One of the best things about Christianity is that no one is disqualified, no one is too “bad”. At the very heart of all of it is a message of grace, which is literally available for anyone. And Jesus was the perfect embodiment of it. He dined with the ones who religion says can’t come in. He laughed with those that were deemed unclean. He sought out the ones that everyone hated and He loved them.
Outside of his life on earth, there is evidence of His grace, and one way that comes through is His lineage, found in Matthew 1.
In biblical times, one’s lineage was really important. A number of chapters in the Bible are genealogies – literally a long list of names: a man, his many sons, their many sons, their many sons, and so on. These were so important because they were proof of identity, proof of the tribe you belonged to and proof that you were a Jew, which would qualify you to be part of Jewish life, among other things.
I don’t think God does things for the sake of it, so I feel like the lineage of Christ is significant and is worth a closer look. Jesus’ ancestors are there for a reason, and fact that all their lives were full of mess and mistakes and in the midst of it, they experience God’s grace in a profound and life-changing way and as a result, find themselves in the most glorious lineage.
This is God telling us that in His family, everybody is welcome. No matter what you have done, or how far you have run, you are not outside the reaches of His grace, redemption and love.
In these ‘Grace Files’, I want to look at some of the people whose names are listed before the son of God in Matthew 1 and marvel over the beauty of grace…
Jacob
The oft-quoted phrase in the Bible is “I am the God of your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.” You’d get the impression that Jacob was always faithful and always loved God and was an exemplary father of the faith, right? Well, the account in Genesis tells something quite different.
His name means “he deceives” and from a young age, he lived out this identity. We read one account of him tricking his brother into giving him his birthright in Genesis. When he is older and his father is about to die, Jacob, with the help of his mother (he was her fave), tricks his twin brother Esau into giving him his blessing as the firstborn. Now this might not sound like much in our day, but back when this was happening, blessings and birthrights were very significant. And there were no ‘takebacks’. Once something had been decreed, it was final. Esau was not getting the blessing he was owed and this was a huge loss.
Later in his life, Jacob finds himself in more trouble. He goes to live with his relatives (because after the blessing thing his brother wants to kill him) and when arriving falls for one of his cousins and asks his uncle, Laban, if he can marry her. He says yes, and Jacob agrees to work seven years for her. After the seven years, Jacob is unbelievably ready to be with this woman, Rachel, who he loves. So they get married, and the morning after, “behold, there was Leah!” Turns out Laban had sent Leah to bed with Jacob because “we don’t let the younger sister get married before the older”. Welp.
I imagine Jacob was livid. I mean…I don’t blame him. Anyway, as with blessings, there are no takebacks with consummating a marriage, so he asks if he can marry Rachel after ‘his week’ with Leah, and he will work another 7 years. Sometime later, Jacob ends up in the middle of some tension with his wives over how many sons they can provide him, and it all gets even messier. (More on this when we look at Leah and Judah)
Eventually though, things settle down for Jacob and God helps him become wealthy and he establishes himself in this new place and starts a family.
But the story doesn’t end there…
It must run in the family, because Laban is a trickster too. He tries to play Jacob and things get a bit uncomfortable. God tells Jacob to go back to the land of his fathers and that He will be with him. So he takes his family and everything he owns, and leaves. (Laban follows him and some stuff kicks off, but I’ll let you read about that yourself in Genesis 31). Jacob sends some folks ahead of him to send a peace offering to his brother Esau. It’s been years since they’ve seen each other and I reckon Jacob is not anticipating a warm welcome. The messengers return with word that Esau is coming to meet him “and he has four hundred men with him”. I think it’s safe to say that Jacob is sweating! He pleads with God, makes a plan to split up all his things in half so that when Esau comes with his four hundred men, he might be able to save some of his family and possessions.
That night, Jacob is alone. I imagine he had a sleepless night ahead of him and planned to pray or beg God. But he receives an unexpected visitor. A man who wrestles with him. They wrestle all night and Jacob’s hip gets dislocated.
“The man said, ‘Let me go, for it is daybreak.’
But Jacob replied, ‘I will not let you go unless you bless me.’
The man asked him, ‘What is your name?’
‘Jacob,’ he answered.
Then the man said, ‘Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with humans and have overcome.’
Jacob said, ‘Please tell me your name.’
But he replied, ‘Why do you ask my name?” Then he blessed him there.’
Well, how strange. Turns out it was God who came to wrestle with Jacob! Jacob has asked God to help him with the altercation he expected to face with his brother, and God fights him and leaves him with a limp. Maybe not quite what he wanted…
Jacob got something even better however. The restoration of relationship with the God of his fathers, and a new identity! Names in biblical times defined you. No longer is he the deceiver. He is now defined by this encounter with God, the legacy that he persisted with God! He also gets a blessing! And I agree with Tim Keller who suggests (in his book ‘Counterfeit Gods’ ) that this blessing, approval perhaps, is what Jacob had been striving for his whole life. For God to meet with Jacob, there in the desert, when he was at his most desperate? That’s grace!
And there’s more…
Jacob sees Esau in the distance:
“He himself went on ahead and bowed down to the ground seven times as he approached his brother. But Esau ran to meet Jacob and embraced him; he threw his arms around his neck and kissed him. And they wept.”
Jacob is clearly wrecked at this point (as am I).
Soo he wrestled with God and got the blessing that really he’s been longing for all his life, then he is reunited with the brother from whom he stole blessing and birthright years ago, and, instead of killing him, the brother runs to him and embraces him?! It’s too much.
It’s grace.
After this encounter, Jacob doesn’t suddenly become perfect, but he is changed. He becomes the father of the nation of Israel and ultimately, of the son of God.
This story is truly remarkable and a beautiful picture of the stories God can write of our lives. It’s a reminder that this is the family we’re invited to be a part of. Jacob and the other crazy Old Testament men and women are his ancestors, and guess what? We’re in the line too – as heirs on the other side. It’s all too wonderful really. But it’s true!
And the invitation is open to you. Will you respond and say yes to grace?
Further Reading
Here are some of the materials I used in this post:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Counterfeit-Gods-Empty-Promises-Money/dp/0340995084
http://www.desiringgod.org/articles/will-you-wrestle-with-god
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis+32&version=NIV
do the write thing 
One thought on “The Grace Files: #001 Jacob”
Comments are closed.