Genesis 44:14-29: a reflection

14Judah and his brothers came to Joseph’s house, and he was still there. They fell on the ground before him. 15Joseph said to them, “What deed is this that you have done? Don’t you know that such a man as I can indeed do divination?” 16Judah said, “What will we tell my lord? What will we speak? How will we clear ourselves? God has found out the iniquity of your servants. Behold, we are my lord’s slaves, both we and he also in whose hand the cup is found.” 17He said, “Far be it from me that I should do so. The man in whose hand the cup is found, he will be my slave; but as for you, go up in peace to your father.” 18Then Judah came near to him, and said, “Oh, my lord, please let your servant speak a word in my lord’s ears, and don’t let your anger burn against your servant; for you are even as Pharaoh. 19My lord asked his servants, saying, ‘Have you a father, or a brother?’ 20We said to my lord, ‘We have a father, an old man, and a child of his old age, a little one; and his brother is dead, and he alone is left of his mother; and his father loves him.’ 21You said to your servants, ‘Bring him down to me, that I may set my eyes on him.’ 22We said to my lord, ‘The boy can’t leave his father, for if he should leave his father, his father would die.’ 23You said to your servants, ‘Unless your youngest brother comes down with you, you will see my face no more.’ 24When we came up to your servant my father, we told him the words of my lord. 25Our father said, ‘Go again and buy us a little food.’ 26We said, ‘We can’t go down. If our youngest brother is with us, then we will go down: for we may not see the man’s face, unless our youngest brother is with us.’ 27Your servant, my father, said to us, ‘You know that my wife bore me two sons. 28One went out from me, and I said, “Surely he is torn in pieces;” and I haven’t seen him since. 29If you take this one also from me, and harm happens to him, you will bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to Sheol.’

Years before, Judah had been among the brothers who sold Joseph into slavery, callous to their father's grief. Now, standing before Joseph (whom he does not recognize), with his youngest brother Benjamin in danger of being kept as a slave, Judah steps forward and pleads. He recounts their father's deep love for Benjamin, and how losing him would bring their father's gray hairs down to the grave in sorrow; and he will go on to offer himself in Benjamin's place. The Judah who once sold a brother now pleads and offers himself for a brother.

Notice the change in Judah. Years earlier, he had helped sell Joseph, indifferent to their father's grief. But now he pleads earnestly for Benjamin, moved by concern for his father's sorrow, and willing to sacrifice himself to save his brother. The callous man who sold one brother has become the compassionate man who would give himself for another. His changed heart shows not merely in words, but in his willingness to sacrifice himself. Real change had taken place in him.

That change in Judah is a picture of what genuine transformation looks like: not merely words, but a changed heart shown in changed action. Judah did not merely say he was sorry for the past; he acted differently, pleading and offering himself where once he had sold and been indifferent. Real change shows itself in action, in doing differently than we once did. If God has been at work in you, let the change show, as Judah's showed, not merely in words or feelings, but in changed action, in doing differently than you once did. Genuine transformation is not just claimed but demonstrated, in a life that now acts differently than before. The callous Judah became the self-sacrificing Judah; and where God has changed you, let the change be real, shown in how you now act, willing to do the good you once would not have done, as Judah pleaded and offered himself where once he had sold a brother. Let your changed heart show in changed action, as Judah's did.

Lord, years before, Judah had been among the brothers who sold Joseph into slavery, callous to their father's grief; but now, standing before Joseph with his youngest brother in danger, Judah steps forward and pleads, moved by concern for their father's sorrow, and will offer himself in Benjamin's place. The Judah who once sold a brother now pleads and offers himself for a brother. Show me the change in Judah. The callous man who sold one brother has become the compassionate man who would give himself for another; his changed heart shows not merely in words, but in his willingness to sacrifice himself. Real change had taken place in him. That change is a picture of what genuine transformation looks like: not merely words, but a changed heart shown in changed action. Judah did not merely say he was sorry; he acted differently. Real change shows itself in action. If you have been at work in me, let the change show, as Judah's showed, not merely in words or feelings, but in changed action, in doing differently than I once did. Genuine transformation is not just claimed but demonstrated. The callous Judah became the self-sacrificing Judah; where you have changed me, Lord, let the change be real, shown in how I now act, willing to do the good I once would not have done. Let my changed heart show in changed action, as Judah's did.