Genesis 32:22-32/St Matthew 15:21-28
In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.
He is called Jacob. It means “supplanter,” “deceiver.” At his birth he grasps his twin brother’s heel; he will seek to trip up Esau throughout his life. When they were young men, Esau, in a moment of weakness, despised his birthright as firstborn and sold it to Jacob for a bowl of porridge. Then, guided by his mother Rebekah, Jacob deceived his blind, aging father Isaac into giving him the paternal blessing instead of Esau.
Esau plans to kill to Jacob and so Jacob flees. He falls in love with a girl named Rachel and agrees with her father to work for him seven years for her hand in marriage. Then, on the wedding night, he is tricked into marrying her sister Leah instead. So he agrees to work another seven years to marry Rachel.
Our Lord, of course, does not condone polygamy, just as He does not condone the other lying and deception in Jacob’s history. These things are recorded not for our imitation, but so we can see the troubles that result from them. Also so that we may find comfort in the fact that God blesses even such a man as Jacob, and so there is hope for us, despite our many sins.
Jacob continues to work for his father-in-law, Laban, but is not treated well. And after twenty years, his brothers-in-law plot against him. Jacob knows its time to leave. Off he goes with his dysfunctional family in tow – his two wives, and their maidservants, his eleven sons, his livestock and all his goods – back to his family home. And now, his brother Esau – the one with the grudge, who wanted to kill Jacob those years ago – is coming to meet him; with four hundred men.
Jacob divides his family into two camps, in the hope that half might survive the coming onslaught. He sends them over the ford of Jabbok. And Jacob prays. His prayer is simple, yet profound, and worthy of our imitation: O God of my father Abraham, and God of my father Isaac, I am not worthy of the least of all the deeds of steadfast love and all the faithfulness you have shown your servant . . . Deliver me, I pray from the hand of my brother . . . for I fear him, that he may come and attack me, the mothers with the children. For You said, “I will surely do you good, and make your offspring as the sand of the sea.”
Jacob entrusts everything to God alone. He does not boast of his own worthiness or bargain with God, the way we do with our prayers; as when the police officer is walking back to the car and we pray, “Lord, if you get me out of this ticket, I will never speed again.” That is a false prayer. Jacob confesses his own sin, I am not worthy. His request is simple, I fear my brother. And he reminds God of His own promises, For You said, I will surely do you good. This is Reminiscere, the second Sunday in Lent, coming from the Introit, Remember Your mercy, O Lord.
That same night, a Man wrestled with Jacob until the breaking of the day. That Man is the Second Person of the Holy Trinity. He is the pre-incarnate Christ. The prophet Hosea wrote, In the womb he took his brother by the heel, and in his manhood he strove with God. He strove with the angel and he prevailed; he wept and sought His favor. He met God at Bethel, and there God spoke with us – the Lord, the God of hosts (12:3-5a). And after the contest, Jacob says, I have seen God face to face, and yet my life has been delivered.
Put another way, the One with whom Jacob wrestles is his Lord, the very same Word-made-flesh with whom the Canaanite woman grapples; the One whom He heard of last week – the Seed of the woman who would crush the skull of the serpent. He is the God-Man. Jacob contends with the Man, a battle that is both spiritual as well as physical. He wrestles in prayer, in agony and fear throughout the night, until daybreak. The psalmist writes, Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning (30:5).
When the Man saw that He did not prevail against Jacob, He touched His hip socket, and Jacob’s hip was put out of joint. Still Jacob would not release Him. Why does he not let Him go? His hip is hurt, he is lame, what can he do? Still, Jacob feels no weakness. His faith is strengthened by the promise, even the coming blessing, just as it is yours. The patriarchs believe in the same Messiah, the same Christ as you. And they clung in faith to His promise of mercy and life.
And indeed, this is the poverty of faith that strives and wrestles and clings every more fervently to the promises of God in Christ despite our senses, our experiences, our emotions. Faith is not the absence of doubt, just as courage is not the absence of fear. Rather it is strength and courage in the greatest moments of doubt; strength not in itself, but in faith’s object, that is Christ, our crucified and risen Lord, who brings joy with the rising sun.
This is the example of Jacob and all the patriarchs that we ought emulate. Faith that does not yield or cease even when it is already feeling God’s wrath, death, and sin. In this way God contends with His Christians, not so that He may overcome them, but that He may be overcome by them.
It is as Job says, Though He slay me, yet will I hope in Him (13:15). Faith confesses, “If God should cast me into the depths of hell and place me in the midst of devils, I would still believe that I would be saved because I have been baptized, I have been absolved, I have received the pledge of my salvation, the Body and Blood of Christ in the Supper. Therefore I want to see and hear nothing else, but I shall live and die in this faith, whether God or an angel or the devil says contrary.”
This is theology under the Cross. Glory in shame. Power in weakness. The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob becomes Man. For you He strives and wrestles. He battles Satan and his minions, sin, hell, the wrath of the Father, the accusations of the Law, the curse of death and He has prevailed. The face of God is revealed in the Word-made-flesh, the Incarnate Christ, who was left alone on the Cross, but brought joy again with the breaking dawn on the third day.
Jacob was renamed Israel. The “supplanter” became, “the fighter of the Lord.” You too have been renamed. The sinner is called saint. The Man did not reveal His Name to Jacob, but to you it has not only been revealed, but marks you in blessing. You are named with the Name above all names – Father, Son, and Hoy Spirit.
Being brought forth from your Baptism, the sun has risen upon you, and this place is Penuel and Bethel. For Christ is the true Israel of God. And He is Jacob’s ladder.
And that Ladder stretches from heaven and touches earth in the waters of Baptism, where Christ comes down and is made your Brother and Lord.
And it touches earth in the pulpit, where God speaks to you His word of promise in Jesus.
And it rests upon the Altar, where the GodMan gives to you His flesh and blood for the forgiveness of your sins and the strengthening of your faith in Him, even as you limp under the weight of the cross that He has laid upon you. For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been strengthened by it (Heb 12:11).
Esau ran to meet Jacob and embraced him and fell on his neck and kissed him and they wept. The brothers were at peace with God and with one another. Our Lord Christ has set you at peace with God. And He has put you at peace with your brothers. He has remembered His mercy and His steadfast love, for they have been from of old. Hold fast, dear ones, cling to Christ and His promises, weeping may tarry for the night of our mortal lives, but joy shall come with the morning of the resurrection of all flesh.
In the Name of the Father and + of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.
He is called Jacob. It means “supplanter,” “deceiver.” At his birth he grasps his twin brother’s heel; he will seek to trip up Esau throughout his life. When they were young men, Esau, in a moment of weakness, despised his birthright as firstborn and sold it to Jacob for a bowl of porridge. Then, guided by his mother Rebekah, Jacob deceived his blind, aging father Isaac into giving him the paternal blessing instead of Esau.
Esau plans to kill to Jacob and so Jacob flees. He falls in love with a girl named Rachel and agrees with her father to work for him seven years for her hand in marriage. Then, on the wedding night, he is tricked into marrying her sister Leah instead. So he agrees to work another seven years to marry Rachel.
Our Lord, of course, does not condone polygamy, just as He does not condone the other lying and deception in Jacob’s history. These things are recorded not for our imitation, but so we can see the troubles that result from them. Also so that we may find comfort in the fact that God blesses even such a man as Jacob, and so there is hope for us, despite our many sins.
Jacob continues to work for his father-in-law, Laban, but is not treated well. And after twenty years, his brothers-in-law plot against him. Jacob knows its time to leave. Off he goes with his dysfunctional family in tow – his two wives, and their maidservants, his eleven sons, his livestock and all his goods – back to his family home. And now, his brother Esau – the one with the grudge, who wanted to kill Jacob those years ago – is coming to meet him; with four hundred men.
Jacob divides his family into two camps, in the hope that half might survive the coming onslaught. He sends them over the ford of Jabbok. And Jacob prays. His prayer is simple, yet profound, and worthy of our imitation: O God of my father Abraham, and God of my father Isaac, I am not worthy of the least of all the deeds of steadfast love and all the faithfulness you have shown your servant . . . Deliver me, I pray from the hand of my brother . . . for I fear him, that he may come and attack me, the mothers with the children. For You said, “I will surely do you good, and make your offspring as the sand of the sea.”
Jacob entrusts everything to God alone. He does not boast of his own worthiness or bargain with God, the way we do with our prayers; as when the police officer is walking back to the car and we pray, “Lord, if you get me out of this ticket, I will never speed again.” That is a false prayer. Jacob confesses his own sin, I am not worthy. His request is simple, I fear my brother. And he reminds God of His own promises, For You said, I will surely do you good. This is Reminiscere, the second Sunday in Lent, coming from the Introit, Remember Your mercy, O Lord.
That same night, a Man wrestled with Jacob until the breaking of the day. That Man is the Second Person of the Holy Trinity. He is the pre-incarnate Christ. The prophet Hosea wrote, In the womb he took his brother by the heel, and in his manhood he strove with God. He strove with the angel and he prevailed; he wept and sought His favor. He met God at Bethel, and there God spoke with us – the Lord, the God of hosts (12:3-5a). And after the contest, Jacob says, I have seen God face to face, and yet my life has been delivered.
Put another way, the One with whom Jacob wrestles is his Lord, the very same Word-made-flesh with whom the Canaanite woman grapples; the One whom He heard of last week – the Seed of the woman who would crush the skull of the serpent. He is the God-Man. Jacob contends with the Man, a battle that is both spiritual as well as physical. He wrestles in prayer, in agony and fear throughout the night, until daybreak. The psalmist writes, Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning (30:5).
When the Man saw that He did not prevail against Jacob, He touched His hip socket, and Jacob’s hip was put out of joint. Still Jacob would not release Him. Why does he not let Him go? His hip is hurt, he is lame, what can he do? Still, Jacob feels no weakness. His faith is strengthened by the promise, even the coming blessing, just as it is yours. The patriarchs believe in the same Messiah, the same Christ as you. And they clung in faith to His promise of mercy and life.
And indeed, this is the poverty of faith that strives and wrestles and clings every more fervently to the promises of God in Christ despite our senses, our experiences, our emotions. Faith is not the absence of doubt, just as courage is not the absence of fear. Rather it is strength and courage in the greatest moments of doubt; strength not in itself, but in faith’s object, that is Christ, our crucified and risen Lord, who brings joy with the rising sun.
This is the example of Jacob and all the patriarchs that we ought emulate. Faith that does not yield or cease even when it is already feeling God’s wrath, death, and sin. In this way God contends with His Christians, not so that He may overcome them, but that He may be overcome by them.
It is as Job says, Though He slay me, yet will I hope in Him (13:15). Faith confesses, “If God should cast me into the depths of hell and place me in the midst of devils, I would still believe that I would be saved because I have been baptized, I have been absolved, I have received the pledge of my salvation, the Body and Blood of Christ in the Supper. Therefore I want to see and hear nothing else, but I shall live and die in this faith, whether God or an angel or the devil says contrary.”
This is theology under the Cross. Glory in shame. Power in weakness. The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob becomes Man. For you He strives and wrestles. He battles Satan and his minions, sin, hell, the wrath of the Father, the accusations of the Law, the curse of death and He has prevailed. The face of God is revealed in the Word-made-flesh, the Incarnate Christ, who was left alone on the Cross, but brought joy again with the breaking dawn on the third day.
Jacob was renamed Israel. The “supplanter” became, “the fighter of the Lord.” You too have been renamed. The sinner is called saint. The Man did not reveal His Name to Jacob, but to you it has not only been revealed, but marks you in blessing. You are named with the Name above all names – Father, Son, and Hoy Spirit.
Being brought forth from your Baptism, the sun has risen upon you, and this place is Penuel and Bethel. For Christ is the true Israel of God. And He is Jacob’s ladder.
And that Ladder stretches from heaven and touches earth in the waters of Baptism, where Christ comes down and is made your Brother and Lord.
And it touches earth in the pulpit, where God speaks to you His word of promise in Jesus.
And it rests upon the Altar, where the GodMan gives to you His flesh and blood for the forgiveness of your sins and the strengthening of your faith in Him, even as you limp under the weight of the cross that He has laid upon you. For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been strengthened by it (Heb 12:11).
Esau ran to meet Jacob and embraced him and fell on his neck and kissed him and they wept. The brothers were at peace with God and with one another. Our Lord Christ has set you at peace with God. And He has put you at peace with your brothers. He has remembered His mercy and His steadfast love, for they have been from of old. Hold fast, dear ones, cling to Christ and His promises, weeping may tarry for the night of our mortal lives, but joy shall come with the morning of the resurrection of all flesh.
In the Name of the Father and + of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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