In Genesis 37:31-33, Joseph’s brothers have sold him into slavery, and now they dip his robe in goat blood and show it to their father. It is a horrible part of the story, and an unimaginable tragedy for Joseph, Jacob, and the entire family.
But Luther, in his commentary, says “things go well with Jacob and Joseph.” How can he make such a bold and ridiculous assessment? Luther’s commentary on these verses is a glimpse into his broader theology, and it is full of wonder, comfort, and wisdom.
We studied it in the Worldwide Bible Class yesterday. Here is that audio and video, but more importantly, I’ve copied Luther’s commentary on these three verses below.
Genesis 37:31-33
Then they took Joseph’s robe and killed a goat and dipped the robe in the blood; and they sent the long robe with many threads and brought it to their father and said: This we have found; see now whether it is your son’s robe or not. And he recognized it and said: It is my son’s robe; a wild beast has devoured him; Joseph is without doubt torn to pieces.
Joseph’s Brother’s Hardened Hearts
They add another piece of deceit by which they may both cover their deed more easily and afflict and torture their father more severely. For they take Joseph’s robe and dip it into the blood of a goat and send it to him to persuade him that Joseph has been torn to pieces by a wild beast. But how far God is from their sight! How smugly and without all fear they do everything! They take no thought how their aged father may be affected by such an unexpected and sad message. They might at least have taken this precaution not to terrify him by the unusual and atrocious sight of a bloody garment, the saddest object with which the wretched and decrepit old man could have been confronted. It would have been milder to indicate to the father that the son had been intercepted on his journey by robbers and abducted and that they had not seen him and did not know how he had perished and that he had perhaps fallen into the hands of enemies in the neighborhood, the Ishmaelites and Midianites to whom they had sold him. But none of these suggestions enters their minds, and they do not spare their father but augment his grief of heart with a sad and horrible object.
It is a case of outstanding and diabolical ill will by which Satan delights to pour out all his cruelty and savagery upon an excellent old man. They are plunged into horrible sins, and they remain entangled in them against their conscience and without any repentance, without any feeling of godliness. For throughout the 22 years that followed, they lived without prayer, the fear of God, and all the spiritual exercises without which they were not able to have godly aspirations. First it was necessary to acknowledge their sin and to make a reconciliation with their father and brother.
What Does God Do?
In the meantime, what does God do? What does our Lord God do about this matter? Where are those magnificent promises: “I will be your Protection and Reward, etc.” (cf. Gen. 15:1) and “Grow and multiply; I will be with you” (Gen. 35:11; 31:3)? Do not all things appear to be quite different from such great promises? For He does not seem to know them or care for them but rather to have thrown them to the devil since, indeed, He allows a holy father to be tortured in such a wretched manner by the furious ragings of his sons. Or shall we say that God was mindful of His promises? Indeed, no statement or judgment has less right to be made. But David saw this and proclaimed after the deed was done what cannot in any way be discerned in the critical time of trial. For he says (cf. Ps. 105:17): “He sent a man ahead of them to save Jacob.”
God’s Strange Way of Working
But of what kind is this mission? What is this idiom, to send a savior into Egypt to save Jacob and his whole house? How is he sent? He is thrown into a pit; he is sold; his father is killed. Is this sending a savior? It is, indeed, but in accordance with God’s idiom. For he is appointed king, but God alone sees it. Jacob and Joseph do not see it inasmuch as they are involved in the greatest trouble and grief. This, then, is a special and heavenly language, to send a savior and to appoint a king by hurling him into a pit and hell. We should therefore accustom our hearts to this language so that we may learn to understand what David says elsewhere (cf. Ps. 37:12, 13): “The wicked plots against the righteous and gnashes his teeth at him; but the Lord laughs at the wicked, for He sees that his day is coming on which he will perish, etc.” This we cannot do. We cannot look forward and retain faith, excepting a very weak faith. But God holds very fast to His promises, so to say, and so far is He from forgetting them that He even looks forward and laughs at His adversaries, and, indeed, He even casts His vote against them, as is stated in Ps. 2:4 in the words: “He who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord has them in derision.”
We Can’t See, So What Do We Do?
“And yet I do not see.” Quite correct! These examples are set forth so that in our trials we may reflect that our adversaries are being laughed at and that punishments are being decided on for them, but that we, however much we are afflicted, are chosen, loved, cared for, and regarded, but in a hidden manner, as Isaiah says (Is. 45:15): “Truly Thou art a God who hidest Thyself, O God of Israel, the Savior.”
It is therefore sufficient for us to have the Word and the sacraments, in which God appears to us, but the fruit and the end of the signs will follow in His own time. In the meantime, we sustain ourselves by this thought: “I have the sign and the Word; I shall firmly cling to these, however much the world and Satan rage against me and overwhelm me with calamities of every kind.” Let us only make it our business to suffer whatever it is with a good conscience, for there is no doubt that we are in high favor with God and precious to Him but that our adversaries are being kept for very heavy punishments and tortures under the bitter derision of God. For the laughter of our Lord God bestows the fire of hell, as is stated in the following words of the psalm (Ps. 2:5): “Then He will speak to them in His wrath and terrify them in His fury.” Indeed, be on your guard against such laughter!
Better to Endure Sin than to Commit Sin
Jacob and Joseph are sons of grace before God, but those who did the selling are sons of derision, damnation, and wrath. Would that we could learn these matters and in some way hold fast to them! For the flesh offers opposition, and yet it is certain that a life of suffering is the best and most precious life, and so much so that it does not need the remission of sins because it is without sin. I am saying these things of the godly, that is, of those who suffer in their faith in Christ. These do not sin, but they endure and bear the sins of others. There is an excellent statement indeed from Socrates which says: “It is better to bear injustice than to commit it,”41 for he who bears it does not sin, but he who commits it sins. He who is conscious of doing right and feels that he is being afflicted unjustly, relies on his innocence and at the same time looks to the promise of rescue. So he does not fall into a panic and is not broken in spirit. For he knows that he is harming no one but is bearing the injuries and sins of others. When the solid rock is standing there, namely, a good conscience, nothing can harm us; even though Caiaphas and Iscariot should come and rage, we nevertheless carry off the victory.
A Good Conscience is Like a Firm Rock
A good conscience is like the firmest rock, on which the godly rely in their affliction, and with great and high courage they despise the threats of all adversaries, as is written in 1 Peter 3:13–14: “Now who is there to harm you if you are zealous for what is right? But even if you do suffer for righteousness’ sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled.”
On the contrary, when those who have inflicted wrong are afflicted, they quake with fear and fall into a horrible panic and, as the poet says, they plainly turn pale at every thunderbolt.42 “Woe is me!” they exclaim, “I have merited this punishment by my wickedness and arrogance! What shall I do? Where am I to turn?” This is assuredly a wretched torment of the conscience accusing and condemning itself.
Things are Going Well?!
Therefore things go well with Jacob and Joseph, although they do not laugh or acknowledge their good fortune in this critical condition. For he is truly a blessed man who in temptation is so constituted that he can come to this conclusion: “Even though heaven and earth should be thrown into confusion and the world should crash into ruin,43 and the world with its prince and all the gates of hell (Matt. 16:18) should vent its worst madness, what is that to me? I have a good conscience, for I bear the cross and the wrongs inflicted by others; I do not harm anyone; I do not sin. Besides I have my absolution and the sacraments. Come what may, I shall not be moved and fall into a panic. Woe to those who sin and afflict me!” For it is the mark of Christians not to be angry and not to be indignant in regard to evil inflicted on themselves. Although the flesh is accustomed to grumble after its own fashion, the spirit is not angry, but rather thinks: “Woe to you! You have not done this to me, you have done it to yourself. You have offended yourself in particular, not me!” In this way Jacob and Joseph were able to say: “You do not sell, cast off, and kill me, but yourselves.” The flesh, indeed, thinks otherwise, but this is how the spirit feels.
Do We Do Anything About Wickedness?
But now someone will ask: “What, then, is to be done? Is the rein to be loosened to ungodliness and no curb to be placed upon the fury and ill will of men by laws or punishments, but, in addition, should thanks be rendered to a wicked man for injury inflicted on us, and must we say: ‘You have done me no harm. Do what pleases you, and I shall be glad to suffer it!’? Will not evil men in this way be invited to increase and augment their outrageous sins when, indeed, we teach that troubles placed in our way by others should be borne with joy and a good conscience?”
My reply is that to us there has been entrusted the ministry of the Law and the Gospel according to the direction of Paul: “Rebuke, be urgent in season and out of season, be confident in reproof and blame, and even be angry and indignant with sin” (cf. 2 Tim. 4:2). This pertains to the ministry of the Law and the duty of fathers, teachers, magistrates and, indeed, private citizens also for the sake of brotherly reproof and admonition which has been entrusted by God to individuals so that as far as possible we may resist evil, each one in his own station, and take precautions that evil men do not rage with impunity either against us or against others. If that is done and nothing helps, I must be content and say: “You will punish not me, your teacher, but yourself.”44 When we have made no progress by all these means, the only thing left for us to do is to be content at heart and wait for the vengeance of God. For they will experience to their great loss that they have gravely injured not others but themselves. The devil will be able to attend to their tortures!
Suffering is to Our Advantage
But we have this consolation, that the more they vex, afflict, and torment us, the more they increase our glorious crown in heaven. In the meantime, however, they must be reproved, not in such a way that we harm them but that we may bring evildoers back onto the right way, lest they run up against the hatred and wrath of God, who is a consuming fire (Heb. 12:29) for those who do not repent. In this manner we resist evil with the ministry of Word and sword, and yet, the evils which cannot be averted we bear to our great advantage but to their detriment and destruction.
I Am A Christian
This is the theology and wisdom of Christians; and although we have not yet attained thereto, we should nevertheless be exercised therein and accustomed thereto daily so that in a crisis and the disasters which we endure we may be able to say with steadfast and tranquil heart: “You cannot harm me; I am a Christian. You are not harming me but benefiting me. Take heed to yourself!” What harm does the selling and exile do Joseph? Indeed, for what did it not benefit him? Or how could the brothers have provided him with greater honor and dignity? For in the very thing by which they try to hinder and crush him, they most conveniently raise him to that pinnacle and peak of sovereignty which he had dreamt of a little while ago.
Do Good to Us By Doing Evil
In regard to this line of thought there is also a celebrated dictum of Gregory: “The ungodly do good to us by doing evil.”45 And Augustine says of the infants slain by Herod that an enemy with his whole strength and all the resources of his kingdom could not have benefited the children more than by killing them.46
Accordingly, God humbles those who are His to exalt them; He kills them to make them alive; He confounds them to glorify them; He makes them subject to raise them up. This is the art of arts and science of sciences which is not usually learned or discovered except with great toil and by a few; but it is nevertheless sure and certain, as this example testifies, for what is stated in Ps. 105:21 is true: “The Lord appointed Joseph king of Egypt and lord and savior of many.” How? By having him sold, cast off, killed. These are works of God which are not understood unless they are fulfilled and completed. In the meantime, however, while they are being carried out, they cannot be grarosped except by faith alone. For it is necessary simply to hold fast to this: “I BELIEVE IN GOD THE FATHER ALMIGHTY, Maker of heaven and earth, etc.”
God’s Hidden Work
In the same manner, when I am about to depart from this life, I support myself with this consolation that I believe in God’s Son. And yet I am buried; I am eaten by worms; I am consumed by the most foul rottenness, as Job says (Job 17:14): “I said to the rottenness, ‘You are my father,’ and to the worms, ‘My mother,’ or ‘My sister.’ ” Here I do not discern God’s plan, that although I die and rot away, I must at some time be revived. But God has promised and said (cf. John 14:19): “You will live, for I live, and you will live. I am the Lord your God!” How? In eternal life and with a more beautiful and brighter body than the body of the sun. At present I do not see or feel this, but I believe it and suffer this very short delay. For this life has already been prepared, and in the meantime the crown of the kingdom and glory is being prepared “which the Lord will give me on that Day, the righteous Judge,” as Paul says (2 Tim. 4:8), “and not only to me, but also to those who love His coming.”
But all these things are done in a hidden manner, and so the wonderful concealment of God must be borne and endured. Jacob and Joseph do not see the crown of the kingdom, nor do the brothers adore him on bended knees, as will happen later in Egypt, but by this selling future events are being prepared, and before God they are regarded as past and over. With our God this is as if it had already taken place. It certainly comes to pass!
These matters, then, have been written for our instruction (cf. Rom. 15:4), that we may learn to understand and exercise this faith which can bear death and all evils and yet in the midst of these can hope for life and rescue, which endures the violence and wrongs of others, although for duty’s sake it severely rebukes and reproves them; which for all that hates no one but pardons gladly, prays, hopes, wishes, and does good without desire of vengeance. We see this clearly in the example of Joseph, who does not remember the wrongs done to him and is not desirous of vengeance but does good to the basest of murderers who sold him.
Bear the Sword with Patience
In this manner those who have the power of chastisement and punishment either with the Word or the sword or the rod should accustom their heart to patience, faith, and love. “Let patience,” says James (1:4), “have the perfect work.” For he who is patient does not sin; “he who has died is freed from sin,” we read in Rom. 6:7. He who is patient in faith in Christ is truly holy. No sin remains in him. For whatever he suffers is sheer righteousness as pure as it can be.
These things are both written and carried out in the stories of the saints, but very weakly and imperfectly, as appears in the case of Jacob and Joseph. They did not, to be sure, call down any evil upon their sons and brothers or do them any evil, but it is likely that in both there was a great struggle against the weakness of the flesh. How often Joseph must have looked with tearful eyes in the direction of Hebron, where his father lived when he was taken away! With what sorrow he must have suffered this! Suddenly and unexpectedly he was taken from the sight of his father and from his home and led away to the authority of others! It was impossible for the flesh not to murmur, but the spirit conquers as it struggles in opposition and groans, enduring unjust violence without desire for vengeance, while these unmitigated scoundrels rage and indulge their hatred.
NOTES:
Excerpt from Luther’s Works, Vol 6, pp. 396-402.
41 Plato, Gorgias, 469.
42 Juvenal, Satires, XIII, 223.
43 Cf. p. 9, n. 6.
44 Cato, Disticha, II, 26.
45 Cf., for example, Gregory, Moralia in Job, XI, 2, Patrologia, Series Latina, LXXV, 954–955.
46 Augustine (?), Ad catechumenos sermo alius, 4, Patrologia, Series Latina, XL, 655.
