Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Judah and redemption

My Bible reading yesterday was Genesis 43-45, which is the beginning of the end of the Joseph story. I was amazed at the solemnity and the beauty of Judah's plea for Benjamin at the end of chapter 44. He explains that his father has already lost a beloved son (Joseph) and that to lose another would kill him, and how could he (Judah) return to his father with that news? In essence, "please take me, my lord, instead of him."

I've been used to thinking of Joseph, if anyone, as the Christ figure in this story. Joseph who saves his people, who gives them bread, who forgives. And that is surely there.

But it seemed to me on this reading that Judah (how appropriate, the one from whose line Jesus would come) is a Christ figure too. "Please take me, my lord, instead of him."

It isn't a if either Joseph or Judah is an exact representation of Jesus. But there are echoes of His grace and power just reverberating all through this story. These are - Judah and Joseph both - redeemed men. Joseph through forgiveness and Judah through repentance. Joseph forgives as he would be forgiven, and Judah (the incident of Tamar, it seems, being a turning point) knows himself as the sinful man he is, and is determined not to repeat the sins of his past. He will bear the weight of responsibility now, even to death, as he was not willing to before.

(Do you think that his experience with Tamar, his realization that she had been more righteous than he, made him think back to what he and his brothers did to Joseph, and realize that he was wrong there, too?)


A lecturer I listened to recently pointed out that the Joseph story takes up about half of the length of Genesis. I think I'm beginning to see why. It's almost as if God is saying, "Here is Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, in whom I started my great work. And here are their sons, where you can begin to see my plan even more clearly. These are the fathers of the fathers of the fathers of the One who will change anything." As if He's introduced the theme of salvation, of righteousness, of being set apart in the beginning, and that the story of Joseph is a great elaboration on that theme.


Okay, I'm obviously not getting everything that's there to be gotten, but I am beginning to see just how much there might be there to get!

peace of Christ to you,
Jessica Snell

1 comment:

MomCO3 said...

Yes. Sam has always loved Judah-- his redemption, and his willingness to be a redeemer for Joseph-- and kept offering that name for our babies... I could never get past the Tamar incident. But as I read it more (and grow... and need and accept God's redeeming work for me) I appreciate Judah more.
Blessings,
Annie