An aged patriarch who lacked neither bread nor milk nor wine in Egypt speaks, at the very end of his life, about someone who will tether a donkey to a vine and wash his robe in the blood of grapes. These startling images from Jacob’s blessing over Judah (Genesis 49) turn out to be a record of a longing our books and films still repeat, the longing for someone who will finally set the world right. The sermon leads from a dying father’s tent all the way to the wedding at Cana, where the promise begins to come true. Listen if, for all your comfort, you still sense that something is missing.
Discussion questions
For your small group or for personal reflection after the sermon.
- Jacob speaks his blessing over Judah after 17 years of comfortable life in Egypt. What does it tell us about his longing that, despite such prosperity, he foretells a coming king?
- What do the images in Genesis 49:11-12 mean: the donkey tied to a vine and the robe soaked in wine? What kind of reality under this king's reign do they describe?
- The preacher notes that life has never been better, yet we still long to be rescued, as seen in our endless superhero stories. What do you long for most that neither technology nor prosperity can give you?
- Why do you think Jesus was hard to recognize as the promised king, since he was born into a simple carpenter's home and his clothes were dusty rather than red from grapes?
- How does turning water into wine at the wedding in Cana show that Jesus fulfills the promise given to Judah and offers a foretaste of his kingdom?
- Jesus' kingdom brings new hearts, acceptance, close relationships and peace. In which of these areas do you want to trust Jesus more as your King this week, and what might that look like in practice?
