Advent 4 – Judah

Judah said to his brothers, “What will we gain if we kill our brother and cover up his blood? Come let’s sell him to the Ishmaelites and not lay our hands on him; after all, he is our brother, our own flesh and blood.” Genesis 37:26-27

This is just the first of the many disturbing atrocities committed by Judah, i.e., trafficking your own sibling, perpetuating deceit, knowingly causing tremendous suffering for your own father and family.  He refuses to honor his obligation to provide security for a vulnerable widow, his own daughter-in-law, as told in Genesis 38, creating the impetus for her act of desperation in the effort to secure her own livelihood.

Judah and his brothers travel to Egypt to purchase food and supplies to sustain the family as the threat of prolonged famine is at hand. Accusations of a crime are made, and the continued prosperity of the family is offered at the cost of another brother, Benjamin.  It is not Reuben the eldest and rightful birthright heir of the family who responds, but Judah who makes a desperate plea to their accusers.

“Your servant guaranteed the boy’s safety to my father. I said, ‘If I do not bring him back to you, I will bear the blame before you, my father, all my life!’ Now then, please let your servant remain here as my lord’s slave in place of the boy, and let the boy return with his brothers. How can I go back to my father if the boy is not with me? No! Do not let me see the misery that would come on my father.” Genesis 44: 32-34

Something remarkable has occurred as we see an individual transformed and humbled by the acknowledgment and repentance of their own failures (Gen 38:26). There is restoration occurring in the life of Judah. The once cruel man that trafficked one brother is now willing to lay down his life for another. The son complicit in the cause for his father’s unfathomable suffering now offers to bear the suffering in order to spare further pain to his father.

Judah’s story is a testament to the scandalous birth-registry of Jesus’ lineage and affirms that God’s election of us is by grace alone. How else can one explain why Judah was chosen as the ancestor of Christ? (T.H. Leale)  

Emmanual, “God with us” takes on greater meaning to me this Advent season as I consider Judah’s story.  How liberating to know that despite our sins and failings we’re assured that we have all been chosen and are being restored by God’s grace.