Jesus meets with Issac & Jacob and also the Sinful Woman at His Feet
Strangely, the series we are working on presently is in fact a “Christmas” theme. We are considering who Jesus is eternally. We want to get more insight into His true identity.
It is one thing to think about Jesus becoming a human baby. We celebrate this during Christmas. However, the more we get detailedknowledge about His life before He became a human baby, the more we can appreciate what, exactly, He gave up to become a human.
Let’s set the stage again. Remember these verses that clearly indicate that no one can see God, the Father…
- John 1:18 “No one has seen God at any time…”
- John 6:46 “No one has seen the Father…”
- I Timothy 6:16 “… God … whom no one has seen or can see.”
- I John 4:12 “No one has ever seen God…”
- Colossians 1:15 “He [Jesus] is the image of the invisible God…” (i.e. God is invisible & cannot be seen)
If God, the Father, cannot be seen, then who was it that appeared to Isaac and Jacob? (We looked at Abraham in the last post)
“The LORD [Yehova] appeared to Isaac and said… “ Gen 26:2
“That night the LORD appeared to him and said…” Gen 26:24
Awareness of this divine visitor was passed on from Abraham through Isaac to Jacob.
The first time this occurs Jacob is running from his brother Esau. Jacob leaves Beersheba and stops for the night at Bethel, which he names as such for his encounter with God. As you remember Jacob has a dream where he sees a stairway connecting Heave to earth. Fascinatingly, at the top of the stairway he sees someone “standing” there at the top. The LORD then confirms the covenant with Jacob.
“He had a dream in which he saw a stairway resting on the earth, with its top reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. There above it stood the LORD, and he said…”
You have to ask yourself about the word stood. He sees God in such a way that Jacob describes Him as standing. He sees a person!
Sometime later when Jacob is leaving Laban’s service because of jealously (Gen 31:1-2), God again appears to Jacob. Fascinatingly, this Angel of the Lord confirms that it was He Himself, God, who appeared to Jacob on the stairway. This Angel of God says, “I am the God of Bethel, where you anointed a pillar…”
“The angel of God said to me in a dream, ‘Jacob.’ I answered, ‘Here I am.’ “ Gen 31:11
“I am the God of Bethel, where you anointed a pillar and where you made a vow to me.” Gen 31:13
The Angel of God tells Jacob that He is in fact, God. He makes sure that Jacob knows He is not a regular angel but God Himself.
Now, you might say, “These were only dreams. That doesn’t matter in the least.” Let’s consider the next event between Jacob and God. It is so real that Jacob’s body is physically impacted in such a way that he can never forget this encounter for the rest of his life.
Jacob is preparing to meet Esau as he is leaving Laban’s service and going back to his home country.
“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, 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.” 31 The sun rose above him as he passed Peniel, and he was limping because of his hip.” Genesis 32:22-31
This is anything but a dream. Jacob physically wrestles with someone through the night. It is almost too visceral an encounter for a modern person to really understand. Imagine having an encounter with a heavenly being like this. In verse 30 Jacob acknowledges that this was no one else except God. The encounter is so real that Jacob’s hip is thrown out of joint and he ends up limping. I suspect that is the very reason that God throws Jacob’s hip out. God wants Jacob to know and remember that this was real.
Let’s get back to our point. When you consider the passages at the top that state God cannot be seen nor has ever been seen, you have to ask the question, “Who was this that was seen by Isaac and Jacob? Who was it that physically wrestled with Jacob?”
Jesus clearly says, “No one has seen the Father…” John 6:46. We also know that the Holy Spirit never takes on a human form. Since the Angel of the Lord confirms that He is in fact God neither that He can be neither the Father nor the Holy Spirit, that only leaves One. It becomes really clear that this Angel of the Lord is none other than Jesus before He became a human baby.
Christmas is an excellent time to let the wonder and awe of Jesus’ divine life as God intersect the radical reality that God also become a human baby!
But what about His human life? What was Jesus like? Contrast His divine life with an event from His human life. Consider Luke 7:36-50. Jesus is eating in the home of one of the Pharisees. There are several Pharisees and other leaders present at this dinner. A woman arrives who is described as “a woman who had lived a sinful life.” This may very well be describing prostitution. Regardless, she weeps as she stands behind Jesus as He is reclining at the table with all these religious leaders. They have contempt for her. Jesus, however, is a pillar of strength and love as He lets the Holy Spirit wash over her and move her into repentance and cleansing. Refusing the accusation of the Pharisees, Jesus patiently interacts with this woman as she weeps on His feet and begins wiping them with her very hair. The strength and humility of Jesus creates an air of love and intimacy for the unfolding and healing of this woman’s heart.
How does the One who appeared to Isaac relate to humans? He is radically humble and receives the greatest of sinners wonderfully! Jesus wrestles with Jacob as the Angel of the Lord and also receives one enslaved by sexual sin to bring healing and wholeness.
Take Away
1st Commandment Prayer
Jesus, seeing your life, in detail, as God really amazes me when I also ponder your humility when you became a human! Power and meekness combined starts to describe you in terms that amaze me! In fact, I delight to see such humility in One so eternal and powerful! Stir my heart and the hearts of my children for You during this Christmas season!