This is The Living Word based on the Bible readings set for for Sunday, August 20 in the interdenominational scheme
Theme: God saves when we turn to Him
Genesis 45:1-15 — Joseph reveals his true identity to his brothers
Matthew 15:10-28 — Words of faith prove a Gentile woman undefiled
Romans 11:1-2, 29-32 — Paul is the best model of a Jew who is saved
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Psalm 133
1 How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity!
2 It is like precious oil poured on the head, running down on the beard, running down on Aaron’s beard, down on the collar of his robe.
3 It is as if the dew of Hermon were falling on Mount Zion. For there the Lord bestows His blessing, even life forevermore.
Unity attracts the Holy Spirit and that’s messy!
Genesis 45:1-15 — Joseph reveals his true identity to his brothers
• Shock and fear give way to a wonderful reconciliation as grace flows freely
1-2 Then Joseph could no longer control himself before all his attendants, and he cried out, “Have everyone leave my presence!” So there was no one with Joseph when he made himself known to his brothers. And he wept so loudly that the Egyptians heard him, and Pharaoh’s household heard about it.
“And he wept” — the third of five times Joseph weeps over his brothers, following his test and Judah’s long and sincere speech.
3 Joseph said to his brothers, “I am Joseph! Is my father still living?” But his brothers were not able to answer him, because they were terrified at his presence.
“Terrified at his presence” — and the truth of who this all-powerful Egyptian official really is.
4-5 Then Joseph said to his brothers, “Come close to me.” When they had done so, he said, “I am your brother Joseph, the one you sold into Egypt!And now, do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here, because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you.
“God sent me” — declaring the sovereignty of God in what has become a classic statement.
6-7 “For two years now there has been famine in the land, and for the next five years there will be no ploughing and reaping. But God sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance.
8 “So then, it was not you who sent me here, but God. He made me father to Pharaoh, lord of his entire household and ruler of all Egypt.
“Father to Pharaoh” — “adviser”, NLT
9-10 “Now hurry back to my father and say to him, ‘This is what your son Joseph says: God has made me lord of all Egypt. Come down to me; don’t delay. You shall live in the region of Goshen and be near me — you, your children and grandchildren, your flocks and herds, and all you have.
“Goshen” — fertile delta area of northeast corner of Egypt, a few days’ walk from Canaan, with water and food.
11 ” ‘I will provide for you there, because five years of famine are still to come. Otherwise you and your household and all who belong to you will become destitute.’
“I will provide for you there” —with less likelihood of losing their distinctiveness to Egyptian society. In the early chapters of Exodus, this is where the Israelites labours are located.
12 “You can see for yourselves, and so can my brother Benjamin, that it is really I who am speaking to you.
“I… am speaking” — not through an interpreter as before.
13 “Tell my father about all the honour accorded me in Egypt and about everything you have seen. And bring my father down here quickly.”
14-15 Then he threw his arms around his brother Benjamin and wept, and Benjamin embraced him, weeping. And he kissed all his brothers and wept over them. Afterward his brothers talked with him.
“He kissed all his brothers” —holding no grudge. They were forgiven by Joseph and forgiven by God.
Reflection
SUMMARY After 20 years, Joseph is reunited with his brothers and reconciled with them. A high point in the Genesis story.
APPLICATION God is always looking for ways to restore and reconcile and work His salvation. When we turn to Him, we experience it.
QUESTION Why is reconciliation difficult? What is the key that releases it?
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Matthew 15:10-28 — Words of faith prove a Gentile woman undefiled
• Jesus’ first call to the Jews is set aside by an outsider believing in Him
10-11 Jesus called the crowd to Him and said, “Listen and understand. What goes into someone’s mouth does not defile them, but what comes out of their mouth, that is what defiles them.”
“What goes into someone’s mouth” — Jesus does not here go as far as declaring all foods clean, Mark 7:19, but to the ceremonial-obsessed Jews His words were revolutionary and upsetting.
“What comes out of the mouth” — His Pharisee hearers over-emphasised external ritual obedience, and they overlooked the importance of internal values of character and kindness.
12 Then the disciples came to Him and asked, “Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this?”
13-14 He replied, “Every plant that My heavenly Father has not planted will be pulled up by the roots. Leave them; they are blind guides. If the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit.”
“Blind guides” — the offended hearers, whose failure to address their hypocrisy would result in their end-time destruction.
15 Peter said, “Explain the parable to us.”
“Parable” — more like a short analogy, in verse 9.
16-18 “Are you still so dull?” Jesus asked them. “Don’t you see that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and then out of the body? But the things that come out of a person’s mouth come from the heart, and these defile them.
“Don’t you see” — they couldn’t imagine that Jesus would treat so casually the laws about clean and unclean and “what enters the mouth”, Leviticus 11, Deuteronomy 14:4-21, cf Acts 10:13-16.
19-20 For out of the heart come evil thoughts — murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. These are what defile a person; but eating with unwashed hands does not defile them.”
“Out of the heart come evil thoughts” — and the expressions of them, leading to truly evil actions that directly contravene the Ten Commandments. Jesus taught that the human heart is corrupt (Jer. 17:9-10) but also that His followers are “pure in heart”, Matt. 5:8. Asking Jesus into our lives gives us a new heart.
• For comparison read Mark 7:18-23.
21-22 Leaving that place, Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon. A Canaanite woman from that vicinity came to him, crying out, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is demon-possessed and suffering terribly.”
“Tyre and Sidon” — leading cities of Phoenicia, deep inside Gentile territory .
“Canaanite woman” — former Canaanites displaced by the Israelite conquest centuries before had moved north to Phoenicia. Matthew is making the point that she is pagan, Gentile, and descended from Israel’s most notorious enemies — an outsider.
“Lord, Son of David” — although a Gentile, she recognised who Jesus was, and she knows that blessings were extended to Gentiles through Abraham, verse 27, Genesis 12:3.
23 Jesus did not answer a word. So His disciples came to Him and urged him, “Send her away, for she keeps crying out after us.”
“Did not answer” — not dismissive (like the disciples), but beginning to test her faith.
24 He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.”
“I was sent… to the lost sheep of Israel” — especially those who had been abused by their spiritual leaders, Matthew 10:5-6. However, with a little probing, Jesus seems to invite her disagreement.
25 The woman came and knelt before Him. “Lord, help me!” she said.
26 He replied, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.”
“Children’s bread… to the dogs” — but of course the children would frequently give their bread to a treasured pet. The phrase about the kynarion, lap dog, comes across all wrong in English, but it was an endearment, not a racial slur. Jesus ministered to Gentiles on many other occasions.
27 “Yes it is, Lord,” she said. “Even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.”
“Yes it is, Lord” — the quick-witted response which reveals the faith Jesus is looking for. The point she makes is, for Him to meet a Gentile’s need does not mean the Jews are deprived.
28 Then Jesus said to her, “Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted.” And her daughter was healed at that moment.
“You have great faith” — and she had shown the humility, v.25, which opens the door for faith.
“Her daughter was healed at that moment” — although God’s plan was to meet the spiritual need by bringing salvation first to His chosen people, then through them to the Gentiles, Jesus is recorded as responding to all who call on Him in true faith.
• For comparison see the story of the centurion, Matthew 8:5-13.
Reflection
SUMMARY Jesus is deep into Gentile territory when a woman with a pressing need approaches him for help — to the disciples’ consternation. Jesus is deep into Gentile territory when a woman with a pressing need approaches him for help. After testing her with some dialogue, Jesus commends her faith.
APPLICATION The Lord doesn’t see insiders and outsiders like we do. His unconditional love is on another level, and He just sees people with a need.
QUESTION What does this teach us about the relationships of Jesus, Church and the wider community?
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Romans 11:1-2, 29-32 — Paul is the best model of a Jew who is saved
• The inclusion of Gentile believers is not a rejection of God’s chosen people
1 I ask then: Did God reject His people? By no means! I am an Israelite myself, a descendant of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin.
“I am an Israelite” — there has always been a faithful remnant among Jewish people, Romans 9:27-29. Part of the proof is Paul himself, a Benjamite Jew — chosen by God to become a believer and also apostle.
2 God did not reject His people, whom He foreknew. Don’t you know what Scripture says in the passage about Elijah — how he appealed to God against Israel.
“God did not reject His people” — in Samuel’s time the people rejected God as king and chose a human king. In Elijah’s time there was such apostasy it seemed Israel was finished, but God had preserved a remnant. In Paul’s time the people rejected Jesus as Messiah, but many Jews believed in Jesus and were saved.
• For further study, see 1 Samuel 12:22; 1 Kings 19:14-18; John 19:15.
29 For God’s gifts and His call are irrevocable.
“Irrevocable” — the opposite of “repent”. God does not change His mind about His call, especially when it has been expressed in a unilateral covenant with Abraham. His call and His gifts for Christians today are similarly enduring.
30-31 Just as you who were at one time disobedient to God have now received mercy as a result of their disobedience, so they too have now become disobedient in order that they too may now receive mercy as a result of God’s mercy to you.
32 For God has bound everyone over to disobedience so that He may have mercy on them all.
“Everyone” — both groups under discussion, Jews and Gentiles, have been through a time of disobedience, so that they might receive and recognise God’s mercy. This is not an argument for universal salvation.
Reflection
SUMMARY Paul’s teaching for the ethnically divided Church in Rome develops the insider-outsider scene further. Both Jews and Gentiles have come to experience God’s mercy. Many Jews, including Paul himself, believed in Jesus and were saved and changed.
APPLICATION Rifts over who is included and who is excluded, have divided the church for two thousand years. But this is the mindset of a club, not a mission. God’s gifts and God’s call are determined in heaven and are not set aside by human prejudice. Opposition to God’s kingdom will cause damage but not halts its advance.
QUESTION What sort of people is God seeking out with His love today? Why do we start by thinking they are people like us?
PRAYER Lord God, we are so grateful that when we were far from Your kingdom, You revealed Yourself to us.
In our twists and turns of disobedience You pursued us with love.
We were outsiders but You called us is.
We were foreigners, outside Your covenant, yet You called us, showed us Your love, and gave us Your Son Jesus;
You helped us to choose Him as our Saviour and make Him our Lord, and You showed us that we were included.
Thank You for giving us the joy of knowing You — together with all others, of any tribe, race or culture, who love You and are part of Your House of Prayer.
Amen.
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