New Beginnings: Jacob Wrestle with God

Wrestling with God

Genesis 32:22–32

Focus: God gives us a blessing in the brokenness of Christ.

Function: That my hearers live the theology of the cross in a world of distraction

Structure: Expository (Frame/Refrain)

Teaching: Theology of the cross

We have been learning a lot about New Beginnings in this series by going through our readings section by section. Each time highlighting a teaching of the faith that helps us to experience Christ in our lives today

1. Wrestling in the Night

Genesis 32:22-26

The blessing you were not looking for is the one that saved you.

This account of Jacob struggling with a man (verse 25) who is God (verse 31) is the culmination of Jacob’s life of wrestling people’s goods away from them for himself. Jacob has stolen everything he could from his older brother Esau (chapters 25 and 27). Jacob is now on his way back to his homeland, where Esau is, as a recently released fugitive from his uncle Laban whom he has fleeced for the last time (chapter 31). In between these two episodes, Jacob even tries to haggle God for a better deal (chapter 28:20-22). He is at a crossroads with nowhere else to turn. God intervenes in Jacob’s life at the most critical moment. To put it plainly, this “grabber” (play on his name) has run out of things to “grab” and now he must “wrestle” (in Hebrew a play on his name Jacob יַעֲקֹ֖ב (ya-a-qob)/wrestle יֵּאָבֵ֥ק(ye-a-beq)) with his core identity in a mysterious way with a messenger of God (Hosea 12:4). This enigmatic struggle leaves him with a new name, that is to say, a new core identity. He will be known as Israel now, the one who “struggled with God,” and succeeded by being submitted by God. This is not the person we have known previously in Genesis. Jacob would never back down and never surrender. He would push on and never give up. Jacob is the kind of man who would say, “Fool me once with this sister and I will show you by working for the other as well” (29:28). He would also be the man who would dress up like a caricature in order to put on the best show just to get the blessing which was to be given to his older brother (chapter 27).

But now, after Laban had hunted him down and with a pending fight with Esau ahead, Jacob has run out of options. It was his deeds which have landed him in this mess. So, at the end of his road we see him fighting for his life, fighting for what he thinks is another blessing. He is adamant he will not stop fighting “...unless you bless me” (32:26). This key loss for Jacob is really the clue to disclosing the preachable part of the text. Jacob asks for a blessing, but it was not the blessing he thought he wanted at all. Jacob knew what earthly blessing were. He enjoyed them so much that he could send much of it ahead as a present to Esau and still have enough to live on. But now the blessing Jacob is given is one he had not yet known. The blessing which God gave him was to learn to walk with a limp. The blessing was to learn to live with the constant and painful reminder that through pain he would learn to walk and trust in God in submission to His will.

Jacob's initial encounter and decision to wrestle through the night shows how he has been on a rough spiritual journey. Trying hard to make his life better by grabbing everything that wasn’t nailed down and calling it a “blessing.”

We often want God in the Glory and Blessings that we want but we run away from the way of the Cross.

You must wrestle with God to learn what a blessings is.

Christ wrestled with the path laid before Him, from Gethsemane to Calvary , experiencing the silence of God during the path to salvation.

A Teaching on the Theology of the Cross

Being helpless and utterly dependent, however, is precisely our spiritual condition. We are utterly helpless to save ourselves. We are utterly dependent on God. Saving faith involves giving up on our pretensions of being self-sufficient, strong, and in control. Instead, we are to rest in utter dependence on Jesus Christ. “My grace is sufficient for you,” the Lord told Paul, “for My power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9).

We must cling to the Word. And the Word js nothing else than Christ.”

The theology of the cross is that we day by day remember the objective fact that we have been baptized, we have received Christ’s body and blood in Holy Communion, and we cling to the cross of Jesus Christ. To believe in God’s Word of promise, despite our feelings, is faith.

“We walk by faith, not by sight” (2 Corinthians 5:7). In the darkness, when we cannot see, we can only wait and listen for God’s voice, even in His silence we wait with Jacob, as we do this we can draw closer to the hidden God, to Christ who is our strength in the dark night of the soul.

Living under the shadow of the cross means that our spiritual life as Christians is hidden. Don’t you remember what Paul says “For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory” (Colossians 3:3–4). Your life is buried with Christ in Baptism because you are joined with His cross in faith, and when you rise with Him in Baptism your life is “hidden” until the resurrection of the dead and eternal life in heaven. There be no need for crosses there, instead God will be clearly manifest in everything, and then, and only then, will be the time for glory. But for now, the Christian’s life is hidden with Christ.

So quit judging life by appearances. When we experience suffering or when God seems distant or worse silent, or even rejecting, or not real at all… He is still there in the silence. The only appearances we judge by, are ones that seem weak and contradictory, but they hold such truth and life, when we judge the appearances that happen in water*, bread, and wine* that are used in a church service or when the pastor reads from a book and proclaims words from a pulpit. Hidden in these gifts is a blessing beyond compare. You might think this small but if we were to judge from appearances, we would scarcely have thought that this Jewish carpenter is actually God in the flesh. His being tortured to death at Golgotha, judged strictly by appearances, would be repulsive, a meaningless act of cruelty. We would never guess that it was the salvation of the whole world.

We are about as good at judging by appearances as Jacob was… because out eyes are too blinded by glory. Instead of finding glory in the trial and sufferings that lead us to the cross and Empty tomb of Jesus.

All of Jacob’s life he wanted glory no matter what it cost. Even the conditional bargain he tried to strike up with God at Bethel (28:20-22) was proof Jacob was a theologian of glory. Now, in the last chapters of his life he would learn the theology of the cross: To find God in the pain of a life lived in trust to God who would save and provide for him. Jacob fought with everyone, including God, and he lost. There is no other way for him to go. Through faith he would now live a life submitted by God alone and live this life with the blessing of a limp. After this loss he can now see that salvation from his pursuers and persecutors comes not from his own effort or scheming. Instead, it is God alone who is his deliverer. The God/man in mercy does not destroy him but instead wrestles with him, graciously giving him a new identity and new life with this limp from God.

The God/man in mercy does not destroy him but instead wrestles with him, graciously giving him a new identity and new life with this limp from God.

2. Blessings Beyond Brokenness

Genesis 32:27-29

Jacob keeps asking for a blessing and he asks for the identity of his attacker and all he gets is Silence

What does the silence of God teach us.

The Blessing is that Jacob learned to walk with a limp

Imagine a beautiful stained-glass window with intricate patterns and vibrant colors. When a beam of light shines through it, the broken pieces create a breathtaking mosaic of light and shadow on the ground. In the same way, living with blessing in brokenness means that the light of God's grace shines through our brokenness, creating a beautiful display of His power and presence in our lives

Let’s talk about Living the Cruciform life

Consider the story of the Japanese art of Kintsugi,

The story of kintsugi, a Japanese art of the 15th century:

A Japanese military leader, Ashikaga Yoshimasa, broke his favorite Chinese tea bowlHe sent the bowl to China for repair, but was disappointed when it returned with metal staples holding it togetherYoshimasa asked a Japanese craftsman to find a more aesthetically pleasing methodThe craftsman developed a new technique that emphasized the cracks in the bowl instead of trying to hide them, mixing lacquer resin with gold to create streaks that ran through the bowlYoshimasa thought the bowl looked even more beautiful than it had before it was brokenOver time, kintsugi became so popular that people began deliberately breaking their ceramics so they could repair them using the gold lacquer

The mended cracks and imperfections are not hidden, but embraced as a valuable part of the object's history. Living with blessing in brokenness is similarly about allowing God to mend our brokenness with His grace, making us more beautiful and valuable than we were before.

There is beauty in the broken.

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“The story of kintsugi—this style of pottery—may be the most perfect embodiment of all our trauma-shattered lives... Instead of throwing away the broken beloved pottery, we’ll fix it in a way that doesn’t pretend it hasn’t been broken but honors the breaking—and more so, the surviving—by highlighting those repaired seams with gold lacquer. Now the object is functional once again and dignified, not discarded. It’s stronger and even more valuable because of its reinforced, golden scars.”

Rather than trying to hide the damage, kintsugi highlights the repair. The imperfections are what make it beautiful and valuable. A broken piece that is put back together has more of a story, seems more authentic and real, is stronger and more resilient than something that has stayed pristine. The breaking of what once was, the layered and time-consuming process of putting it back together, the mending it with gold, all contribute to its value. And surprisingly, it becomes more resilient after it has been mended by kintsugi, even stronger than it was before.

God is the restorer, the kintsugi Master who skillfully and tenderly puts the broken pieces of our lives back together. It takes time. I think of the gold resin as Christ, given to us through Woerd and Sacrament.

I can in Jaboc and maybe you can find the place in your life like his where you see the whole principle of kintsugi so clearly. Our body or life is broken and failing, and you can’t do what you once did. Yet in Christ you find that life is more beautiful, and the daily struggles you lives with help you to see God more clearly.

Kintsugi: Rather than trying to hide the damage, kintsugi highlights the repair. The imperfections are what make it beautiful and valuable. A broken piece that is put back together has more of a story, seems more authentic and real, is stronger and more resilient than something that has stayed pristine

We confess to God our brokenness and in Christ He makes us beautiful in the restoration of the resurrection.

Jacob, acknowledging his brokenness before God is a critical step toward transformation and blessing.

Which gave him a new beginning.

We have a new beginning today too:

Where can:

In our daily interactions with family members, choose humility and servanthood over pride and self-promotion. Instead of always wanting to be right or seeking recognition, intentionally seek ways to serve and uplift those around you.

At school or in part-time jobs, show compassion and kindness to classmates or coworkers who may be struggling or feeling left out. Offer a listening ear, lend a helping hand, or simply choose to include others in your activities.

During church gatherings, be mindful of not seeking attention or status within the congregation. Focus on building others up, encouraging one another in faith, and serving humbly without expecting recognition or praise.

In your interactions on social media or at social events, choose words and actions that reflect kindness and understanding. Instead of engaging in divisive conversations or seeking validation through online popularity, practice humility and grace in all your interactions.

Jacob, acknowledging his brokenness before God this was a critical step toward transformation and blessing.

The same is true of us (We are all beggars)

3. Marked by Encounter

Genesis 32:30-32

When Jacob names the place Peniel, 'For I have seen God face to face, and yet my life has been delivered.' This teaches a powerful truth.

He wasn’t jsut wrestling a man or angel he was wrestling God. This is truly scandolous… because instead of God excersing His glory to strike fear and awe into the heart of Jacob. He chooses to not use His divine power. But in meekness he allows Jacob to Wrestle Him and defeat Him. YES defeat Him

ycal: Definition

That moment marks something significant in our Bibles and in our lives. God allows Himself to be defeated and He gives a blessing

Begging a blessing from the God we’ve just defeated on the cross

(Allows Himself to be defeated)

Hold on to a God who is defeated and in His misery shares a blessing and is silent

A blessing in weakness and silence

We ask why? and all we get is silence (Misery and difficult divine silence)

What do you call a defeated God who blesses (Hebrews 11:1-2 and You shall call His name Jesus)

Silent as Jesus in death- that silence is broken on Easter

We are marked by the defeat of God (Galatians 2:20) Galatians 6:17 (ESV)

Just as Jacob bore the marks of his encoutner with God we bear the marks of our encounter with Christ on the cross. Jesus humbled himself there for us (Philippians 2:6-10)

Jacob’s true opponent is the pre-incarnate Christ who is only known in mystery. This prophetic pre-presence of Christ will become clearer as human history limps along striving to see the blessing which would eventually be born in Bethlehem. Here God and man will be made manifest in the promised Christ. Think of how Mary would have to wrestle with this mystery in her womb as she too submits to God’s will for her, or how Joseph would wrestle with this mysterious patronage and yet submit to God’s plan of salvation. Also, consider how the disciples, Pharisees, Romans, and crowds would wrestle with Jesus’ words and deeds. Then contemplate how we all have to wrestle with the pain of the cross as the blessing of salvation.

Yet, the empty tomb is the beginning of a new life for us which is cruciform and still transformed as much as Jacob becoming Israel on that side of the Jabbok River in Genesis 32. Jesus’ resurrection is the only way to see God rightly. Jacob wrestled a mysterious anthropomorphism, but Jesus’ resurrected body is real and revealed forever free from mystery. God was clear! Salvation is in no one else but Christ alone because he alone is “the image of the invisible God” (Colossians 1:15). Under the dark blue of the night sky Jacob was wrestling with something unseen. That mystery Jacob wrestled with is only revealed later in Christ. Like an artist, God hides Christ in our text so Jacob might be turned, and we too might be turned from seeking glory to living under the cross.

Jacob could not make out who he was dealing with, but he learned the blessing (through pain) to trust in God alone for salvation. This is the beauty of the theology of the cross. Too often, we seek after glory as well. God in his mercy, though, has covered over us with the sufferings and death of Christ. Our life is hidden in the mystery of the cross. The artful grace of God then makes us come alive again with Jesus in His resurrection. The true masterpiece of the Bible’s narrative is that we are blessed not in the way we want, but in the way God gives freely on account of Christ alone.

Highlight how this encounter with God left Jacob physically limping but spiritually transformed, symbolizing that our encounters with God may leave us marked but blessed. Drawing parallels with how our encounters with Christ leave indelible marks on our lives can encourage believers to see their scars as cruciform symbols of divine encounters and blessings.