According to midrash (i.e., ancient Jewish commentary), just before Joseph revealed his true identity he turned to his brothers and said, “You told me that your brother Joseph died. Are you sure?” “Yes, we are; he’s dead,” the brothers replied. Joseph then became angry and said, “How can you lie? You sold him as a slave. I bought him myself and can call him right now.” Joseph then called out, “Joseph, son of Jacob, come here right now to speak to your brothers!” Terrified, the brothers turned to see if Joseph was coming….
When he overheard his brothers contritely preparing to meet their brother and to beg for his forgiveness, Joseph then looked at them and said in a loud voice: “Who are you looking for? אֲנִי יוֹסֵף הַעוֹד אָבִי חָי – I am Joseph. Is my father still alive?” (Notice that Joseph revealed himself to his brothers using Hebrew speech as the token of his identity.) When he saw his brothers draw back in fear at his shocking disclosure, Joseph reassured them by saying, ge’shu na elai – “Please come near to me; come and see…”
On a peshat level (i.e., literal sense), when Joseph revealed his identity he was asking his brothers if his father Jacob was still physically alive (i.e., ani Yosef – ha’od avi chai: “I am Joseph; is my father still alive?”). This is puzzling, since in earlier encounters the brothers attested that Jacob was very much alive… On a sod level (i.e., in a mysterious sense), since Joseph is a picture of Yeshua (Mashiach ben Yosef), the question can be phrased, “I am Yeshua – is My father alive?,” that is, do you now understand the righteousness of God the Father in raising me from the dead and promoting me to His right hand? Yeshua therefore evokes the confession of faith from the beloved Jewish people: “I am your brother Yeshua: do you now understand that My Father is alive?”
For more on this fascinating topic, see “The Disguised Egyptian.”