Wrestling with God

Homily for Tuesday of the Fourteenth Week in Ordinary Time

Immediately before the verses that we read today from the Book of Genesis, we learn that as Jacob draws near to the land that has been promised him by God, he is told that his brother, Esau, is coming to meet him with four hundred men. Jacob fears that Esau has not forgiven him for stealing his birthright from him. So he sends ahead of him a very generous gift to assuage his brother’s anger.

As Jacob crosses over to the land promised him, worried about the impending meeting with Esau, he encounters a mysterious adversary in the night with whom he wrestles until morning. The cunning Jacob manages to wrest a blessing from the night stranger before he departs. There are folkloric elements in the tale—e.g., the trial of the hero before he can return home, the nocturnal demon’s loss of strength at sunrise, the demon protecting its river, the power gained by knowledge of an opponent’s name—but these have been worked into a coherent narrative.

Jacob wins the match, but his adversary changes Jacob’s name, an act elsewhere done only by God. The first part of the name means “he contended.” This is followed with the syllable “el” which stands for “Elohim” or “Lord.” The names of the archangels (Gabriel, Raphael, Michael, and Uriel) also end in this syllable. Consequently, the point of the tale seems to be that the ever-striving, ever-grasping Jacob must eventually strive with God to attain full possession of the blessing given him by his adversary. We also can glean meaning through the name that Jacob gives this location: Peniel. The name is explained as meaning I have seen “the face of God,” yet my life has been spared.

This story of Jacob’s struggle with God reminds us that the life of faith is never easy, but is filled with all sorts of mental struggles. The Gospel reading concludes a series of ten miracles with Jesus driving out a demon from a mute man. When the crowd hears the man being able to speak, they were amazed, saying: “Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel.” However, the Pharisees are not as impressed and accuse Jesus of doing the work of Satan by driving out demons. At this point in the Gospel, Jesus just let’s that comment lie. However, when he is accused of the same thing a second time, a few verses later in the same Gospel, he replies, “No town or house divided against itself will stand.”

Just as Jacob and Jesus struggle in their time, we are asked to engage in the same struggle against the naysayers of our own time. We need to share the Gospel in words, but we must also live it through our actions and interactions.