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From: Genesis 46:1-7, 28-30

Jacob Journeys to Egypt

[1] So Israel took his journey with all that he had, and came to Beer-sheba, and
offered sacrifices to the God of his lather Isaac. [2] And God spoke to Israel in vi-
sions of the night, and said, “Jacob, Jacob.” And he said, “Here am I.” [3] Then
he said, “I am God, the God of your father; do not be afraid to go down to Egypt;
for I will there make of you a great nation. [4] I will go down with you to Egypt,
and I will also bring you up again; and Joseph’s hand shall close your eyes.” [5]
Then Jacob set out from Beer-sheba; and the sons of Israel carried Jacob their
father, their little ones, and their wives, in the wagons which Pharaoh had sent
to carry him. [6] They also took their cattle and their goods, which they had
gained in the land of Canaan, and came into Egypt, Jacob and all his offspring
with him, [7] his sons, and his sons’ sons with him, his daughters, and his sons’
daughters; all his offspring he brought with him into Egypt.

[28] He sent Judah before him to Joseph, to appear before him. in Goshen; and
they came into the land of Goshen. [29] Then Joseph made ready his chariot
and went up to meet Israel his father in Goshen; and he presented himself to
him, and fell on his neck, and wept on his neck a good while. [30] Israel said to
Joseph, “Now let me die, since I have seen your face and know that you are still
alive.”

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Commentary:

46:1-47:12. The narrative now focuses again on the family of Jacob in Canaan.
The figure and position of Joseph act as the backdrop against which to explain
the establishment of Israel in Egypt; it is the result of a divine command.

Jacob goes down to Egypt forced by the famine which is ravaging the land of Ca-
naan (cf. 47:4). The Lord has prepared the way for him by means of a series of
painful events and a series of tests whose meaning is now plain to see. This is
a common human experience: “The test, I don’t deny it, proves to be very hard:
you have to go uphill, ‘against the grain’. What is my advice? That you must say
“omnia in bonum”, everything that happens, ‘everything that happens to me I for
my own good...’ Therefore the right conclusion is to accept, as a pleasant reality,
what seems so hard to you” (St. J Escrivá, “Furrow”, 127).

46:1-5. This movement to Egypt could have put a question-mark against God’s
promise to give the descendants of Abraham and Isaac the land of Canaan.
God’s intervention convinces Jacob that this is all part of God’s providential plans.
In fact, Jacob’s move to Egypt is the outcome of an express command from God.
In Genesis 26:2 God forbade Isaac to go to Egypt: this was a sign that his land
was Canaan. Now a similar command is needed to make Israel leave the coun-
try. Like everything in the patriarchal period this command is given in a night-time
vision, the last such vision the patriarchs are to receive The command does not
however cancel God’s promise about Canaan: God himself will go with Jacob to
Egypt, and he will take him out of there. The reference to this is not just to the
fact that Jacob will be buried in Canaan (cf. 50:1-14) but to the ultimate liberation,
the Exodus.

Jacob’s status is not reduced by his going into Egypt; on the contrary, it is en-
hanced and underlined: “For, what does he need if God goes with him? [...] Who
is as powerful in his homeland as Jacob was in a strange country? Who had
such abundance of wealth, as he had in a time of famine? Who was as strong in
his youth, as this man was in his old age? [...] Who was as rich in his kingdom,
as this man on his pilgrimage? He even blessed kings [...], and who will call him
poor whom the world was not worthy to know? for his company was in heaven”
(St. Ambrose, “De Iacob Et Vita Beata”, 2, 9. 38).

46:28-34. Joseph does not wait for Jacob to visit him as would be his due, given
his high social position and the fact that the patriarch has immigrant status. His
filial feelings and the honor owed to his father lead him to go to meet him without
delay and throw himself into his arms.

Jacob sees all his sons gathered around him. Now he knows that his mission as
Israel, the father of the people, is accomplished; he can die in peace. Because
the Israelites are shepherds, they keep a certain distance from the Egyptians;
this also ensures they do not lose their identity as a people. As regards Goshen,
see the note on 45:10.

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Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.

Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.

From: Matthew 10:16-23

Jesus’ Instructions to the Apostles

(Jesus said to His disciples,) [16] “Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst
of wolves; so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. [17] Beware of men; for
they will deliver you up to councils, and flog you in their synagogues, [18] and you
will be dragged before governors and kings for My sake, to bear testimony before
them and the Gentiles. [19] When they deliver you up, do not be anxious how you
are to speak or what you are to say; for what you are to say will be given to you
in that hour; [20] for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking
through you. [21] Brother will deliver up brother to death, and the father his child,
and children will rise against parents and have them put to death; [22] and you will
be hated by all for My name’s sake. But he who endures to the end will be saved.
[23] When they persecute you in one town, flee to the next; for truly, I say to you,
you will not have gone through all the towns of Israel, before the Son of Man
comes.”

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Commentary:

16-23. The instructions and warnings Jesus gives here apply right through the
history of the Church. It is difficult for the world to understand the way of God.
Sometimes there will be persecutions, sometimes indifference to the Gospel or
failure to understand. Genuine commitment to Jesus always involves effort —
which is not surprising, because Jesus Himself was a sign of contradiction; in-
deed, if that were not the experience of a Christian, he would have to ask him-
self whether he was not in fact a worldly person. There are certain worldly things
a Christian cannot compromise about, no matter how much they are in fashion.
Therefore, Christian life inevitably involves nonconformity with anything that goes
against faith and morals (cf. Romans 12:2). It is not surprising that a Christian’s
life often involves choosing between heroism and treachery. Difficulties of this
sort should not make us afraid: we are not alone, we can count on the powerful
help of our Father God to give us strength and daring.

20. Here Jesus teaches the completely supernatural character of the witness
He asks His disciples to bear. The documented accounts of a host of Christian
martyrs prove that He has kept this promise: they bear eloquent witness to the
serenity and wisdom of often uneducated people, some of them scarcely more
than children.

The teaching contained in this verse provides the basis for the fortitude and con-
fidence a Christian should have whenever he has to profess his faith in difficult
situations. He will not be alone, for the Holy Spirit will give him words of divine
wisdom.

23. In interpreting this text, the first thing is to reject the view of certain rationa-
lists who argue that Jesus was convinced that soon He would come in glory and
the world would come to an end. That interpretation is clearly at odds with many
passages of the Gospel and the New Testament. Clearly, Jesus refers to Him-
self when He speaks of the “Son of Man”, whose glory will be manifested in this
way. The most cogent interpretation is that Jesus is referring here, primarily, to
the historical event of the first Jewish war against Rome, which ended with the
destruction of Jerusalem and of the temple in the year 70, and which led to the
scattering of the Jewish people. But this event, which would occur a few years
after Jesus’ death, is an image or a prophetic symbol of the end of the world (cf.
note on Matthew 24:1).

The coming of Christ in glory will happen at a time which God has not revealed.
Uncertainty about the end of the world helps Christians and the Church to be
ever-vigilant.

Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.