Message of the Week

The Little White Community Church

Scripture: Genesis 40: 1-8                                  

June 7, 2026                             

Message: “Remember Me!”

By Pastor George Gnade

Play to Listen

6:51

Introduction:

1. As most of you know, we have been studying the story of Joseph who was sold into Egypt as a slave (Gen. 37). At first things worked out pretty good as he was bought by Potiphar , a captain  of the guards, who treated him well. But when Potiphar’s wife lied about Joseph and said he had sexually abused her, he ended up in prison (Gen. 39).

2. Now this prison was the place where the king’s prisoners were kept. So Joseph found himself in some elite company (Gen. 39:20). 

a. But once again, God gave him favor in the eyes of the keeper of the prison (Gen. 39:21-22).

b. Recognizing Joseph’s leadership skills, he put Joseph in charge of all the prisoners under his care. That brings us to the passage we are studying today.

A. Consider the background to this story.

1. The king of Egypt became angry with two men working under him, namely his butler and his baker (Gen. 40:1-2).

a. His baker prepared the food he was eating and his butler tasted the wine and food to make sure the king was not poisoned. Imagine if they worked together.

b. Under suspicion, he had them put in prison, placing them under Joseph’s care. One morning Joseph found them anxious and depressed. 

2. They had both had dreams, bad dreams that scared them. They shared them with Joseph, who agreed the dreams had importance and offered to help them.

a. In those days, they believed dreams could be important; and when Joseph asked God what they meant, God told Joseph their meaning.

B. Consider the dreams for a few minutes.

1. The butler who tasted his wine saw a vision of a vine with three branches which budded and bloomed. 

a. He then picked the grapes, squeezed them, and gave the juice to the king. Joseph told the butler that in three days, he would be restored to his position.

b. Joseph said: “When all goes well, remember me and my kindness; mention me to Pharaoh and get me out of this prison… for I am innocent and have done no wrong” (Gen. 40:14-15).

2. Seeing he got a good report, the baker shared his dream, how he had three baskets full of baked goods on his head but the birds came to eat them.

a. Sadly, his dream did not have a happy ending. Joseph told him that in three days he would be hanged and the birds would come eat his flesh.

b. Just as Joseph had said, in three days, Pharaoh had a birthday and gave a feast to his officials. The butler was restored while the baker was hanged.

3. But the butler “did not remember Joseph. He forgot him (Gen. 40:23).

C. Please consider some of the applications this has for us. As we learned from previous sermons, Joseph reminds us of the Lord Jesus Christ.

1. Like the Baker, Jesus was taken and crucified and probably would have been eaten by the birds if his body had remained on the cross.

a. But God laid it on the hearts of Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemas to take his body off the cross and place Him in a grave cut out of a rock where Jesus was buried for three days before God raised him from the dead.

b. But Jesus did not die by Himself. He was crucified between two thieves. 

2. These two thieves mocked Him along with the crowds. But the more the second thief listened, the more he learned about Jesus and His coming kingdom.

a. In plain words, he heard the gospel for the first time. The Holy Spirit touched him and he stopped mocking Jesus and started to really listen to Jesus.

b. He told his fellow thief that they deserved to die but this man was innocent.

3. Then he turned and said to Jesus: “Remember me when you come into your kingdom” (Luke 23:42-43).

a. I believe we all know the answer that Jesus gave to him. He said: “Today you will be with me in paradise.”

b. Unlike the butler who forgot about Joseph, Jesus kept His word.

4. The Bible teaches us that Jesus was tempted in every way like unto us (Heb. 4:15) and that included being hanged on a cross. 

a. That means Jesus understood the thief and was willing to forgive the thief and welcome him into the gates of heaven, not because he deserved it, but because he chose to take a stand with Jesus.

b. Whoever will put his faith in Christ can and will be saved by accepting Jesus as his Savior. I hope all of us have done that.

D. But there is one more application to consider.

1. After Joseph helped the butler, he asked him to “remember me before Pharaoh.” But the butler forgot all about him till much later.

a. Jesus is the greater Joseph and when He died in our place, He asked us to remember Him till He comes again.

b. Yet many of us are no better than the butler.  Even after many people pray to get saved and go to heaven, they forget all about the One who saved them. They rarely think of Him at all. May God forgive us for not taking our faith more seriously. 

2. In fact, Jesus has given us a very special way to remember Him. It is called the Lord’s Supper.

a. Before Jesus was tried and crucified, Jesus celebrated the Feast of Passover with His disciples.  Accept, Jesus gave it a new meaning.  From that day on, Jesus told them to eat the bread and drink from the cup “in remembrance of me.”

b. In fact, He asked us to remember Him in this way “till He comes again” (I Cor. 11:23-26). As I have explained every time we partake, the bread represents His body that was broken on the cross and the cup represents His blood that was shed on the cross.

3. Like the baker who was hanged, so Jesus was hanged. But the baker deserved it. Like Joseph, Jesus did not deserve it. He did it for us. The thief knew he deserved it. But Jesus died for him too.

a. The Bible says we all have sinned and every one of us deserves it (Rom. 3:23).

b. But Jesus died for everyone who will humbly come to Him and ask for His forgiveness and ask Him to come and live in his heart (John 1:12; I John 1:9).

4. If you believe that, you are invited to partake along with us. As you do, remember Him and thank Him for all He has done for you. Amen!