It was one thing, in fulfilment of Joseph’s dreams, for his brothers to bow down before him; quite another thing for Judah to prostrate himself before his brother Joseph and offer himself up in place of Benjamin.

Judah is a changed man. He may have previously saved Joseph from certain death at the hands of his brothers, but his proposal that they sell him instead of kill him was made out of cowardly self-interest (Gen 37:12-36). Like his brothers, he had, in truth, hated his brother Joseph.

But now, his extraordinary, plaintive plea (Gen 44:18-34) flows from a heart of love; love for Jacob his father, and love for Benjamin his brother. He is desperate to somehow find a way of preserving the family from further harm, of protecting the welfare of his youngest brother Benjamin, and of protecting his father from further pain and loss. He cannot undo the past. He cannot undo his own part in selling his brother Joseph into slavery, or bring him back to his father. But he can now sacrifice himself in place of Benjamin out of love for his father.

And he does. He pleads with Joseph to allow him to remain in place of his brother Benjamin. You read his speech and hear the desperation in his voice to save his brother from harm and his father from further distress. What a change!

That change, from hatred to love, is the mark of a repentant heart. An unrepentant person hides their hard heart under a soft exterior, passing off hatred for a brother as a genuine concern for his welfare. That’s the old Judah who “saved” his brother Joseph from death by selling him into slavery. But a repentant person’s soft heart is seen in a firm, steely resolve to fight for their brother’s welfare. What a beautiful, unmistakable transformation in Judah!

Only a divine, kind providence, overseeing our life’s many twists and turns can save us from our hard, deceitful hearts. The mendacious brothers are outwitted by Joseph’s masterful orchestration of their descent into repentant self-discovery. What kindness, what love, that God through Joseph chose to lead them down that painful path.

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