Genesis 28:10-24
22 That night Jacob got up and took his two wives, his two female servants and his eleven sons and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. 23 After he had sent them across the stream, he sent over all his possessions. 24 So Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him till daybreak. 25 When the man saw that he could not overpower him, he touched the socket of Jacob’s hip so that his hip was wrenched as he wrestled with the man. 26 Then the man said, “Let me go, for it is daybreak.”
But Jacob replied, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.”
27 The man asked him, “What is your name?” “Jacob,” he answered.
28 Then the man said, “Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel,[a] because you have struggled with God and with humans and have overcome.”
29 Jacob said, “Please tell me your name.”
But he replied, “Why do you ask my name?” Then he blessed him there.
30 So Jacob called the place Peniel, saying, “It is because I saw God face to face, and yet my life was spared.”
This episode is situated within the larger context of the reconciliation between Esau and Jacob. Remember that Jacob tricked Esau out of his birthright; nevertheless Jacob is confirmed as the rightful heir of the promises made to Abraham and Isaac by God (Gen 28:10-22). Ever since that episode Jacob and Esau have been estranged with one another. Now they are about to meet again and Jacob is fearful for both himself and his family. He is very uncertain as to how he will be received by Esau. Understandably, he stole Esau’s blessing, and even though God confirmed Jacob as the rightful heir of this blessing, he’s not so certain that Esau has that take on things.
Jacob sends his family away to safety and prepares himself for the encounter with Esau. We are not given much information other than Jacob was alone, presumably making ready for the reunion, perhaps he was praying. What we are told is that all the sudden he was wrestling with a man. Where this man comes from we are not told, nor are we privy to what started the wrestling match in the first place. What we can deduce from this passage is that Jacob wanted this man to bless him. Obliviously, Jacob was passionate about and desired this blessing so much that he started wrestling this man to get it. This was not a short match either; Jacob and the man wrestled all night long until the man finally gave Jacob the blessing. Come to find out that the “man” was God. Jacob wrestled with God all night; he said, “I will not let you go until you bless me.” Jacob is blessed and again is confirmed as the rightful heir of the promises of God. In receiving the blessing he also is given a new name, Israel, which means, “he struggles (competes) with God”.
Why does God wrestle with Jacob? Why doesn’t God just immediately bless him? (He had already confirmed him as the rightful heir in his “ladder” dream). The Fathers of the Church were fond to say, “God is not easily won!” In light of this truth, the Fathers recognized three phases of the spiritual life. The first phase is one wherein much grace is imparted. God shows up in a person’s life in a powerful and unforgettable way; God woos us with His love. Faith, hope and love come easy to the new believer. It can be likened to when two people first fall in love; everything is new, brighter, better. God is near and everywhere, always on our mind and in our hearts. But God is a “difficult God” and not easily won and thus begins the next phase. This second stage of faith is often characterized by the feeling of abandonment – God withdraws. Why? Archimandrite Zacharias explains, “God always wants to give us all that He has, it is up to us to respond to His wish, to his desire, and, by accepting His Cross, to convince Him that we are His.”[i] In addition to convincing God that we are his, it can be said that we are not ready receive all that he in store for us. During this phase we are tried and tested; we are refined and purified so that we can fully receive what God wants to give us, which is nothing less than the gift of God’s own self. This full gift of God’s self is the third and final stage – “restoration”. In this stage, man is perfected in his communion with God. Man fully reflects the likeness of God in thought and action. The believer becomes who God intends them to be. They love God and neighbor completely. They are full time participants in the divine nature.
The second stage is where we typically find ourselves; it’s where we put up the “good fight”. Jacob ‘s wrestling match with God is the perfect metaphor because God’s wondering just how much do you want this blessing? Just how bad do you want this life with Him? Are you willing to fight – compete – for God? This second phase can be costly! Jacob left the fight with a limp. Here, we come to know ourselves as we are, the good and the bad; the deep secrets of our hearts are revealed. We suffer, we fight, we grow and mature in His likeness. Fr. Zacharias contends that in this stage “ man’s deep heart is cleansed from secret and unknown dishonorable passions and made ready to receive the spiritual and divine sensation.”[ii] In other words, in this second stage of faith a believer is made ready to receive the gift of God.
This second phase of Christian existences parallels well with ones quest to become their best at a given sport. For the majority of elite athletes the real struggle and fight begins at the next level. They are typically the best of the best at the beginner and intermediate levels; performing well and winning comes often and with a certain ease. But it is at that next level, the elite amateur or professional level, where the real struggle begins. The victories are far less; practice becomes more like work. Consistency, routine, determination and persistence characterize the champions. Refinement in all areas is now the constant goal – the quest to be the best one can be.
Jacob was persistent with God and received the blessing. Jay Bilas has suggested in his book, Toughness, that “persistence is not just about pushing forward, it is about pushing through to reach a new height, exceeding a limit you thought you had.”[iii] Most Christians don’t reach or push the limits of their re-imaged selves enough to discover their potential, or for that matter, to really experience God. Bilas goes on to say, “Everybody limits themselves in some way, whether it is to manage expectations and avoid disappointment, or to avoid physical pain and discomfort that accompanies the reach for a new limit, a higher standard.”[iv] We are too quick to settle for “ok” and the “comfort zone”, rather than chasing God’s limitlessness. Unlike Jacob we are too quick to opt out of the fight – “get some sleep” – rather than wrestle all “night” and receive the blessing.
We are limited and contingent beings nevertheless we are made in God’s image and endowed with immeasurable potential. Our potential is ground in God’s power, his limitlessness and infinite goodness. God desires that each and every human live into this limitlessness and infinite goodness by seeking to develop to the fullest their own gifts and talents. In sports talk, God is our greatest fan, cheering us on to great feats, holding fast when we waver, reveling in our accomplishments and standing firmly alongside us in our defeats – God with us.
What’s it going to be for you? Are you going to risk enough, will you fight all night, to receive the blessing of life with God?
[i]Zacharias, Archimandrite, The Enlargement of the Heart, 55.
[ii] Ibid, 48.
[iii] Bilas, Jay Toughness, 130.
[iv] Ibid.