The Brothers Come Again, Bringing Benjamin

43Now the famine was severe in the land.²And when they had eaten up the grain that they had brought from Egypt, their father said to them, ‘Go again, buy us a little more food.’³But Judah said to him, ‘The man solemnly warned us, saying, “You shall not see my face unless your brother is with you.”⁴If you will send our brother with us, we will go down and buy you food;⁵but if you will not send him, we will not go down, for the man said to us, “You shall not see my face, unless your brother is with you.” ’⁶Israel said, ‘Why did you treat me so badly as to tell the man that you had another brother?’⁷They replied, ‘The man questioned us carefully about ourselves and our kindred, saying, “Is your father still alive? Have you another brother?” What we told him was in answer to these questions. Could we in any way know that he would say, “Bring your brother down”?’⁸Then Judah said to his father Israel, ‘Send the boy with me, and let us be on our way, so that we may live and not die—you and we and also our little ones.⁹I myself will be surety for him; you can hold me accountable for him. If I do not bring him back to you and set him before you, then let me bear the blame for ever.¹⁰If we had not delayed, we would now have returned twice.’

11 Then their father Israel said to them, ‘If it must be so, then do this: take some of the choice fruits of the land in your bags, and carry them down as a present to the man—a little balm and a little honey, gum, resin, pistachio nuts, and almonds.¹²Take double the money with you. Carry back with you the money that was returned in the top of your sacks; perhaps it was an oversight.¹³Take your brother also, and be on your way again to the man;¹⁴may God Almighty^* grant you mercy before the man, so that he may send back your other brother and Benjamin. As for me, if I am bereaved of my children, I am bereaved.’¹⁵So the men took the present, and they took double the money with them, as well as Benjamin. Then they went on their way down to Egypt, and stood before Joseph.

Mark 4:35-41

Jesus Stills a Storm

35 On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, ‘Let us go across to the other side.’³⁶And leaving the crowd behind, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. Other boats were with him.³⁷A great gale arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that the boat was already being swamped.³⁸But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke him up and said to him, ‘Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?’³⁹He woke up and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, ‘Peace! Be still!’ Then the wind ceased, and there was a dead calm.⁴⁰He said to them, ‘Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?’⁴¹And they were filled with great awe and said to one another, ‘Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?’

Stilling the storm (11th cent)

The pain of Jacob is evident to the reader, as is the impatience of his sons whose treatment of Joseph is the secret cause of the pain. They know that Jospeh’s departure was not accidental and can disregard Jacobs’ fear of “another accident”. Once the old man has resigned himself to the inevitable, he is calm and wise. His instructions remind the reader of his own precautions when preparing the way for his reunion with Esau. We know he has learned that the most testing events can reveal the hand of God. His special love for Bemjamin however reveals that he has not learned after all that has happened to avoid this kind of favouritism. In his deep vision and partial blindness he remains Jacob.

Mark tells the story of the storm in such a way that the readers can simultaneously picture an actual storm on the lake and see the ship of faith struggling against the forces of chaos in the world. In both scenarios Jesus’ sleep mimes his death and his awakened power suggests his resurrection. The goodness of God is bodily present in Jesus who brings a great calm whenever his frightened followers call upon him in all times and places.