Nineteenth Sunday After Pentecost October 18-19, 2025
“The Life of Jacob” Genesis 32:22-30
Rev. John R. Larson Ascension Lutheran Church Littleton, Colorado
He lived up to his name. Jacob. Jacob, one of the boys of Isaac and Rebekah. You know – in the book of Genesis. She had twin boys – Esau, the one who came out of her womb first and then Jacob. Jacob lived up to his name. His name means liar, cheat, deceiver. And that is what he was. And that is what he did.
Jacob knew how to take advantage of human weakness. His older brother, Esau, older by just a minute, or so, had been out working in the field all day and came home exhausted and famished. Jacob had been cooking some stew and Esau wanted some. Jacob said that he could have some, right then, if he simply gave him his birthright. Inheritance. Money. The older son got 2/3 of his father’s wealth. The younger got 1/3.
“Esau said, “I am about to die; of what use is my birthright to me?” Jacob said, “Swear to me now.” So, he swore to him and sold his birthright to Jacob.” (Genesis 25:32-33) Jacob. What a cheat. What a liar. What a deceiver.
And this “quality” of deception existed not just with his brother but with his own father. But old Isaac, almost blind, on his deathbed called his firstborn, Esau, to his side and said that he should hunt some game, some animal, for him and prepare it for him. After he had eaten, he would bestow upon Esau his blessing. Only one of his boys would get his father’s blessing. The blessing bestowed the headship of the family to him. It was the place of power and of leadership.
But Jacob’s mother, Rebekah, who broke the rule of not having a favorite child, loved Jacob more than Esau, told Jacob what Isaac had said to Esau. She told him to get a couple of good goats and bring them to her, and she would prepare the food. He could take the food to his father, Isaac and he would give Jacob the blessing. He would have it all. The inheritance and the blessing.
But there was a problem with all of this. Esau had tons of hair on his hands and forearms and on his shoulders and neck and back. Though Isaac couldn’t see, he could feel, and he would know that he was being tricked. Jacob said to his mom, “Behold, my brother Esau is a hairy man, and I am a smooth man. Perhaps my father will feel me, and I shall seem to be mocking him and bring a curse upon myself and not a blessing.” (Genesis 27:12) But his mom had it all figured out. She would put animal skin over him – on his arms and forearms and around his neck.
Isaac was suspicious about all this. Maybe he knew his son too well. As Jacob approached he said, “Please come near, that I may feel you, my son, to know whether you are really my son Esau or not.” So Jacob went near to Isaac his father, who felt him and said, “The voice is Jacob’s voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau.” And he did not recognize him, because his hands were hairy like his brother’s Esau’s hands. So he blessed him.” (Genesis 27:21-23) Jacob knew exactly how to take advantage of his father and his weakness.
But eventually this was going to catch up with him. It always does. Secret sins don’t stay secret. Paul remarks in the New Testament, “Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.” (Galatians 6:7-8)
Jacob ran from Esau. Esau said he was going to kill him once his father had died, so Jacob settled a long distance away from him. But about 20 years later he headed home. And Esau was ready to greet him. With 400 men. Jacob sent Esau a peace offering. Hundreds of goats, rams, camels, cows and donkeys. That would make things all better, right? He sent a bribe. That would work. But he wasn’t sure. He divided up his 12 sons, his wives, his servants, the rest of the livestock. If they attacked one group, the other could get away. Where was Jacob? In the back. Alone. A true leader.
And then, you get to our account. Jacob wrestles with the angel. And this wasn’t just any angel. This is the Angel of the Lord. God Himself. He spent his whole life wrestling with who he was and what he had become. He spent his whole life wrestling with his brother and with his father. And now, at this turning point in life, he wrestles with God Himself.
And get this, God wrestles with him. God wasn’t going to let his life end up in hell. He wasn’t going to coddle him anymore. His lying and cheating and letting others be put in danger because of his weakness was no more. We call this “tough love.”
In Hebrews this word is given: Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father? If you are not disciplined (and everyone undergoes discipline), then you are illegitimate children and not true sons. Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of our spirits and live! Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness.” (Hebrews 12:7-10)
You, and I, and Jacob, live in a gracious struggle. I believe there is a misconception that some people have. Some think that having faith is easy. It is not. Some think that those who have faith have life all figured out. No. We are in a gracious struggle. And God is right with us.
Jacob earned the name he was given. Liar. Deceiver. Cheat. But God was going to give him a new name. After the wrestling lasted all night long, and Jacob was not yet going to give up, he wanted two things to happen. He said to his opponent, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.” (Genesis 32:26) And he requested to know the name of this man who was wrestling him.
The angel, who I believe was Jesus Christ, asked him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Jacob.” And he said, “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with men, and you have prevailed.” (Genesis 32:28) A new name. God does that. Sort of like a Saul to a Paul in the New Testament. I read that the name “Israel” can mean, “He strives with God”, or, “God strives.” God strives for you. God takes the step of grace toward you. You can trust in God to grace you over and over again.
We live in a struggle, but it is not a hopeless struggle or a meaningless struggle. It is a hopeful struggle. It is a struggle filled with faith that God is for us and always by our side.
Do you remember what Esau did next to his brother? It is the most unexpected thing that you could ever imagine. After Jacob steals the blessing of his father from Esau we read, “Now Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing with which his father had blessed him, and Esau said to himself, ‘The days of mourning for my father are approaching; then I will kill my brother Jacob.’” (Genesis 27:41) But Esau, who had been cheated out of a great deal of money, and had his place in the family erased, was gracious to Jacob. Jacob feared for his life, and the life of his family, and this is what we read about what occurred when Esau saw Jacob for the first time in twenty years, “Esau ran to meet him and embraced him and fell on his neck and kissed him, and they wept.” (Genesis 33:4)
The life of Jacob is like the life of all of us. We struggle to do what is right. We have done things that embarrass us and shame us. And God will speak to us directly and will fight against us and our self-destruction. He disciplines us. He loves us harshly. He speaks a word of law to us. He won’t let us run away without pursuing us. Like He did with Jacob.
And He doesn’t leave without giving us a blessing. It is called grace. Forgiveness. That is the Gospel. He even gives us a new name. “You are my own. I have called you by name. You are mine.”
And the one who is right in the middle of this gracious struggle has a name. And we know it. His name is Jesus. Amen!!
