In the Beginning, Part 53: The Coat and the Cup
When Joseph’s brothers sold him into slavery, they took his coat and used it to bring great pain to their father. But when a missing cup threatens the life of their youngest brother Benjamin, Judah is willing to offer his own life instead.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS FOR SHEPHERD GROUPS
- What is one thing about this message that was particularly helpful, challenging, or encouraging for you?
- Read and discuss Genesis 44. What clues show us that Joseph is not after revenge, but repentance?
- Where do you see themes of good and evil, guilt and innocence played out in these passages?
- What do the coat and the cup represent in the narrative?
- Read back through Genesis 37. What differences do you note in how the brothers treated Joseph then as opposed to how they regard Benjamin here in chapter 44?
- How has Judah changed? How do his actions in Genesis 44 portray or foreshadow the gospel?
- Why must we see ourselves as “guilty but forgiven”? How does the gospel enable us to carry this tension?
- Is there someone you are holding hostage in your mind or heart? Where do you need to die to self interest, revenge or bitterness regarding that person? What would it look like to release that person in the power of the gospel?