The Torah portion of וַיִּגַּשׁ/Vayigash, “and he approached,” opens with the repentance of Judah. Faced with the thought of losing Benjamin, Judah offers himself in order to avoid causing further pain to his father Jacob. The portion opens:

וַיִּגַּשׁ אֵלָיו יְהוּדָה, וַיֹּאמֶר בִּי אֲדֹנִי יְדַבֶּר-נָא עַבְדְּךָ דָבָר בְּאָזְנֵי אֲדֹנִי, וְאַל-יִחַר אַפְּךָ בְּעַבְדֶּךָ

כִּי כָמוֹךָ, כְּפַרְעֹה

“Then Judah came near to him (Joseph) and said: ‘O my lord, please let your servant speak a word in my lord’s hearing, and do not let your anger burn against your servant; for you are even like Pharaoh’” (Gen. 44:18).

From previous chapters, we quickly note that this is not the same Judah who was willing to sell Joseph into slavery, thereby causing Jacob deep and enduring pain, or the one would called for Tamar’s burning for adultery. No, this Judah has suffered terrible loss in both his family and to his reputation. Judah unknowingly approaches the brother he had sold some twenty-two years prior, in an attempt to save his father from further pain.

When Joseph could no longer hold back the emotion, he dismisses his Egyptian attendants and guards (Gen. 45:1); and in doing so, he risks his own life. Then two words, spoken in Hebrew, bring the past, the present, and the future into focus: אֲנִי יוֹסֵף, “I am Joseph.” Joseph the Egyptian was no more, Joseph the Hebrew was restored.

“I am Joseph” reveals the sin of the brothers, while also revealing the plan of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (Gen. 50:20). With the past revealed, and the future laid out, in the present there was forgiveness. Yet, Joseph first rebukes his brothers, “I am Joseph; does my father still live?” (Gen. 34:3). According to rabbinic teaching rebuke precedes judgment. In this case, Joseph’s judgment is forgiveness. Why mention Jacob when he reveals himself? The rebuke, and a very real human moment when Joseph basically says to Judah, “You are so concerned with protecting the heart of our father now, but what about when you sold me?”

Even in his pain, Joseph has witnessed the change in his brothers, especially in Judah, the one bearing the rebuke. They have all been changed by the events of years as well. Once they have reconciled, Joseph imparts gifts to his brothers, “He gave to all of them, to each man, changes of garments; but to Benjamin he gave three hundred pieces of silver and five changes of garments” (Gen. 45:22). He changed their garments, adorning them in garments of forgiveness.

When Messiah Yeshua/Jesus ministered on the earth, the apostle John tells us, “He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, yet the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and His own people did not receive Him” (Jn. 1:10-11). To use the types above, Egypt did not know Him, and His own brethren did not recognize Him. Two words recorded many times in John’s Gospel changed this: “I Am.”

Of the seven “I Am” statements of Messiah that we usually consider, there is one that is not ordinarily accounted for that speaks powerfully to Yeshua’s person: “Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am” (Jn. 8:58). John presents the Messiah Who was before Abraham, before Joseph, even before time and creation. Yet, Egypt did not know Him, and His brethren did not recognize Him. With our own sin laid bare before Him, knowing our past, present and future action, what does Messiah do? As the rabbis teach, rebuke precedes judgment, that is correction precedes judgment. The rebuke, the correction, the “chastisement for our peace” laid upon Him (Isa. 53:5), as Paul wrote, “But God shows his love for us that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Ro. 5:8).

Joseph bore the weight of the twenty-two year journey that would save his family and the wider world; yet, the greater Joseph, Yeshua, “bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed” (1 Pet. 2:24).

In Messiah, we, in trusting faith, have also received a new garment: Christ Himself, as His robe of righteousness. Paul writes, “For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ (Gal. 3:27). Furthermore, “I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for He has clothed me with the garments of salvation, He has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels” (Isa. 61:10). In Yeshua, we are endowed with gifts; specifically the gifts of the Spirit (I Cor. 12:1) to walk the faith out fruitfully (Gal. 5:22-23). All of this resulting from our approach to Him in repentance, and the resulting forgiveness He alone provides.

As we approach Jesus, we know, as do those who truly know us, that we are not the same as we once were. We recognize the pain we have caused, and often desire to make it right by some form of self-sacrifice. Yet, it is not we who are sacrificed, but Messiah. And in Him we live our lives as a living sacrifice (Ro. 12:2) in the grace, mercy, love and forgiveness in which we have been clothed.

His “I Am” will change your everything.

Be well. Shalom.