Jacob's all-night wrestling match with God, today's first reading (Gen. 32) is among the most puzzling, bizarre, and mysterious of biblical events. First of all: if you have ever really wrestled with someone, you were exhausted after about 3 or 4 minutes of absolute exertion. It is unthinkable that one could wrestle all night. Secondly: Jacob prevails against God. And God seems to congratulate him for his feat; but then he wounds his sciatic as a reminder so he is limping afterwords. What is going on here? It makes no sense! We know that God is almighty and that our salvation is in surrendering to Him. So why is Jacob honored for his resistance? It reminds me of Fight Club: the point was not to win the fight, not to get victory or triumph; the point was just to fight. IF you are strong or weak; undefeated or always defeated; it did not matter! What matters is to be in the fight.
So: I read the story in this way: God engages us, throughout our entire lives (all night), in agonistic struggle. Life is conflict, war, competiton. Relentless. Exhausting. Merciless. We struggle with events that attack us...with friend, family and foe... with our own interior chaos that never really goes away....with our antagonists in the Culture War...with the world, the flesh and the devil! We are always in La Lucha!
So, it seems to me, this is why God is so pleased with Jacob, even as he leaves him a wounded sciatica as a badge of honor. If he is to be one of the three great Patriarchs, he must be battle-tested. He fought all night. He became a "made man." He was strenthened by the test, by the "agony." May we also be so tested; tried; strengthened; honored!
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