Proper 14 / OT 19
Devotional
Water From the Well
Lectionary Devotional For Cycle A
Object:
... and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver....
-- Genesis 37:28
The name of Judas stands in infamy because of his betrayal of Jesus. The story of Joseph being sold into slavery became a prototype of that later betrayal of Jesus. The first was done by Judah for twenty pieces of silver and the second by Judas for thirty pieces of silver. By examining the first story, we begin to glimpse how God works through even our ignoble actions to accomplish the divine purpose. The Judah story lays the foundation for our understanding of the second story. In the same way that there remains a mystery about why Judas acted as he did, so it is not entirely clear why Judah acted as he did. Did he act out of greed or from a nobler motive? Whatever Judah's motive was, the result, contrary to the intentions of the brothers, became God's means of salvation for God's people. It was because Joseph went into slavery that he eventually became the second in command in Egypt and the one who not only saved Egypt from famine but also Jacob's family. Without Judah convincing his brothers to sell Joseph into slavery, there would have been no means by which Israel and his family could have survived the famine in their land. Not only was Israel saved from a destructive famine because of the betrayal, but Egypt was also saved.
We see the mysterious hand of God that can take what is meant for evil and transform it into God's intention for good (Genesis 50:20). This becomes a pattern that we will see in its most complete form in the passion of Christ. It was Judas' betrayal that led to the evil of the cross. It was in the cross that the faithful saw God take what was intended for evil and transform it into an instrument of salvation, not only for the faithful but also for the world. It is in the pattern of the cross that we see that we need not despair when evil seems so powerful because God is able to redeem even that which is meant for evil.
-- Genesis 37:28
The name of Judas stands in infamy because of his betrayal of Jesus. The story of Joseph being sold into slavery became a prototype of that later betrayal of Jesus. The first was done by Judah for twenty pieces of silver and the second by Judas for thirty pieces of silver. By examining the first story, we begin to glimpse how God works through even our ignoble actions to accomplish the divine purpose. The Judah story lays the foundation for our understanding of the second story. In the same way that there remains a mystery about why Judas acted as he did, so it is not entirely clear why Judah acted as he did. Did he act out of greed or from a nobler motive? Whatever Judah's motive was, the result, contrary to the intentions of the brothers, became God's means of salvation for God's people. It was because Joseph went into slavery that he eventually became the second in command in Egypt and the one who not only saved Egypt from famine but also Jacob's family. Without Judah convincing his brothers to sell Joseph into slavery, there would have been no means by which Israel and his family could have survived the famine in their land. Not only was Israel saved from a destructive famine because of the betrayal, but Egypt was also saved.
We see the mysterious hand of God that can take what is meant for evil and transform it into God's intention for good (Genesis 50:20). This becomes a pattern that we will see in its most complete form in the passion of Christ. It was Judas' betrayal that led to the evil of the cross. It was in the cross that the faithful saw God take what was intended for evil and transform it into an instrument of salvation, not only for the faithful but also for the world. It is in the pattern of the cross that we see that we need not despair when evil seems so powerful because God is able to redeem even that which is meant for evil.
