The sons of Juda: the death of Her and Onan: the birth of Phares and Zara.
“Juda said: What wilt thou have for a pledge? She answered: Thy ring and bracelet, and the staff which thou holdest in thy hand…” (Genesis 38:18)
The scriptures instruct us in the knowledge of the mystery of Christ.
“The purpose and intention of the divinely inspired Scripture is to describe to us the mystery of Christ through countless facts. And with good reason some have compared it with a magnificent and illustrious city that does not have a single statue of its king or imperator but many statues placed in a most frequented spot, where everybody can admire them. See how Scripture does not omit any fact that refers to such mystery but rather describes at length any and all of them. Even though sometimes the text of the story does not seem to be very suitable, this does not prevent Scripture at all from rightly constructing and accomplishing its proposed demonstration. Its purpose is not to relate the lives of saints (this is not the case at all) but rather to instruct us in the knowledge of the mystery of Christ through facts, which can make our speech about him true and manifest. Therefore it cannot be criticized as if it were wandering from the truth. And in Judah and Tamar the mystery of the incarnation of our Savior is again described to us.” -St. Cyril of Alexandria
When carrying out the divine plan, one does not incur blame.
“Let no one who hears this, however, condemn Tamar. As I said before, she was carrying out the divine plan, and hence neither did she incur any blame, nor did Judah lay himself open to any charge. I mean, as you proceed along from this point, you will find Christ tracing his lineage from the two children born to him. In particular, the two children born to him were a type of the two people, prefiguring Jewish life and the spiritual life.” -St. John Chrysostom
Fr. Mike Schmitz commented: God can bring out a greater good from evil because nothing given to God is wasted. God can make beautiful, what is broken.
Jesus Christ will be a sign and a contradiction to many.
“And when she was ready to be brought to bed, there appeared twins in her womb: and in the very delivery of the infants, one put forth a hand, whereon the midwife tied a scarlet thread.” (Genesis 38:27)
Prefigured in the twins is the division of Christianity and Judaism; the rise and fall of many.
“Observe in this, I ask you, a mystery and a prediction of what is to come. You see, after the midwife bound the scarlet thread around his hand to make Zerah recognizable, then ‘he drew his hand back, and his brother came out.’ He yielded precedence to his brother, it is saying, and the one thought last came out first, and the one thought first emerged after him. ‘The midwife said, ‘What a breach you have made for yourself!’ He was called Perez.’ The name, in fact, means ‘breach’ or ‘division,’ as you might say. ‘After him came his brother with the mark on his right hand; he was given the name Zerah,’ which means ‘sunrise.’ It was not idly or to no purpose that these things happened; rather, it was a type of things to come, revealing the events themselves. You see, what happened was not according to natural processes. I mean, how would it have been possible, after his hand was bound with crimson, for him to draw back again and give way to the one after him, unless there were some divine power arranging this in advance? It was also prefiguring, as if in a kind of shadow, the fact that right from the outset Zerah, which means sunrise (he is, after all, a type of the church), began to peer ahead; as he moved gradually forward and then retired, the legal observance denoted by Perez made its entrance. After that had held precedence for a long time, the former one—I mean Zerah, who had retired—came forward, and the whole Judaic way of life in turn yielded place to the church.” -St. John Chrysostom
Pope John Paul II writes in his 1976 Lenten retreat to St. Paul VI and the Roman Curia:
“Behold, this child [Jesus] is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign of contradiction.” (Lk 2:34-35). At the heart of his reflections, A Sign of Contradiction – is the thesis that the words “‘sign of contradiction’ sum up most felicitously the whole truth about Jesus Christ, his mission, and his Church.”
Jesus Christ, who is, “both the light that shines for mankind and at the same time a sign of contradiction.” He further adds that Jesus Christ is not only revealed as the light of the world, but also as “that sign which, more than ever, men are resolved to oppose.”
God, judging humans in the light of his perfect justice and holiness, is the author of the antithesis, of the sign of contradiction between good and evil, between the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent. (Gen 3:15) As he notes, “Here, in the third chapter of Genesis, at the very beginning of the Bible, it becomes clear that the history of mankind, and with it the history of the world with which man is united through the work of divine creation, will both be subject to rule by the Word and the anti-Word, the Gospel and the anti-Gospel.”
Discussion: How are we seeing signs of contradictions in our times, between good and evil?
Women's Prayer Group In Christ 