Today we will be looking at the genealogies of Jesus.  They are contained in two places… once in the Gospel of Matthew and once in the Gospel of Luke.  Take a moment to find these in your Bible and look them over.  Many people skip over these texts when they are studying, thinking these are just lists of names with no meaning.  But these genealogies are, in fact, quite important.

We will begin our study of the Gospels in John, chapter 1.  Before telling us of Christ and His life, John opens, in his first 18 verses, by declaring just who and what Jesus is.  Compare verse 1 of John’s Gospel with Gen 1:1 and note the similarities.  Verse 1 tells us that the Word was there at the beginning.  He was with God and He was God.  So, who is the Word?  We can easily find the answer to that in verse 14 of our text. 

Today we are embarking on an exciting journey to study the Gospels of our Lord Jesus Christ.  These four books, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, are detailed accounts of His life and ministry and are very important.  We will find that each one is unique, yet there is overlapping material.  Originally, there were more than four (Luke 1:1).  Within one generation after Jesus’ death, the story of our Savior had spread over the entire known world and there was much demand for written accounts of His life.  In the first three centuries, however, religious persecutions were vast and many of these copies have disappeared, but God has preserved these four Gospels for us in His Word that we might learn of His Son from them. 

Death.  It brings out so many emotions, and Jacob’s family was no different.  We see in the very first verses here that Joseph threw himself on his father, kissed him, and wept.  His loss was intense.  Then, though it must have seemed strange to his brothers, he had his father embalmed according to the Egyptian custom.  Joseph was a high-ranking official in Egypt, and the Bible tells us that even the Egyptians mourned with him.  Much respect was given in Egypt to Jacob because he was Joseph’s father.

Many of us have been called to the deathbed of our loved ones to say goodbye or to hear their last words.  After Joseph and his sons came to Jacob’s dying bed and Jacob blessed Ephraim and Manasseh, Jacob called all of his sons to him (verses 1-2).  He has some things he wants to say (Psalm 34:10-11).

 In this study of Genesis, we have talked a good bit about generational connectedness.  We see, in Abraham’s family, good examples of this, especially in terms of God’s covenant promises.  Today’s text will take us, once again, down that road.  Jacob is old.  Jacob believes he is dying and is ready to put his affairs in order.

Joseph’s family has now relocated to Egypt and Joseph has reunited with his father.  Imagine the tears and the joy and the emotion that went down that day in Goshen.  If you have ever been reunited with someone that you truly cared about after many years, then you know what Jacob and Joseph were feeling at this moment.

Setting out on a long journey can be quite an ordeal sometimes.  There is the packing and planning and closing up the house while you are gone.  So many things to do.  You can be absolutely exhausted before you even start out on your trip.  Think about what a trip to Egypt would have required during Jacob’s time.  There would be no comfort stops along the way so all provisions for the journey had to be brought along. 

Sometimes we have everything under control.  We present ourselves to the world in a cool and collected manner and no one would ever know that there was anything going on under the surface.  And often, we can maintain that persona for a good period of time.  But then, something happens and the dam breaks.  We can no longer contain.  In our last reading, Judah was making a long appeal to Joseph and apparently, he struck a chord. 

Have you ever been in a situation where things just keep going wrong no matter what you do?  This is what happened to Joseph’s brothers in today’s text.  They are just trying to buy some grain in Egypt to get their family through the famine.  And… they are trying to accommodate the wishes of the young ruler in Egypt. 

In some of the best television shows and movies, we see characters who hold great power over others.  It’s what gripping plots are made of.  That’s what’s happening in our story as we pick it up today.  Joseph, whose brothers sold him off as a slave to get rid of him, has managed to rise to the height of power in Egypt and the brothers have had to come to him to buy grain.  Wouldn’t it have been so easy for Joseph, out of spite, to use that power to get even with his brothers?  He was second only to Pharoah… who would stop him?

Imagine that you haven’t seen your family for a long time.  You think you will never see them again.  And then, one day, they just suddenly turn up unexpectedly, in a place where you would never expect to see them.  That is what happened to Joseph in today’s passage.  Joseph’s brothers and his father were still living in Canaan.  Just like in Egypt, the famine had gotten very bad in Canaan and food was scarce.  But Joseph was living a prosperous, luxurious life in Egypt and had even started a family.  He was probably prepared to spend the rest of his life there.