“What can we say to my lord?” Judah replied. “How can we plead? How can we justify ourselves? God has exposed your servants’ iniquity.” (Genesis 44:16)
Aren’t those words representative of us all? When we stand before God, and God opens up the books that show our entire lives, there will be nothing we can say. No defense we can give.
Judah’s words to his father Jacob in verse 32 also strike me.
If I do not return him to you, I will always bear the guilt for sinning against you, my father. (32)
It seems to me there was a double meaning there, although Jacob didn’t see it at the time.
It was Judah who had suggested selling Joseph as a slave. (Genesis 37:26-27)
And we see in this chapter how heavily he wore the weight of that guilt.
He had sinned against his father by selling Joseph. There was nothing he could do to change it. And I think he was trying to atone for his sin by guaranteeing Benjamin’s safety.
I think his hidden message to his father was, “If I do not bring Benjamin back to you, I will always bear the guilt for sinning against you by selling Joseph.”
But the truth is, even if he had brought Benjamin back safely, it would not have truly paid for his sin.
How often do we try to do what Judah did? We try to “make up” for the wrong we did.
But nothing we do can take our sin away. God exposes our iniquity and there is no way to justify ourselves.
But the good news is that Jesus lifted the weight of our sin, put it on himself, and paid for our sin at the cross.
All we have to do is trust and rest in what Jesus did for us.
And so Paul tells us,
Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
We have also obtained access through him by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we boast in the hope of the glory of God. (Romans 5:1-2)
Moment to Moment (Bible blog) 