Weekly Readings: Genesis 37:1-40:23; Amos 2:6-3:8; Matthew 1:1-6, 16-25.

"This is the history of Jacob...Joseph..."

This is a surprising beginning to our study portion. We might expect either, "This is the history of Jacob. Jacob..." or "This is the history of Joseph. Joseph..." Yet, if we pause and reflect: this is not a mistake and there is something important here.

A Family is an Integrated Unit

Jacob is the head of his family. The family is a close-knit unit where everyone's life is influenced by each of the other family members. They share a life together and are not separate units. When Jacob became older and his sons were growing up, the family history (one might say the continuing story of Jacob's life) was manifest in his sons. The way he brought his children up had consequences for their lives.

Albeit that there is personal responsibility to be recognised in the life of each person, the family of God is also a unit, acting together, sharing a history. Here, in our study portion we have an account of the early days of the family of God. Jacob had a prominent position, so prominent that his new name Israel became the name of the entire family-nation.

All Involved When Things Go Wrong

In the account of Jacob's favouring Joseph, resulting in his near-murder and exile to Egypt, and of the behaviour of Judah and of the way things turned out in Egypt for Joseph, we remember that this is as much the story of Jacob as it is of Joseph and his other sons. Jacob would have known this and this is why he grieved so deeply when Joseph was thought to be dead.

We Continue the History

The history of Jacob (Israel) goes on today. We too enter this family by faith and are part of Jacob's history.

Paul has much to say on this theme. 1 Corinthians 12 speaks much of the unity of all believers. In 1 Corinthians 6:15 Paul asks, "Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ?" In Ephesians 4:25 he emphasises, "We are members of one another."

Joseph's life has many parallels with the life of Jesus. In our portion this week, for example, his brothers sought to kill him and to put him away. Jesus, favoured by the Father, was also rejected by many of his own brethren. It is therefore no coincidence that we can extend the principle of family relationship in our study portion to the body of Jesus.

We, like Jacob, are tied in with the history of our physical family. We are also part of the ongoing history of Jacob. Those who follow us, whether physical or spiritual children, continue to live our own history.

This is the history of Jesus...

More important than anything is that we can say, "This is the history of Jesus. [Insert our name, our fellowship, our family here]" Let us learn from Jacob's family and build a good testimony of Jesus as those bearing his Name.

Author: Clifford Denton