After their emotional reunion with the brother, whom they believed to be long dead, Joseph’s brothers return to their father, Jacob, laden with gifts and with an invitation for the whole extended family to come live in the region of Goshen, on the east of the Nile, in Egypt (Genesis 46:1-7, 28-30). In today’s reading we see Jacob (now being called by his given name, Israel) setting out from his home in Hebron, west of the Dead Sea, and heading to Egypt with all his family members and all his possessions. Before leaving, Israel has a dream in which God promises to eventually bring his descendants back to his ancestral land. This will be the last time that God appears to the patriarchs.
We can imagine the scene as a kind of “reverse Exodus”. Joseph, riding in his official chariot, goes out to meet his father. One can imagine the feelings of the old man as he saw Joseph, the son he had thought was long dead, now arriving in a magnificent chariot befitting his new rank. Joseph throws his arms around his father’s neck and weeps for a long time. Later (not in our reading), Israel and some of his sons are introduced to the Pharaoh and they are invited to settle in Goshen.
Once again, we see how what originally seems to be a tragedy turning out to be a source of blessing. It should help us to take a second look at events in our lives, especially when we wonder if God is still present. We should learn that we may have to wait before we see God’s final outcome. God, as we have said many times, loves to write our life’s story with crooked lines.
Yesterday’s Gospel reading (Matthew 10:7-15) continues the apostolic discourse where Jesus instructs his disciples what they are to do on their upcoming journeys. They are to proclaim that the kingdom of God is at hand. They are to cure the sick, raise the dead, heal lepers, liberate people from evil spirits. Later, in the Acts of the Apostles, we will see the apostles doing all these things and the Church begins to grow.
Only rarely do we encounter lepers today, but we do see people who are marginalized and pushed out to the fringes of society. We do see people who are genuinely possessed by evil spirits, and there are far too many souls that are in the grip of more mundane demons such as nicotine, alcohol, drugs; who are caught up in the materialism, consumerism, hedonism and sexism of our time. Jesus calls us to work to liberate these souls from their demons. There is much work yet to be done.
Matthew’s gospel was written some 50 years after the death and resurrection of Christ and naturally reflects some experiences from this period. Today’s Gospel passage (Matthew 10:16-23) warns us that we are being sent into the world like sheep among wolves. These wolves are eager to destroy us because of our message of love, justice, and peace. We are seen as threats to the wolves’ ambitions. We are, in a way, defenseless because we renounce any use of violence. Jesus tells us that we must be clever as snakes and innocent as doves. We are to be as inventive and creative in dealing with the world; and innocent, not in the sense of being naïve, but by being free of wrongdoing ourselves. We take solace in knowing that the enemies of the Gospel have no ultimate answer to truth, love and justice.
We need to be clear that Jesus never tells us to go out of our way to seek persecution or to be hated. On the contrary, we are to make Christianity as attractive as possible. We want people to share our experience of knowing and being loved by Christ.
May God Bless You and Grant You His Peace!