“Are not your brothers pasturing the flock at Shechem? Come, I will send you to them.” Genesis 37:13
The fact that the brothers were at Shechem would have given Jacob reason for concern. Shechem was the place where the brothers committed the atrocity that made Jacob’s name stink. The men of Shechem were dead, but there would be other clans in the neighborhood out for revenge.
Jacob loved these boys and he was concerned for them, even though they had sinned against him. So he calls Joseph: “Come, I will send you to them,” and Joseph says, “Here I am” (37:13). The father is sending the son on a dangerous journey, because of his great love for the sons who have made his name stink in the land.
The father seeks the good of those who rebel against him, “Go now, see if it is well with your brothers and with the flock, and bring me word” (37:14). Jesus said, “As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you” (John 20:21), and “I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves” (Matt. 10:16).
Joseph leaves the father’s house, goes out from the place where he is protected, and sets out on a dangerous journey. Having been sent, his mission is to seek the brothers. But he comes to Shechem, and the brothers aren’t there.
It would have been reasonable for Joseph to return to his father and say, “Dad, I couldn’t find them.” But Joseph doesn’t do that. We are told that a man found him wandering in the fields (Gen. 37:15). Joseph eventually found them at Dothan (37:17), a 64-mile journey! Some of us have run a 26-mile marathon. Double that and then add another half again and you have the length that Joseph went to seek his brothers. He would not give up.
Thank God Jesus does not give up seeking us when we are not where we are supposed to be. Jesus came to seek and to save that which was lost.
Think about the distance Jesus was willing to come for us.
