Genesis 44:24 “When we went back to your servant my father, we told him the words of my lord. 25 And when our father said, ‘Go again, buy us a little food,’ 26 we said, ‘We cannot go down. If our youngest brother goes with us, then we will go down. For we cannot see the man's face unless our youngest brother is with us.’ 27 Then your servant my father said to us, ‘You know that my wife bore me two sons. 28 One left me, and I said, “Surely he has been torn to pieces,” and I have never seen him since. 29 If you take this one also from me, and harm happens to him, you will bring down my gray hairs in evil to Sheol.’
The account of Joseph and his brothers is one of painstaking details, rehashing the facts over and over. That's what guilt will do to us until everything is out in the open. It is part of the process of renewal and reconciliation: to dig out and deal with things forthrightly. It is Judah who speaks here - the same one who stood up and pleaded to not kill Joseph. In Christlike fashion, he steps in and offers to take the place of his younger brother, Benjamin, and be held till the others return with their father, completing the family reunion. The whole picture is emotionally agonizing, yet necessary. If we want things to really be made right, we need to deal with our past.
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