Vayigash - Reconciliation Between Yeshua & the Jewish People

In the Torah portion of Vayigash, there are numerous connections to the Messiah. Yehudah drawing near to Yosef in the beginning of this Torah portion points towards the end times, and the joining of the kingdoms of Ephraim and Yehudah. Yehudah putting his life on the line for his brother Benyamin points towards the Messiah. And Yosef finally revealing himself to his brothers points towards the eventual reconciliation between Yeshua and the Jewish people.

The beginning of this Torah portion, in Genesis 44:18, says, “Then Judah came near unto him.” This text hints toward the eventual drawing near of messiah son of Yehudah to messiah son of Yosef. Amos 9:13 points toward this event, “Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that the plowman shall overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes him that soweth seed...” The Midrash states that the plowman and the treader of grapes point towards Yehudah and the messiah son of David, while the reaper and the sower of seed point towards Yosef and the messiah son of Yosef. In the Messianic Era, Yehudah will overtake Yosef, and the Messiah will ultimately come from Yehudah. This points towards the unification of Yehudah and Yosef in the time to come, as it says in the Midrash and Hasidic Jewish commentary Yalkut Moshiach:

The Haftarah portion for Parashat Vayigash is in the same vein of unity between Yehudah and Yosef. The prophecy in Ezekiel depicts two sticks, one for Yehudah and one for Yosef. The two sticks are combined, pointing towards not only the unification of Yehudah and Yosef, but also the two messiahs being combined into one messiah. The next prophecy in Ezekiel 37:24 says, “And My servant David shall be king over them, and they all shall have one shepherd.” A single king from the house of David, representing both messiahs, will rule over the united kingdoms of Yehudah and Yosef, like a shepherd watching over his flock. We believe that this is Yeshua of Nazareth, with whom both the suffering messiah son of Yosef and the victorious messiah son of David are joined together.

Yehudah offered to give his life for the life of his brother Benyamin. He would rather be a slave for the rest of his life in the land of Mitzrayim (Egypt) than let his father suffer again. When Yosef saw what Yehudah wanted, he knew that his brothers had repented. They had passed the test, and Yosef no longer had any reason to hide from them.

God has hidden Yeshua from the Jewish people in a similar way in order to test them and bring them to repent. We who believe in Yeshua should not be disheartened that the majority of the Jewish people do not know Yeshua. We must remember that God has not abandoned his people. We must remember that God is always at work with his people. It is just as it says in Romans 11:25, “That blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in.” And when the time is right, it will be just as it says in Romans 11:26-27, “All Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Tzion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob: For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins.”

In Genesis 45:1 it says:

Yosef stood before his brothers, revealing that he had been the one who’d sustained them through the famine, that he had been the one who’d tested them, that he had been the one who’d been with them all along. In this same way, Yeshua will reveal himself to his people in the future.

Christian missionary efforts towards the Jewish people have not been nearly as successful as the efforts towards other nations and religions. The Jewish people have good reasons to not accept Yeshua in the way that Christianity presents it, but the real reason why the Jewish people have not yet recognized Yeshua as the Messiah is because he has not yet revealed himself to them. Yeshua conceals himself on purpose. Mary of Magdala did not recognize Yeshua until he spoke to her by name. The two talmidim (disciples) on the way to Emmaus didn’t recognize Yeshua until he made a blessing over the bread and disappeared before their eyes. On the shore of Galilee, even his own talmidim didn’t recognize him for who he was. Romans 11:25-26 points towards a time where Yeshua will be hidden from his people:

Before Yosef revealed his identity to his brothers, he cleared the Egyptians from the room. If we liken the brothers to the Jewish people, then the Egyptians are the Gentiles. When the time came for Yosef to show himself, he did not need to show the Egyptians, the Egyptians already knew who he was, and they were not needed in the situation. When Yeshua reveals himself to his people, he will not need the help of missionaries. Then it will be said, “There was no man with him when Yeshua made himself known to his brothers.”

Vayigash has numerous connections to the Messiah. From the beginning of this Torah portion, where Yehudah draws near to his brother Yosef. To the middle, where Yehudah shows his willingness to lay down his life and freedom for his brother, and where Yosef decides to show himself as his family’s savior. To the end, in the Haftarah, where the messiah son of Yosef and the Messiah son of David will be one, in the time to come.