Be Still, Advent Day 8: The Curtain and the Cry

Then Joseph hurried out, for his compassion grew warm for his brother, and he sought a place to weep. And he entered his chamber and wept there” (Gen. 43:30).

If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes, Luke 19:41-44

Joseph wept.

Not out in the open. Not where his brothers could see him. He turned away, hid behind a curtain, and broke down. Why? Because the ones who betrayed him—the ones who threw him into a pit and sold him for silver—were now standing before him, desperate for help.

But here’s the twist: Joseph had the power. He could have humiliated them. Repaid pain for pain. Yet instead, he cried. Why?

Because Joseph saw the bigger picture.

A plan that turned betrayal into blessing, pain into power, and rejection into reconciliation. Joseph knew that everything he had endured was leading to this moment, not to destroy. But to restore.

Joseph’s story echoes a powerful moment in the New Testament: Jesus weeping over Jerusalem in Luke 19:41-44. As Jesus approached the city, He looked upon it with deep sorrow and said, “If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes.”

Let’s be real. Forgiveness feels like weakness when we’re the ones who were wronged. Why should we give grace to those who hurt us?

Because forgiveness doesn’t make you weak. It makes you free.

Joseph’s tears weren’t tears of defeat. They were the release of a heart so full of love, it had to overflow. A heart that had seen how God used the pit, the prison, and even the betrayal to position him for greatness.

Joseph didn’t let his past define him. He let God use it. He could look his brothers in the eye and say, “What you meant for evil, God meant for good.” That’s not just a happy ending; that’s a redeemed story.

Life will hand us betrayal. We are not immune from pits and prisons of our own.

The very thing meant to break us is the thing God will use to bless us.

Just as Joseph wept out of love and compassion for his brothers despite their betrayal, Jesus wept for Jerusalem out of deep love. Both Joseph and Jesus were rejected—Joseph by his brothers, Jesus by His people. Yet both responded with forgiveness and a desire for reconciliation.