Parasha Vayigash

Parasha Vayigash

The Restoration of All Things

Genesis 44:18-47:27

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What an interesting place for a break between last week’s portion and this one. This week we are brought right into the center of the drama without explanation, without crescendo. We find a broken Judah approaching the throne of Joseph and boldly asking to take the place of Benjamin as a slave.

Finally, Joseph sees a broken Judah taking the true leadership role: servanthood. Joseph can see that Judah’s heart has finally been broken enough to be restored.

And restoration begins. A deep and abiding restoration that brings wholeness to the entire family. A restoration that literally saves their lives as they weather the famine in Goshen.

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Joseph has often been painted in Jewish interpretation and thought as an archetype – a portrait – of Messiah. I agree with this idea. There are many commonalities:

Joseph was given a gift by The Father that no other brother would have.

Joseph was sold into slavery and essentially became dead to His Father. Joseph was given supernatural insight into dreams. Joseph was lifted out of death and elevated to the right hand of Pharaoh. Joseph saves the entire nation of Egypt and then he saves his brothers. He is the tool by which God preserves and multiplies the nation of Israel.

Yep. I agree with the Messiah ben Joseph portrait.

And so if Joseph is a picture of Messiah…I started thinking about how much Messiah ben Joseph loves us.

I began to think about Him weeping as He clings to our necks and finally reveals Himself in His Glory.

I began to think about the massive “play” that Joseph engages his brothers in. They have no idea who He is – but He knows them. And He wants to give them so much more than food. So Joseph creates a play to move see and move their hearts.

And with each plot twist in the play their hearts ARE transformed. Deeper and deeper Joseph reaches into the places that they have gone to darkness. They reach conviction.  They reach repentance. Reuben even gives all of the brothers a lecture in the very presence of Joseph (!). “See! I told you so! You saw how Joseph begged for his life! Now we are being held accountable for his blood!”

Joseph didn’t really need a translator. He understood. And He saw their hearts.

Joseph is after their hearts.

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And…and it’s not just Joseph. Joseph is a portrait of Yeshua, right?

What is Yeshua after? Hearts.

Just as the brothers came to Joseph to save their lives, so too we come to Yeshua only asking for enough to save our lives.

“This is a mess. I won’t survive on my own. Please save me!” we say.

Yeshua engages our hearts. He saves us – and then overwhelms us with generosity!

He gives our silver back. He gives us food for the journey home.

And we see these things – and we recoil in fear.

“Oh, no,” we say. “What is this? Perhaps it’s a mistake.” We simply cannot handle the generosity of His love. It makes us uncomfortable. Our hearts start to squirm, because we KNOW the depth of darkness in them.

Oh that God would send His Holy Spirit to strengthen us in our inner being – so that we could even grasp the depth of Yeshua’s love for us!!!

We leave with our food. We wonder about the generosity of the returned silver. And the famine?

The famine in the world persists…we still cannot live without Him.

So we come back for more food from Yeshua. He engages our hearts more. He weeps for love of us. He weeps in His desire to be restored to us.

He engages our hearts again – He finds THE thing that will reveal our heart. He peels back the layers. He finds our Benjamin.

—–

It’s not enough for Yeshua that we just come and get food.

Food is great. It’s nice and everything, but it is only the beginning of what He is truly after.

What is He truly after?

You.

Yes. The God of the Universe wants … you.

He loves you.

He wants to know you.

He wants you to know Him.

He’s after little old…you.

—–

But we’re still convinced the relationship is about food. Sustenance. Survival.

“No. This isn’t about love. This isn’t about me and You. This is about staying alive,” we say.

“No,” Yeshua says. “There is soooo much more. Soooo much.”

Silly us. We would allow it to be about food forever. Admit it! We really would, right? I know I would. Food is comfortable. It’s surface. It’s survival. It means never having to go to the deep dark corners of the heart. It means “comfort.”

So let’s just admit it. We’re kinda okay with shallow. We would settle for a radish in a steakhouse.

(That sounds like a Texan analogy, right?)

God isn’t okay with shallow, though. He orchestrates and moves Heaven and Earth – and interconnects us with others – and peels back our comfort – and smashes our idols – and brings us to the end of ourselves – and all that is left – ALL THAT IS LEFT … is surrender.

In the end, He reveals Himself.

And we see who He really is.

And we are terrified!

And He says, “Don’t be afraid.”

And He embraces us.

He weeps on our shoulder.

And we see that He loves us.

The. God. of. THE. UNIVERSE.

Loves. You.

You.

And He has prepared a place for you to live with Him. And He will give you so much more than what you would settle for. We want life. And He gives love.

(Oh, and He does give life too, by the way!)

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So, Joseph could have settled for shallow. He could have just kept his family alive. He could’ve continued to feed and bless them from afar. He could’ve just sent them grain FedEx.

No. He desires restoration. He works to engage their hearts. He brings them to repentance. He brings them to confession. He brings them to the end of themselves. He brings them to the place where they would give up their lives for one another and then…

He restores all things.

Life IS NOT the restoration of all things.

Let me type that again.

LIFE is not the restoration of all things.

We aren’t just coming to Yeshua for eternal life. We already ARE eternal beings. Eternal life is a constant. It is a reality. It is a stone cold fact.

You WILL live forever.

(A better question might be, “Where are you going to spend that eternal life?” … but that’s a different drash for a different day!)

If life isn’t the restoration of all things… what is?

Love.

Love is the restoration of all things.

Love is the universe made right.

Love is the restoration of all things.

Love is the piece that completes the puzzle.

That’s why when people see God face to face He doesn’t leave them in fear.

He restores them. They fall in love with Him.

Love is the restoration of all things.

It was intimacy that the serpent stole. It was love that he stole.

God wants it back.

Love is the restoration of all things.

—–

Joseph was so overwhelmed by love for his brothers and by the desire to be restored to them that he would hide and weep!

Yeshua wept.

And perhaps He still does. I’m not sure how that works. Perhaps He wept once and for all in that Garden? Can Yeshua be weeping in heaven – as He sits at the right hand of The Father?

I’m not sure.

But I know one thing for sure:

He loves YOU enough to weep.

Enough to sweat blood.

Enough to endure beatings.

Enough to die.

 

For you.