Gen 44:32+33, For your servant became surety for the lad to my father, saying, 'If I do not bring him back to you, then let me bear the blame before my father forever.' "Now, therefore, please let your servant remain instead of the lad a slave to my lord, and let the lad go up with his brothers. 
	We are continuing with our reading through the story of Joseph and his brothers as recounted in our Genesis text. This morning, we read about how Joseph had his cup put into Benjamin’s grain sack and then had him arrested him for that supposed theft. At this point, Judah laid before Joseph the fact that if all the other brothers were to return to their father without Benjamin, the beloved son of Rachel, their father would surely die of sorrow. 
	Judah had put himself before his father as the surety or guarantee of Benjamin’s safe return home. We read this last time in Gen 43:9. I myself will be surety for him; you may hold me responsible for him. If I do not bring him back to you and set him before you, then let me bear the blame before you forever. Judah promised his father that he would bear the responsibility for any harm that might befall his brother. In this morning’s passage, we find him facing that oath before this official of Egypt. 
	Judah did not hesitate to put himself on the line for the sake of his brother and for the sake of preserving the life of his father. Even as he convinced his father that Benjamin had to go to Egypt in order to obtain food for the whole family’s survival, here he was following through with that obligation to protect his younger brother’s life.
	Please note that there is no record of the brothers blaming Benjamin or accusing him of the theft of the cup. As well, there is no discord among them as to what to do at this point. They all returned to Joseph’s house with Judah in order to try to gain the release of Benjamin. Whether Benjamin was guilty or not, the brothers were not going to return home without trying to do something for the sake of his salvation from slavery to this Egyptian prince. Therefore they came together to the house of the official and fell on the ground before him. 
	This brings immediately to our remembrance the dream that Joseph had concerning his brothers. Gen 37:6+7, And he said to them, "Please listen to this dream which I have had; for behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and lo, my sheaf rose up and also stood erect; and behold, your sheaves gathered around and bowed down to my sheaf." The brothers, were in fact, bowing down to Joseph, unbeknownst to them and were seeking for him to rule favorably on their behalf as Judah related why it was so vital for them to take Benjamin back to his father. 
	As well, please note that the entire crux of what the brothers did to Joseph and the lie that they told their father came full circle into the explanation of Judah to this Egyptian official. Gen 44:24-29, "Thus it came about when we went up to your servant my father, we told him the words of my lord. And our father said, 'Go back, buy us a little food.' "But we said, 'We cannot go down. If our youngest brother is with us, then we will go down; for we cannot see the man's face unless our youngest brother is with us.' "And your servant my father said to us, 'You know that my wife bore me two sons; and the one went out from me, and I said, "Surely he is torn in pieces," and I have not seen him since. 'And if you take this one also from me, and harm befalls him, you will bring my gray hair down to Sheol in sorrow.' 
	Judah was forced to face the fact that what they did to Joseph and the deception practiced upon their father had the very real consequence of bringing upon his head the death of his father if Benjamin became enslaved. Rather, Judah took upon himself the very same sentence that he had convinced his brothers to perpetrate upon Joseph when they sold him into slavery. Judah now offered himself to be the slave of the Egyptian official in order to gain the release of Benjamin, thus taking upon himself the same condemnation that he had put upon Joseph all those many years earlier.  
	It is very telling that as Judah recounted the details of the conversation with Jacob before their return to Egypt to get more food, he mentioned that Joseph was torn to pieces rather than the truth that he had been sold into slavery. Judah and the brothers knew the truth, but they could not bring themselves to admit to something so filled with anger and with hatred and with such callous disregard for their own brother. They still held to the story that was shrouding their vicious action, and could only relate it in the accounting of the exact words of their father. 
Judah could have told the truth, but to do so would be to admit that he had vilely mistreated one brother at the very moment that he was seeking to save another. He was at the cross roads of his conscious endeavor to make things right and to cover up the actions of his choosing to make a profit at the expense of his brother Joseph’s freedom. 
This brings to mind another Old Testament example of one person taking upon himself the guilt and the shame of his own actions. That is the course of what happened when King David chose to conduct a census of the people of God for the sake of proving how powerful he was in the number of people under his command and authority. He was instructed not to do such a thing, but chose, instead to defy the commandment of the Lord. The consequence of that action was that the Lord sent His sword of plague across the nation which resulted in the deaths of more than 70,000 people. 
King David, in seeing the Hand of God striking down innocents because of his own selfish folly and pride, then sought the Lord to deal with him and his family instead of any more of the people. He took the charge upon himself for the dealing of the Lord in order to stop anymore deaths as a consequence of his own disobedience. 
1 Chron 21:16+17, Then David lifted up his eyes and saw the angel of the Lord standing between earth and heaven, with his drawn sword in his hand stretched out over Jerusalem. Then David and the elders, covered with sackcloth, fell on their faces. And David said to God, "Is it not I who commanded to count the people? Indeed, I am the one who has sinned and done very wickedly, but these sheep, what have they done? O Lord my God, please let Thy hand be against me and my father's household, but not against Thy people that they should be plagued." 
	David put himself before the Lord in order to take the punishment that he deserved. He was the one who had the responsibility for what was done. His was the head that was to bear the brunt and the fury of the Lord’s vengeance at David’s disobedience. He stood between the Lord and his suffering subjects and asked the Lord to deal with him instead. 
	Both Judah and David, in these examples are the type of the Lord Jesus Christ as He became the surety and the advocate for all those who would but believe upon His name. While Judah and David were the guilty ones who deserved the punishment, Jesus is the spotless and perfect Lamb of God Who willingly took upon Himself our sin and our shame and our punishment in order to make a way for our salvation and the establishment of our eternal life in Him.
	The Writer to the Hebrews shows just how wondrous and awesome is the guarantee of our salvation in Jesus Christ in Heb 7:18-28. Please read along with me in this magnificent detailing of what is eternally in place in the work and the person of Our Lord Jesus. Heb 7:18-28, For, on the one hand, there is a setting aside of a former commandment because of its weakness and uselessness (for the Law made nothing perfect), and on the other hand there is a bringing in of a better hope, through which we draw near to God. And inasmuch as it was not without an oath (for they indeed became priests without an oath, but He with an oath through the One who said to Him, "The Lord has sworn And will not change His mind, 'Thou art a priest forever'"); so much the more also Jesus has become the guarantee of a better covenant. And the former priests, on the one hand, existed in greater numbers, because they were prevented by death from continuing, but He, on the other hand, because He abides forever, holds His priesthood permanently. Hence, also, He is able to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them. For it was fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners and exalted above the heavens; who does not need daily, like those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for His own sins, and then for the sins of the people, because this He did once for all when He offered up Himself. For the Law appoints men as high priests who are weak, but the word of the oath, which came after the Law, appoints a Son, made perfect forever. Amen.
	Just consider what we are guaranteed in the perfect priesthood of the One Who became our surety of salvation by His own death and resurrection. First of all, we are brought close to God in Christ. It is no longer a matter of God up there and we down here trying to find some method and means of bridging the great divide between us. In Christ, there is no longer any separation from God because God, Himself, has eliminated that barrier of sin which mankind could never have done. We can not, in any measure, earn our way into His presence and we certainly do not merit such grace and mercy. It is only because of the great love with which God so loved us that we are brought before Him in the very righteousness and holiness of His Only Begotten Son.
	Next, because Christ is the eternal high priest, by the working might of the Hand of God in operation, we are the guaranteed benefactors of the great covenant instituted by His perfect sacrificial offering of Himself. It is done once and forever. Eternal security rests fully and absolutely in Him and His gloriously triumphant exaltation above all the powers of sin and death. 
There was no one else who could so fully and utterly establish such an all-encompassing and faultless office of intercession on our behalf. He is the personal guarantee of our inclusion into the heavenly presence of our Creator, the Lord God Almighty. As the Writer so emphasizes, Christ’s priesthood is the only one which ensures eternal salvation …because this He did once for all when He offered up Himself. For the Law appoints men as high priests who are weak, but the word of the oath, which came after the Law, appoints a Son, made perfect forever.
	Not only this, but in the surety of Christ as our High priest and Lord and Savior, we are brought into the very love of God in the same measure for the sake of others. What Jesus accomplished for us is to be manifested in the manner in which we now live the life that He gives us unto others. This was emphasized by the Apostle John as we read in 1 John 3:11-16. 1 John 3:11-16, For this is the message which you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another; not as Cain, who was of the evil one, and slew his brother. And for what reason did he slay him? Because his deeds were evil, and his brother's were righteous. Do not marvel, brethren, if the world hates you. We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love abides in death. Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer; and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him. We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. 
	Just as Christ offered Himself as the perfect sacrifice for our sins in the so great Love of God lavished upon us, so is that love to be seen in our dealings one with another. We are to place our lives on the altar of God’s love in order to bring forth the more perfect and living expression of the One Who now indwells us. This is a true expression of the fact that we are bought at the price of the lifeblood of Jesus Christ. In Him, we lay down our lives for those in such need as we once found ourselves. 
	No, we will never be the guarantee for anyone else’s salvation. That place of honor belongs to Christ, Alone! We are, however, now bound in the manner of that love with which we hold Christ near and dear in our hearts. We are to desire for Him to show forth His love in all our dealings with those around us. Just as Judah was willing to place his life on the line for his younger brother, Benjamin, just as David was willing to take upon himself all the pain and suffering that was being laid upon his people, so are we to open our hearts for others. We will never be made perfect in our submission of love for the brethren and, likewise, we will never earn a greater place in the heart of God because we hold another dearer than our own selves. We do not give ourselves in order to get anything at all! The reality of our life in Christ is that we now willing and freely take upon ourselves the burden of others and lay down our lives for them because of the fact that Christ did that for us. 
We respond in kind, not because we will get anything, but because we desire, with all our hearts, to give forth from the love that fills our hearts and thoughts and prayers and minds for all eternity. It is because we are now constrained to do so as we grow together in Christ Jesus. As we read in Eph 4:14-16, As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves, and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming; but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him, who is the head, even Christ, from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by that which every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love. 
True spiritual growth in our living relationship with Christ Jesus demands that we set aside all that would hinder us from laying down our lives for one another. So be it!
For your servant became surety for the lad to my father, saying, 'If I do not bring him back to you, then let me bear the blame before my father forever.' "Now, therefore, please let your servant remain instead of the lad a slave to my lord, and let the lad go up with his brothers. Amen.

	This morning’s benediction is Rom 15:5+6. Now may the God who gives perseverance and encouragement grant you to be of the same mind with one another according to Christ Jesus; that with one accord you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.