CHRIST RISEN

S.Perret

Genesis 45:27(from “and he saw”),28

We have been reading Genesis at home and particularly considering the history of Jacob. I was impressed and encouraged by this verse. The history of Jacob is very interesting and in a sense it is very much like ours. He did not really come to a knowledge of God until late in his life. He fled from the house of his father, he fled from Esau, and later he fled from Laban. He tried many ways to enrich himself, many cunning ways to get out of difficulties and problems when he was faced with Laban or with his brother, yet God in His grace brought him back to Canaan. But although he was there, yet there was still breakdown; it seems he could not control his household, Joseph had disappeared, then these trials come and eventually Benjamin goes as well. Jacob does not really know what all that meant. He could see there was something happening, but he did not really know what it was about. I suppose his feeling was that his sons were all going one after another. His ten sons did not bring him much pleasure. It is clear that they were not restful and that their conduct was evil. Yet Jacob was in Canaan, the land that was promised to Abraham and to Isaac, and so I expect he would be puzzled by these circumstances. He was in the right place, he could see he had done the right things, and yet there was only breakdown wherever he looked.

Maybe that is like our circumstances. Sometimes we may look around and the breakdown can come very near to us. We may think that we are doing the right thing, we are in the right place, and yet there is breakdown. But this really is the turning point in Jacob’s history, and I find it affecting that he came to this point where he was able to say, “It is enough”. He realised suddenly that Joseph was alive; his sons brought word to him that he was alive. There was a turning point; it says earlier that his spirit revived, “the spirit of Jacob their father revived”; and he said, “It is enough: Joseph my son is yet alive; I will go and see him before I die”.

Well, from there on, the history of Jacob is upwards. It is good to remember that he was a man that ended well. He came into such a great place that he was even able to bless Pharaoh, the greatest monarch on earth at that time, and he ended as a worshipper. Hebrews tell us, he “worshipped on the top of his staff”, Heb.11:21. We see too that he gave orders as to his bones; he did not want them left in Egypt. I suppose he wanted to be identified in his death with his fathers; he did not want anything of the grandeur of Egypt. What an end he had!

What impressed me is what we have in Joseph; Joseph alive speaks of Christ risen. I was just impressed by the way that this is really the turning point in Jacob’s history as he came to that point. His blessing was not linked with his place, it was not linked with his possessions, it was not linked even with his family, but it was all found in Joseph being alive. For us that is Christ risen. I found it very encouraging, because sometimes we may wonder why circumstances are as they are, and why tests come as they do. It may seem that we are in the right place and have done the right thing, but the secret is in Christ risen, the One who is living.

The place of blessing Jacob was given is in Goshen, it was not Canaan. It may not be what we thought that the Lord had in mind for us. The place where Jacob found himself and found his blessing is where Joseph was to be found. The point is to find Christ; it is a risen Christ we have to do with, One who is living, One who is the Head and Centre of all that is for God and all that He is doing. So despite difficult circumstances (and I know very little of that) our blessing can be found in Jesus as the risen One; Christ risen. It was the turning point in Jacob’s history. You can take account of what was recovered for the first time; right family relationships and affections were secured amongst Joseph’s brethren, there was the right atmosphere in which Joseph could make himself known. From a state of famine they moved into a state of plenty, and there they could be shepherds. What a place the sons of Israel had, what a portion they had. You can see the way that Joseph worked in his skill to secure that for them.

I was impressed and affected in seeing the whole matter from Jacob’s perspective. Think of his feelings about all that had gone wrong. He had done what he had been told to do, he was in Canaan, and yet he did not seem to be blessed because everything had gone wrong. But I think we can see from his later assessment about the days of his life being few and evil that he had really come to see that what mattered was to be with Joseph. What mattered was that in principle he had found Christ risen, and that is the turning point in his pathway. It is interesting to go through Jacob’s history. There were many points in it, when he was on the right path and he had had those experiences at Bethel. You might think that he had arrived at something. He came to the right place but still matters did not go right; there was trouble with his sons, and Joseph was apparently dead. But then he came to the point where he said “It is enough: Joseph my son is yet alive”.

I think that is a good word for us all. I feel the need to remember that when circumstances trouble us – and it is right that we are affected by them – we can say, like Jacob said, ‘It is enough: Joseph my son is yet alive’. All that we have is centred in a risen Christ. He lives, and because He lives we can live, and all our blessings are as a result of His living and His ascension. That makes everything that we have as believers very glorious. We are connected with One who is risen and who is living, One who has gone into death, but who has also come out of it triumphantly and who now lives, and lives for evermore.

May we be encouraged by these simple thoughts. If we are affected by circumstances around us, if we feel, like Jacob, that wherever we look there is breakdown and things are not as they should be, although we have tried to do what is right, let us remember that everything that we have is in a risen Christ. May it be that in our occasions together, we find something like those wagons, some touch that would direct our eyes and our affections to a risen Christ, to find there the resources and the life that we need to go on. Remember, too, the end; Jacob is a man who ended well. Isaac ended well, but Jacob did too; he ended well, he ended a worshipper. What matters at that point is what he found in Joseph.

May we be encouraged, and may God bless the word.

Wording in meeting for ministry, Glasgow
12 March 2013