The death of Jacob shows us something of the regard with
which his son Joseph was held in Egypt.
Jacob wants to return to the place where his ancestors, the patriarchs
of the nation, were buried, in the cave which Abraham had purchased for the
burial of Sarah. Jacob has his father
embalmed for this will be a long season of mourning before he is able to take
his father’s body back to that place for burial. Seventy days of mourning by the Egyptians was
an extraordinary period for a foreigner and is clearly tribute to Joseph. The procession to the tomb included royal
officials and chariots and horsemen, all who saw them would have known that
surely this was a great man in the eyes of Pharaoh. It would now be a very long time before these
people would return to this land and it would definitely not be with the
blessing of Pharaoh or even his permission, although his chariots and horsemen
would be part of the scene.
The crowds are coming out to Jesus in recognition of what He
has done and who they believe He might be.
They bring their sick for Him to heal and hang on every word of His
teaching and now He has compassion on them for they continue with Him now for
three days. When the Israelites went
into the wilderness after leaving Egypt they had to go without water three days
and they began to grumble against Moses for leading them to a place where they
might die. Jesus here is concerned that
no one following would have brought enough food for three days and He takes the
little the disciples have left and offers it to God to bless and multiply and,
amazingly, the 4000 are fed with plenty to spare. Surely a great man is at the head of this
procession as well.
Jesus offered His body and blood for the life of the world
and when we take communion we remember that sacrifice. Remembering is more than simply mental work,
this remembering is similar to the remembering of the people in the festivals
of Israel. The intent is to make the
past real and alive. The Feast of Booths
requires observant Jews to move into small quarters in order to put themselves
into the place of their ancestors prior to entering the land so that they might
be thankful for all they have at God’s hand.
The Passover remembers the suffering of the ancestors in Egypt and also
looks forward to the time of restoration when the world will see the blessedness
of the covenant people forever, Jacob’s
burial was the remembering of the past and the promise of the future return of
the people to the land of Canaan. We
remember what Jesus has done once and for all, we make it real in the present
as the forgiveness for our sins, and we look forward to the heavenly
banquet. Christ has died, Christ is
risen, Christ will come again. All the
tenses of the verb are one in Jesus.
The heavens proclaim
his righteousness,
and all the peoples see his glory.
All worshipers of images are put to shame,
who make their boast in worthless idols;
worship him, all you gods!
and all the peoples see his glory.
All worshipers of images are put to shame,
who make their boast in worthless idols;
worship him, all you gods!
Exalt the LORD our
God,
and worship at his holy mountain;
for the LORD our God is holy!
and worship at his holy mountain;
for the LORD our God is holy!
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