Joseph Could Not Restrain Himself

After Judah's plea, the testing is over. Joseph orders everyone out of the room except his brothers. Then he reveals himself, weeping loudly.

Joseph couldn't hold it together anymore. The performance ends. He's undone by his brother's loyalty, by the evidence of repentance, by the presence of Benjamin. He breaks.

All the strength, all the strategy, all the wise rule he's exercised - it breaks in front of his family. His brothers. The vulnerability of that moment is what makes the reconciliation possible. It's not Joseph the prime minister reconciling with them. It's Joseph the brother who missed them.

I needed that breakdown in my own reconciliation with my siblings. The person who had the most status had to become small first.