Offered as a Substitute (Genesis 44:33)

“Now, therefore, please let your servant remain instead of the boy as a servant to my Lord. And let the boy go back with his brothers.” Wow, this is a pretty powerful verse when you stop and think about what Judah just said to Joseph.
—Genesis 44:33

There is much in the story leading up to this moment, and I do not want to spend all our time recounting everything that has happened in this chapter. But essentially, at this point Joseph is saying, “Leave Benjamin with me, and you go back to your father.” Then Judah steps forward and says, “Please let your servant remain.” In other words, “Let me remain instead of the boy. I will be your servant.”

Remember, Judah does not know that this is actually Joseph, his brother, to whom he is speaking. But he says, “Let your servant remain instead of the boy as a servant to my lord, and let the boy go back with his brothers.”

Genesis 44:33 foreshadows Jesus’ sacrifice for our sins.

That is a radically different posture toward a younger brother than what Judah and his brothers displayed years earlier toward Joseph. Think about it: Judah and his brothers sold Joseph into slavery. Now they have the opportunity to do the exact same thing with Benjamin—to leave him there as a slave and go back to their lives. But Judah does something very different from what happened earlier. Here, Judah offers his own life as a substitute for Benjamin, so that he himself would become the slave instead of his brother.

Now consider that picture on a much higher level. One day, a descendant would come from the line of Judah who would offer himself as a substitute sacrifice—not for a family member, but for you. This descendant from Judah’s line would offer himself to set you and me free from the slavery of sin and death.

Jesus, from the line of Judah, would say, “I will lay down my life.” As Philippians 2:5–11 says, though he was in very nature God, he did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the very nature of a servant and being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross.

Jesus offered his life as a substitute sacrifice for you and for me, that we might have a relationship with God the Father—that we might be saved from the slavery of sin and death, and experience eternal life.

I love reading through the Old Testament and seeing how it ultimately points to Jesus as Savior and Lord—to Jesus as the supreme One who is worthy of all our worship and praise.

Genesis 44:33 encourages us to praise God for our salvation.

So we pray:

Jesus, we glorify your name in a fresh way today. We worship your name anew, for you are the Savior and Lord of our lives. You are the Savior and Lord of the nations. We praise you for substituting yourself as a sacrifice for our sins—for laying down your life so that we might be freed. May we know freedom from the slavery of sin and freedom from the fear of death.

God, may we know eternal life in your kingdom. May we know you, O God, our Father, and enjoy life in your family forever. All glory be to your name, Jesus—the Lion of Judah, the Lamb who was slain as a sacrifice for our sins. We praise you today. We will never tire of praising you. God, we praise you for your Word and how it points to you on every page.

We pray that you would help us glorify you today. Help us make the good news of your love known to the people around us. Use this, God, to introduce people in our spheres of influence to you, the Savior and Lord of all.

A Prayer for the Pulaya People

We pray for the Pulayan people in India—over a million people who have never heard the name and truth of Jesus. May that change, God. Send laborers to India. Send people from our churches and other churches to the Pulayan people of India, that they might exalt the name of Jesus.

Jesus, we love you. We praise you. We worship you. Jesus, we want to follow you with all our hearts today. We want to honor you and glorify you in every facet of our lives.

We pray all of this in your name. Amen.