Genesis 32:22-31
Psalm 1212 timothy 3:14-4:5
Luke 18:1-8
The interactions of God with humans as recorded in the Jewish Scriptures is frequently expressed through sparse, though deeply symbolic narratives. The story of Jacob today is really more like an outline, and the depth of the symbolism packs these few words with a breadth of meaning to encompass human history. Of course, it is
set by a river, because rivers are fringes dividing one side from another. Crossing the river is dangerous and if its waters bring life they also bring death. Bodies of water are at the brink of chaos and are a simile for the (hostile) nations of the world. we are told that Jacob he divided his family into two troops in the hope come might survive if his brother is hostile. It is dark because it has to be dark. Being alone in the dark is required in such a story. Jacob encounters a man
with whom he wrestles. we have no other information about the man, until we learn that Jacob says it is God. This brings Jesus into the story and hints of incarnation. The man is also a symbol of all the conflicts Jacob has had, not least with himself.
Jacob was born clinging to his brother's heal--he was always a grasper. He manipulates the robust, though simpler Essau and later stole his brother’s blessing. Now he demands a blessing from the wrestler. He, like us, is hungry for blessing. He receives the blessing with a new name, Israel, "the one who struggles with God and man and prevails," but it comes at a cost. His hip is damaged and he leaves with a limp.
Jacob's story is also an outline of Israel's story. The nation, called the chosen people, receive the blessing, but their history is littered has been crippling pain. In our own day there are peoples which do not have Israel on their maps, and many of her neighbors would like to repeat what the Nazis did in the middle of the last century. If the brief story of Jacob and the wrestler are somewhat baffling, it also rings true.
The biographies of the
saints report similar experiences. Those who love God most seem also to struggle
and suffer greatly for it. Jesus does not make their lives easier or "better" as we would understand the word, yet He makes even the suffering worth it.
Jesus' life is helpful in reading of Jacob’s encounter with God. Jesus, the man who is also God, also stood
beside a river. He was baptized by John and heard the Father say, “This is my
son, my beloved, with whom I am well pleased.” Next, alone in the desert, Jesus
wrestles with demons and hunger, for six weeks. The Beloved Son will also wrestle
with God and man upon the cross, suffering graver wounds than a dislocated hip.
The Father loves the Son, yet there He hangs, crucified.
Jacob is refined son, preferring the
life among tents. His brother vowed to kill him for what he had done. Forced to flee for his life, Jacob repeatedly experiences deception and abuse of others, culminating in the last great deception, the loss of Joseph. Salvation can be a long, painful process.
Modern conversion
stories too often proclaim a prosperity Gospel message. They have no dark encounter
with God, no wrestling for the blessing, and certainly no life altering wound. Yet
Jesus makes it clear that faith is not for the faint of heart. Jesus says that we
must pray day and night. The Father will hear us, but God is not at our beck
and call. The Father’s love is a burning fire shaping us into our true self. He
is not a soft God, nor can He be—our hard hearts require a hammer at times.
Salvation is cruciform, like Jacob we must prepare to struggle and suffer for
the blessing. Jesus says that a cross awaits us all. First the cross, then the
tomb, and only at the breaking light of the new day comes life. We will receive
our new name, but until then we must wrestle in the dark, we must pray, day and
night, and we must never, ever, lose heart.
