God Appears Face to Face

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Nicknames are a wonderful way to describe people, and some nicknames are wonderfully descriptive. As a sports fan, some of these monikers are enjoyable. The football player Reggie White was also a Baptist minister, and he was “the minister of defense.” Reggie Jackson was Mr October, and the White Sox had “Shoeless Joe” Jackson on their roster. For the St Louis Cardinals in their “Gashouse Gang” days, they had the brothers Dizzy and Daffy Dean. Meanwhile, the Detroit Tigers’ Gates Brown was christened “Gator”. But the greatest nicknames may be in the world of wrestling, where Hulk Hogan and The Undertaker and Andre the Giant (also called “The Eighth Wonder of the World”) and The Ambling Alp and The Bull and so many more stepped into the ring. Nicknames are fun, but the good ones also say something about the person called by that handle.

When Scripture tells a wrestling story, the names are important! Jacob was returning from his Uncle Laban’s, where he had been for at least 14 years. He went to his uncle’s after he received the birthright blessing from his father Isaac, and Jacob’s brother Esau threatened to kill him. So, when Jacob was on his way home with his two wives and eleven children and all his possessions, he sent them across the river at night. Meanwhile, he stayed alone on the other side of the river. While he was there, a man came and wrestled with Jacob. That’s strange! How often do you see a stranger and just start wrestling? I can’t say its happened to me. But that’s what happened to Jacob. They wrestled together until dawn. As they wrestled, since Jacob’s opponent hadn’t won, he put Jacob’s hip out of joint. This doesn’t fit the rules of good sportsmanship, but Jacob wouldn’t let this man go until he blessed Jacob.

That’s when the names become important. The name Jacob in Hebrew means “deceiver” or “trickster.” When the anonymous wrestler speaks, He doesn’t give a blessing but a new name for Jacob. Now, Jacob is “Israel” which means “wrestled with God”. That new name shows that Jacob, now renamed Israel, had been wrestling with God Himself! That’s why Israel called that place “Peniel” (the face of God) because there Israel had been face to face with God. Then, God blessed Israel. God appeared to Jacob, now called Israel, and wrestled with him.

How often does it feel like you are wrestling or struggling with God? Your prayers might feel like you’re wrestling, contending with God. You remind Him of His gracious promises, and wonder why He doesn’t answer your prayers the way you want Him to. Why are you sick and not getting better, and why is your recovery so slow? Why are the difficult people in your family or the difficult people at work still difficult? Why do people who are obviously evil and wicked do well, while people who are nice and kind and charitable suffer? Why do poverty and unemployment fall upon people? Why do children get sick and die? Why isn’t your life better? All these things feel like a giant wrestling match. God is there, right in front of you, right with you, and it feels like God isn’t on your side. Sometimes, it feels like God is more of an enemy than a friend or an ally. When it feels like God’s your enemy, it seems that you have real problems.

With Advent’s theme of Jesus’ return for judgement, that sensation that God might be your enemy seems to get worse. Jesus will come again in glory, and He will judge between the righteous and the unrighteous like a shepherd separates the sheep and the goats. If you are concerned that God might not be on your side, is there a chance that you will be judged? Will the almighty God not just touch your hip and put it out of joint, but cast you into hell? Have you been faithful enough, or have you fallen short? Is God working against you? Is God your enemy? On the last day, will God be engaged against you, not in a wrestling match, but as a judge who says that you are condemned?

God has something to say about those fears in Scripture. The Lord spoke with Moses face to face, as a man speaks with his friend. The Lord appeared to and even wrestled with Israel face to face, and the Lord blessed Israel who had been a deceiver and trickster. In Revelation 22:4, the Lord promises that His people will see Jesus’ face, and His name will be on their foreheads. In other words, Jacob was renamed Israel. Sinners like you are transformed into the saints of God. That is not the work of an enemy, but that is the work of God who loves you. God loves you so much that He appeared, not just in a wrestling match against Jacob, but in a cosmic battle against the devil, sin, and death. There, the Lord Jesus did the unthinkable, submitting to death on the cross to free you from your sin. He rose from the dead in glorious victory, not as your enemy but as your defender. This was no mere wrestling match, but an eternal, divine sacrifice for you.

Would God in the flesh who was crucified for you be your enemy? No indeed! God so loved the world, and moreover, God so loved you, that He sent His one and only Son into the flesh to die and rise again so that you would not perish but have eternal life. That’s no enemy. That’s no wrestling opponent. That’s the work of the gracious and merciful God for you. The Lord God comes here to you in His word and sacraments for your forgiveness. That’s because the Lord is preparing you for the ultimate and final place of “Peniel” where the face of God is seen, when He will take you to the new heavens and the new earth and you will see Him as He is, face to face. In that glorious day, the Lord will bless you as He calls you a descendant of Israel - who struggles with God when He transforms you as one of His holy people. Live in His grace, and in the eager expectation that you will see the Lord face to face indeed! Amen.