Genesis 43:17-18

And the man did as Joseph bade; and the man brought the men into Joseph’s house. And the men were afraid, because they were brought into Joseph’s house; and they said, Because of the money that was returned in our sacks at the first time are we brought in; that he may seek occasion against us, and fall upon us, and take us for bondmen, and our asses.

The brothers were terrified, not relieved.

Joseph had them brought into his house, and instead of thinking, Maybe this is mercy, they thought, This is it. He is finally going to lower the boom on us. He is going to make slaves out of us. He is going to punish us for the money in our sacks. He is even going to take our donkeys.

That is how guilt thinks.

A guilty heart does not expect kindness. It expects judgment. It reads grace as a setup. It reads mercy as a trap. It assumes that being called near means being called in for punishment.

And people still do the same thing with Jesus.

There are still people who think, I have failed too badly. I have sinned too much. I have wandered too far. If I come to the Lord now, He is going to scold me, chain me up, and strip me of everything. That is how the natural heart thinks, because that is how we think. We know how we would respond. We know how fallen people respond. We know how revenge rises in us.

But the Lord is not like us.

That is why Isaiah says,

For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord.
For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.

God says, in effect, You are thinking like man. I do not think like that. You are expecting retaliation. I move in mercy. You are bracing for wrath. I am preparing grace.

That is one of the hardest lessons for us to learn. God is better than we think He is. Not softer toward sin, but better in heart than we imagine. He is not hunting for reasons to blast His people. He is looking for ways to bless. The psalmist said it simply and well. God is good.

Just plain good.

That is the mistake Joseph’s brothers are making here. They think being brought into Joseph’s house means they are about to lose everything, when in reality they are about to sit down at his table. They fear chains when Joseph is preparing a feast. They fear slavery when Joseph is arranging fellowship. They fear loss when grace is already at work.

And that is still how many people think about the Lord’s Table. They stay away because they know their failures. They know their weakness. They know their inconsistency. They know the stubborn places in their own hearts. So they conclude, I had better stay back. I had better not come near. But that is backwards. We do not come because we are whole. We come because we are needy. We do not come because we are strong. We come because we are weak.

You do not tell a sick man to get well before going to the doctor. You do not tell an injured man to heal himself before entering the hospital. And you do not tell a sinner to clean himself up before coming to Jesus. You come because you need Him.

That is what Communion is about. It is not a celebration of our worthiness. It is a remembrance of His finished work. We come to the Table because His body was broken and His blood was shed for people exactly like us. People who fail. People who fear. People who misread His heart. People who still need mercy.

In fact, when Paul corrected the Corinthians, the issue was not that they were too joyful around the Table, but that their celebration had become careless and fleshly. That tells you something about how the early church saw it. They did not approach it as though Jesus was reluctantly tolerating them. They saw the Table as a place of fellowship, grace, and remembrance.

And that is what Joseph is showing us here.

His brothers think, He is bringing us in to condemn us.

Joseph is saying, Get the meal ready.

That is the heart of the Lord. When sin abounds, grace abounds much more. The guilty expect prison. Jesus prepares a table. The fearful expect chains. Jesus offers bread and wine. The ashamed expect to be sent away. Jesus says, Come in.