It was all downhill for Joseph.  Joseph started out on top of the world.  Joseph was his father’s favorite, even though he was not the oldest or the next oldest.  He was the 11th son of Jacob, but was his father’s favorite because he was the first child born to Jacob’s true love, Rachel.

Jacob honored Joseph with an expensive coat – the coat of many colors.  That made his brothers jealous.  And Joseph thought he was pretty special, too.  He had dreams in which, first, his brothers and, then, his father and his brothers all bowed down to him.

            That his brothers angry.  One day, when he came out to the fields, they decided to kill him.  The oldest, Reuben, put a stop to it.  But still his brothers stripped him and threw him into a pit.  When some slave traders bound for Egypt passed by, they sold Joseph to them.  They ripped up his precious coat and poured lamb’s blood on it.  They gave it to their father and told him his favorite son had been mauled by a mountain lion.  And Jacob wept like he would die.

            When Joseph went down to Egypt , he did well.  He was sold as a slave to Potiphar, an officer in the pharaoh’s army.  He gained Potiphar’s trust and Potiphar put Joseph in charge of his entire household, so that they only thing Potiphar had to do after a long day at the office was to decided what to have for dinner.

            But Potiphar’s wife had other designs on Joseph.  She tried to seduce him, but he resisted.  He kept resisting until one day she trapped him.  She grabbed his shirt when he ran.  She showed it to Potiphar and claimed that Joseph had tried to rape her.  Potiphar flew into a rage and had Joseph thrown into the dungeon.

            When Joseph was down in the dungeon, he did well.  He gained the trust of the chief jailer.  He cared for the other prisoners.  That is how, one day, he met the pharaoh’s cup bearer and the pharaoh’s baker.  They both had dreams.  Being a dreamer himself, Joseph correctly interpreted their dreams.  The cupbearer was restored to his position, but the baker was put to death. 

            The cupbearer forgot about Joseph, until the pharaoh himself had dreams that no one could understand.  The cupbearer remembered Joseph.  He was brought up before the pharaoh and he correctly interpreted them.  There was great famine that was coming.  The pharaoh must prepare during seven good years, Joseph told him, so that they would be ready for the seven lean years..

            And the pharaoh made Joseph his secretary of agriculture.  Joseph instituted a conservation program.  Food was saved for seven years, so when the famine came, no one died of hunger.

            That is how Joseph’s brothers came to Egypt . They were hungry.  They wanted to buy food.  They did not recognize him at first.  And he toyed with them awhile.  But eventually they were reunited.  They brought Jacob and the rest of his family to Egypt .  And the old man lived out his days in peace, knowing that his favorite son was still alive and was restored to him.

            At last Jacob died.  And the brothers were afraid that Joseph would now seek to revenge what they had done to him.  They went to him and said, “On his death bed, our father told us to tell you not to seek revenge on us for what we did to you.”

            But Joseph said, “Do not be afraid.  Am I in the place of God?  What you intended for evil God intended for good, that many people might be saved from hunger, as you can see.”

            Thus, Joseph resisted the temptation of the serpent – You will become like God, knowing good and evil.  No, Joseph says, I am not God and I do not truly know good from evil.  So, Joseph lived with his brothers in peace.

For Joseph it was all downhill.  He went down to the pit, down to Egypt , down to the dungeon.  He did not wallow in self-pity.  He did bemoan his fate.  He did not live a life of regret.  He was confident of who he was, and, despite what happened to him, he continued to trust God.  He continued to live a life of service, trusting that God would work everything else out.

            It’s all downhill for Jesus, too.  Jesus starts out on top, geographically and narratively.  In the middle of Mark’s gospel – chapter 8 – he takes the disciples on the long up-hill trek from Bethsaida , north of Galilee, up the slopes of Mount Hermon , to Caesarea Philippi.  He asks them, “Who do people think I am?  What are they saying?” 

            And the disciples say, “Some think you are John the Baptist.  Others think you are Elijah or one of the prophets.”

            But then Jesus says, “But you – what do you say about me?”

            Peter steps up and says, “You are the Messiah.”  What could be better than that?

            But Jesus knows differently.  He tells them, “I don’t want the word to get out.  I’m not what people expect.  I’m going to suffer and be rejected and killed and, after three days, I will rise again.”

            And this is not what people expect.  They expect that the Messiah will be the king.  He will cleanse the temple of corruption and take his place as the high priest.  He will drive the Roman rascals out and take his place on the throne in Jerusalem .  Then he would lead Israel to new heights of glory.  This is what Peter expects, too.  So, Peter tries to set him straight.  “This is never going to happen to you!”

            But Jesus says, “You are not thinking like God at all!  You are thinking like a man!  This is what’s going to happen to me.  It’s all downhill to Jerusalem and that’s where I’m going.  You better get ready for it, because it’s going to happen to you, too.  My path is not the path that goes up.  My path is the path that goes down.”

            This is the path of Jesus.  It is also the path that Joseph took.  It is the downward path. 

            This seems strange to us.  It is contrary to our expectations.  We tend to think that the spiritual path is one that will take us out of the trials and tribulations of this life, out of suffering, to some mountain, or, if not, to some plateau, even if it’s just a few inches off the ground.  But our true spiritual path is not one that removes us from suffering, but moves us toward suffering and the suffering of others, that we might be a blessing.

            You may not be ready to take up your cross.  I don’t know that anyone is.  But perhaps you are ready to take up the path of a seeker.  James Finley says that a seeker is someone in whom God’s grace has engendered a riddle.  In the seeker there is a question.  Perhaps it is – Who am I?  Why am I here?  Perhaps it is – Whom do I trust?  What happens after death?  Or maybe it is – How can I be a more grateful person?  How can I be a more joyful person?  How can I be a more patient person?  How can I be a more loving person?  A better husband or wife?  A better father or mother?  A better neighbor or friend?  And what do I need to give up in order to do that?  Is there some part of me needs to die in order to become that person?

            Because Jesus gave his life.  He gave his all.  He did not take the upward path.  He took the downward path to his own suffering and death, that we might know, in the midst of our own suffering and death, Jesus has been there.  He suffered and died and was raised from the dead, that we might know the power of God in our lives, and that God is not done with us yet.