keep going in obedience, even when the field is hard and the welcome is uncertain.