Audio & Outline Notes for Parashat Vayigash

Bereshit 44:18-47:27 - Yeshua, Messiah Ben Yosef, Part II

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I.   Introduction
A.  Review

1. Messiah ben Yosef  - the Hidden Messiah
   a.  "Yosef recognized his brothers, but they did not recognize him." (BEREISHIT 42:8)
   On this verse, the Gaon Rabbi Eliyahu of Vilna teaches:
   "This is one of Yosef’s attributes. Not just in his generation, but also in every generation, Mashiach ben Yosef recognizes his brothers and they do not recognize him. It is an act of Satan, which conceals Mashiach ben Yosef’s attributes, such that the Jews unfortunately do not recognize his footsteps, and in fact scoff at them… If not for this, our troubles would already be over. If Israel "recognized Yosef", Mashiach ben Yosef’s footsteps comprising the ingathering of the exiles, etc., we would already be completely redeemed." (Kol HaTor 2:39)
   b. The Hidden Messiah in Zechariah and in the Brit Chadashah - Zechariah 9:9 (Matt 21:5); 12; 13 (Matt 24:30; Rev 1:7)

B. Parashat Vayigash outline

1. Judah approaches Joseph to plead for the release of Benjamin, offering himself as a slave to the Egyptian ruler in Benjamin's stead. Upon witnessing his brothers' loyalty to one another, Joseph reveals his identity to them. "I am Joseph," he declares. "Is my father still alive?" Ber. 44:18- 45:3
2. The brothers are overcome by shame and remorse, but Joseph comforts them. "It was not you who sent me here," he says to them, "but G-d. It has all been ordained from Above to save us, and the entire region, from famine." Ber. 45:4-9
3. The brothers rush back to Canaan with the news. Jacob comes to Egypt with his sons and their families -- seventy souls in all -- and is reunited with his beloved son after 22 years. On his way to Egypt he receives the Divine promise: "Fear not to go down to Egypt; for I will there make of you a great nation. I will go down with you into Egypt, and I will also surely bring you up again." Ber. 45; 10-46:4
4. Joseph gathers the wealth of Egypt by selling food and seed during the famine. Pharaoh gives Jacob's family the fertile county of Goshen to settle, and the children of Israel prosper in their Egyptian exile. Ber. 46:5- 47:27        

II.    Yeshua – The Hidden Messiah of Yeshayahu 52:13-53:1ff
A.    Rabbinic interpretations

1. The Messiah:
   a. It was given by God as a description of the Messiah, whereby, when any should claim to be the Messiah, to judge by the resemblance or non resemblance to it, whether he were the Messiah or not. - Ibn Crispin
   b. The meaning of the words " bruised for our iniquities" is since the Messiah bears our iniquities, which produce the effect of his being bruised, it follows that whoso will not admit that the Messiah bears our iniquities, must endure and suffer for them himself. R. Shimon bar Yochai
   d. Our rabbis with one voice accept and affirm that the prophet is speaking of the King Messiah, and we shall ourselves also adhere to the same view. R. Moshe Al Schechech 16th century
   c. The Messiah but it isn’t Yeshua
2. Idealized Israel – Rashi 1050 C.E.- (Next week)
3. Looking back is legitimate - Hilchot Melachim U’Milchamoteiham The laws of Kings and Their Wars- Rambam

B.    Yeshayahu 52:13- 531ff

1. The Initial abasement and subsequent exaltation of the suffering servant. Yeshayahu 52:13- 15
   a. My Servant is identified as the Messiah Rambam - HMM 11:4 – Yeshayahu 52:13
   b. The Messiah’s physical suffering – Yeshayahu 52:14
   c. The messiah’s exaltation- Yeshayahu 52:15
2. The universal rejection of the suffering servant - Yeshayahu 53:1-3; cp. Matt 13:55-5, Yoch 7:45- 49 12:38; Rom 10:16
3. The vicarious atonement of the suffering servant Yeshayau 53:4-6 cp. Matt 8:17; 1 Pet 2:24
4. The humiliation of the suffering servant - Yeshayau 53:7-8 cp. Acts 8:32-33
5. The death and burial of the suffering servant – Yeshayahu 53:9 cp. Mark 15:42-47; Yoch 19:41-42
6. The resurrection and triumph of the suffering servant - Yeshayahu 53:10-12; Luke 22:37

III.    Conclusion
A. Yeshua is the Hidden Messiah – Messiah ben Yosef
B. Yeshua is the Suffering Messiah the Tenach speaks about
C. Yeshua is the Suffering Messiah the Rabbis speak about
D.  Yeshua is the Universal Messiah
  
IV.    Informal Bibliography

• Gleason L. Archer & Gregory Chirchigno, Old Testament Quotations in the New Testament, Moody Press
• Samuel R. Driver & Adolf Neubauer, The "Suffering Servant" of Isaiah According to Jewish Interpreters, Hermon Press
• Arnold Fruchtenbaum, Messianic Christology, Ariel Ministries
• Arthur W. Kac, M.D., The Messianic Hope A Divine Solution For A Human Problem
• Rambam, Mishneh Torah The Law of Kings and Their Wars,
• Moznaim Publishing Corporation
• The Fifty- Third Chapter of Isaiah According to the Jewish Interpreters