Now Reuben returned to the pit, and behold, Joseph was not in the pit; so he tore his garments. He returned to his brothers and said, “The boy is not there; as for me, where am I to go?” So they took Joseph’s tunic, and slaughtered a male goat and dipped the tunic in the blood; and they sent the varicolored tunic and brought it to their father and said, “We found this; please examine it to see whether it is your son’s tunic or not.” Then he examined it and said, “It is my son’s tunic. A wild beast has devoured him; Joseph has surely been torn to pieces!” So Jacob tore his clothes, and put sackcloth on his loins and mourned for his son many days. Then all his sons and all his daughters arose to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted. And he said, “Surely I will go down to Sheol in mourning for my son.” So his father wept for him. Meanwhile, the Midianites sold him in Egypt to Potiphar, Pharaoh’s officer, the captain of the bodyguard. (Genesis 37:29-36)

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Sin is self-executive. Every sin pays its own bills. There’s a hell of suffering in every sin. When sin is let into the life, its brood— pain, broken hearts, broken lives, remorse, and worse—comes in too, and some day will break out and run riot, unless a stronger power intervenes. Jesus’ dying is appreciated fully only where sin’s badness is fully recognized.

“The Bent Knee Time” Samuel D. Gordon