What do we expect from God?

Wrestling

I once did a wedding for a groom who worked for WWE. He appeared on RAW, and as far as I know never appeared on the main card at any of the big events. How he and his bride came to me, I can’t remember. There was some form of Lutheran connection, but it was something that I just can’t remember the details of.

While the groom was certainly a big, and incredibly fit guy, I wasn’t ready for the rest of the wedding party. His best man was incredible — tall, muscular without being body-builder-ish, and incredibly quiet.

The wedding and reception was at one of the banquet halls in Hamilton. While I don’t go to every reception, this one I could. Not surprisingly, the guests were from the lives of both the bride and groom, which meant there were a fair number of wrestlers at the event. There are a few times in life that I’ve felt out of my element and this was certainly one of them.

As the evening goes on, and the bar is open, the guests start to get rowdier. Given the strength of some of the guests, and their public personas, you can only imagine how things are about to go.

As the volume level of the music and the guests starts to build, so does the tension in the room. Honestly, it is at a tipping point. Either the energy level needs to scale back, … or the banquet hall is about to see 50 drunk wrestlers take havoc on the facility.

As I look a the head table, I see the best man get up and head over to the microphone. We’re in mid-song, he grabs the mic, the DJ wisely cuts the music, and opens the mic. The best man informs the guests that they are there tonight to honour the bride and groom, and that he expects the behaviour of all the guests would bring honour to the couple. With that, he walks back to the head table, and sits down.

You could hear a pin drop.

The music restarts, quieter than before.

The conversations restart, quieter than before.

The number of people lined up at the bar, gets smaller.

Simply, in a few words, without a great fight, a message had been delivered and received.

None of this transpired the way I thought it would.

Jacob wrestles

Jacob was the second born of twins. He came out clutching the heel of his brother Esau, and was hence named Jacob (heel).

Jacob, being the second born would not have had the same rights as Esau. He would have inherited only half what Esau did. So he tricked Esau into giving up his birthright — how did he compensate Esau for this? Through a bowl of stew.

Genesis 25:29–34 NRSV

Once when Jacob was cooking a stew, Esau came in from the field, and he was famished. Esau said to Jacob, “Let me eat some of that red stuff, for I am famished!” (Therefore he was called Edom.) Jacob said, “First sell me your birthright.” Esau said, “I am about to die; of what use is a birthright to me?” Jacob said, “Swear to me first.” So he swore to him, and sold his birthright to Jacob. Then Jacob gave Esau bread and lentil stew, and he ate and drank, and rose and went his way. Thus Esau despised his birthright.

This was so despicable in the eyes of the community that much later, a rule was actually established in Deuteronomy that forbade what happened.

Biblical legislation also established the right of the firstborn son to inherit a double portion of the father’s possessions, i.e., twice as much as that received by each of his brothers (Deut. 21:17). It further prohibited the father from conferring the right of the firstborn upon a younger son (21:16), though there is recognition that this had occurred during the period of the ancestors (Gen. 27:37; 48:18–20; cf. 1 Chron. 5:1).

Eichler, B. L., & Powell, M. A. (2011). inheritance. In M. A. Powell (Ed.), The HarperCollins Bible Dictionary (Revised and Updated) (Third Edition, p. 407). New York: HarperCollins.

After stealing Esau’s birth right, Jacob tricks Isaac into blessing him. Essentially, there is nothing left for Esau. He gets angry and wants to kill his brother Jacob. It is at this point that Jacob flees.

After going their own ways for 15-20 years (or so) Jacob decides it is time to patch things up with Esau. It looks like it isn’t going to go well. Esau decides to visit Jacob — with an army of 400 men. Jacob is afraid so he decides he needs to soften things with a gift:

Genesis 32:14–15 NRSV

two hundred female goats and twenty male goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams, thirty milch camels and their colts, forty cows and ten bulls, twenty female donkeys and ten male donkeys.

After this gift is sent, we pick up the story in today’s reading. Jacob is alone — except for one other man who wrestled with him through the night until daybreak.

I don’t know if the wrestling looked more like WWE wrestling — or Olympic Greco-Roman wrestling. However given the length of the wrestling — I would imagine it was a real test of strength.

Jacob takes a serious hit during the night. His hip pops out. I’ve once seen a person whose shoulder popped out — and he was in agony. I can’t imagine what the pain would be on having thigh muscles having that amount of strain. The pain would be extreme.

Yet Jacob carries on until light. Only then does the opponent relent, give Jacob the name Israel, and it is revealed to us that Jacob’s real opponent was God.

What we don’t read is how the story plays out — it is almost a Disney-like ending. Esau runs to Jacob, kisses him, weeps, and journeys on with Jacob and his family.

Of course Jacob becomes Israel and the story of the Israelites starts from here. Not long after this, Esau disappears from our biblical narrative.

Wrestling with God

In some ways it can seem unfair. Esau, being the firstborn, stood to be the one who led by the rules of the day. Instead, his deceitful brother, becomes the father of a great nation.

However, if we look at the story differently, we might see something else. Yes, Jacob is full of deceit. Through time, he ends up wrestling with God, and not giving up. Through that return to God — through that wrestling — through that show of strength, something surprising happens.

Now, I for one won’t ever claim to be able to show the physical strength of the wrestlers that attended the wedding over a decade ago. However our God isn’t focused on physical strength or sinful past.

Romans 3:23–24 NRSV

since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God; they are now justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,

Our God is focused on restoring us to right relationship with each other and with God — it may take some wrestling — but the potential outcome is one that we wouldn’t even expect — and for that we give thanks.