{"id":25527,"date":"2025-10-15T08:01:24","date_gmt":"2025-10-15T06:01:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/?p=25527"},"modified":"2025-10-17T10:22:44","modified_gmt":"2025-10-17T08:22:44","slug":"genesis-3222-31","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/genesis-3222-31\/","title":{"rendered":"Genesis 32:22-31"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost<\/strong> | 19.10.2025 | Genesis 32:22-31 | Samuel David Zumwalt<\/strong> |<\/h3>\n

Genesis 32:22-31 <\/strong>Scripture taken from the New King James Version\u00ae. Copyright \u00a9 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em>22\u00a0<\/sup><\/strong>And he [Jacob] arose that night and took his two wives, his two female servants, and his eleven sons,\u00a0and crossed over the ford of Jabbok.\u00a023\u00a0<\/sup><\/strong>He took them, sent them\u00a0over the brook, and sent over what he had.\u00a024\u00a0<\/sup><\/strong>Then Jacob was left alone; and\u00a0a Man wrestled with him until the\u00a0breaking of day.\u00a025\u00a0<\/sup><\/strong>Now when He saw that He did not prevail against him, He\u00a0touched the socket of his hip; and\u00a0the socket of Jacob\u2019s hip was out of joint as He wrestled with him.\u00a026\u00a0<\/sup><\/strong>And\u00a0He said, \u201cLet Me go, for the day breaks.\u201d But he said,\u00a0\u201cI will not let You go unless You bless me!\u201d 27\u00a0<\/sup><\/strong>So He said to him, \u201cWhat\u00a0is<\/em>\u00a0your name?\u201d He said, \u201cJacob.\u201d 28\u00a0<\/sup><\/strong>And He said,\u00a0\u201cYour name shall no longer be called Jacob, but\u00a0Israel; for you have\u00a0struggled with God and\u00a0with men, and have prevailed.\u201d 29\u00a0<\/sup><\/strong>Then Jacob asked, saying, \u201cTell\u00a0me<\/em>\u00a0Your name, I pray.\u201d And He said,\u00a0\u201cWhy\u00a0is<\/em>\u00a0it\u00a0that<\/em>\u00a0you ask about My name?\u201d And He\u00a0blessed him there. 30\u00a0<\/sup><\/strong>So Jacob called the name of the place\u00a0Peniel: \u201cFor\u00a0I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.\u201d<\/p>\n

[In his \u201cOn the Councils and the Church, Martin Luther identified seven marks of the Church. The fifth mark is the holy ministry. Our overarching sermon theme for this year is that fifth mark. Our parish observes Pledge Sunday this weekend, a day of gratitude to the God who owns everything.]<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

HOLY PASTORS: PRESERVED BY GOD<\/strong><\/p>\n

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.<\/p>\n

The Defining Moment Then<\/strong><\/p>\n

As you follow along in your bulletins, pay attention to the capitalization of Man, He, Me, and My. The New King James translation definitely reads the Old Testament through the Lord Jesus as He has taught His disciples to do (Luke 1:27, 45). When we believe, teach, and confess that Jesus is the Word of God made flesh (John 1:14), then, before He was incarnate from the Virgin Mary, He was and is truly God, the Second Person of the Holy Trinity. Because He is, as Paul writes to the Colossians, the image (icon) of the invisible God (1:15), He is the One with Whom Jacob struggles. Now, with that in mind, let\u2019s think about how the story has led to this moment.<\/p>\n

While Jacob was in the womb, he attempted to be born ahead of his brother Esau. But, then, how the story continued was darker than the sibling rivalry of Cain and Abel. Isaac and Rebekah\u2019s marriage was so dysfunctional, that, by each playing favorites with a son, they actually encouraged the duplicity of Jacob and the murderous rage of Esau, who had already proved to be not the sharpest knife in the drawer. Papa Isaac preferred Esau, the impulsive man\u2019s man, while Rebekah, in a glimpse into her own dark heart, schooled her Mama\u2019s boy Jacob in how to get what he always wanted, not only Esau\u2019s birthright, but also Isaac\u2019s blessing. Don\u2019t try this at home.<\/p>\n

It was surely only God\u2019s grace that had kept Esau from murdering his brother Jacob, whom Mama sent to her own twisted family. Ironically, Esau stayed home and prospered, while Jacob went away after having earned a degree in cheating to be schooled by his maternal uncle, Laban, who had a doctorate in thievery. Jacob had ended up with marriages to his two first cousins, the older Leah and the younger Rachel, eleven sons and a daughter by his two wives and the maid of each. We could say so much more. It is enough to say that Jacob had prospered but yearned to go back home. The man who had once pretended to be his brother to deceive his blind father was now in our text alone at the river\u2019s edge having sent his family and worldly goods ahead to Esau.<\/p>\n

To this point, this recap does little justice to Moses\u2019 telling of the history of Abram and Sarai that began in Genesis 12. The twenty chapters leading up to today\u2019s lesson have all the marks of a psychological thriller already rooted in the tempter\u2019s question to Adam and Eve, \u201cHas God indeed said …?\u201d (3:1). Time and again, Abram and Sarai didn\u2019t trust God, which had dire consequences for Hagar and Ishmael. When Abraham finally had gotten around to trusting God, it was young Isaac bound on a firewood, looking up at his father\u2019s sharp knife, and traumatized by his Dad\u2019s faith in God. Doubtless, Sarah never wanted her boy to go off on retreat with Dad ever again. So, when Sarah died, Isaac sent his servant to find a wife to comfort him. This should be a country ballad by Merle Haggard, Tom T. Hall, or John Prine. The story beats Facebook all day.<\/p>\n

Unless someone is not cursed with self-awareness, he or she has had a moment or two of introspection in life usually in the wake of a significant loss, a foolish choice, or a broken heart … perhaps even all three at once. Jacob had a lifetime of deception behind him. Now, he thought himself all alone, no longer surrounded by family, servants, or worldly goods. So, then, what if Esau should take everything and kill Jacob after all? So, yes, Jacob wrestled all night long, not merely in the psychological sense, but physically, viscerally, mentally, emotionally, spiritually. Who was that Man with Whom Jacob wrestled until the new day dawned? Jacob wrestled with the One through Whom all things are made. Jacob wrestled with the One who would take our frail humanity into Himself in order to be tempted in every way like us but sin. Yes, Jacob wrestled with the One who would not let us go even unto death on a cross for us and our salvation.<\/p>\n

We read the entire Old Testament through our Lord Jesus Christ, and He knows us as we are, where we are, in all of our disobedience, doubts, and self-deception. At the end of the long, dark night of the soul Jacob knew himself for all that he had been and done. Finally, when asked his name, Jacob admitted his life had been one of chicanery. Yes, he was Jacob. But that One, who would not let Jacob (or you or me) go, gave Jacob a new name, a new identity. He would be Israel, and God would be known thereafter as the God of Abraham, Isaac, … and Israel. At the river\u2019s edge, Israel saw the Son of the Living God face to face, and he was preserved by God.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Defining Moment Now<\/strong><\/p>\n

When you made public confession of your sin this morning, were you struggling with who you really are in all your weakness? As you found your seat and your place in the bulletin, as you listened to the pre-service music, were you distracted? Checking your messages? Your social media? Before making confession, did you face the truth about yourself as a poor, miserable sinner who deserves God\u2019s temporal and eternal punishment? Maybe you dragged your feet all the way to worship and were unpleasant about being here. Maybe you spoke unlovingly to your beloved or to a child. Maybe you woke up hungover, ashamed, or depressed. Maybe you doubted God\u2019s goodness, His love, or even His existence. Maybe you felt empty, alone, betrayed, or murderous.<\/p>\n

Maybe your narcissism was or is choking the very life out of you and you couldn\u2019t even see it.<\/p>\n

The dark night of the soul is that place where you are convinced God is absent, but it\u2019s you who have been slipping into darkness, one lie at a time, one compromise at a time, one more betrayal of the God who made and owns you, of the people who love you, of the person God created you to be. The tempter\u2019s initial lie is so contemporary: \u201cHas God indeed said?\u201d The answer is \u201cYes\u201d to the self-deceiver in you. No matter how many times the lie is repeated. No one was born in the wrong body. No one\u2019s body was made for one like him- or herself. No one made him- or herself. No one is beyond help but the one who refuses it. As C.S. Lewis depicted hell in The Great Divorce<\/em>, it is that gray city where lost souls run further and further from life, love, and the Light.<\/p>\n

Maybe today you are Jacob, one whom God blessed with so much, but you thought you deserved more than anyone else. For adults, your whole life may have been filled with old, old, resentments stacked high over what or who you haven\u2019t gotten. Maybe you think the next change, the next purchase, the next new whatever or whomever is finally going to make everything right. No. For children, youth, or adolescents, maybe you have already learned how to get what you want by whatever means. Maybe you have learned you are the flagbearer for your parent\u2019s failed dreams, or you feel that you are to blame for their own disappointments. You are Jacob, thinking you are all alone even in a crowd. You are Jacob wrestling not merely with yourself but God!<\/p>\n

Today, the One who made you, the One who owns you and everything, has hold of you. The hands hanging on to you are nail-pierced. The face of the Living God sees deeply into you and knows you for whom you are and what you are not. He sees past all your self-deception, your masks, and says: \u201cI died the death you deserve. I lived the life you cannot. I can and will take you to myself and raise you to be whom I made you to be. I have a new name for you: child of God. Come to the water of Holy Baptism. Die with Me to that old life. I have real life, real love, and true Light for you. Follow me, day by day, and I will never leave you and never let you go.\u201d<\/p>\n

The false prophets in the Bible are never called false prophets. They are called lying prophets. They are still with us preaching a transactional religion in which you give them what they want, and God<\/em> will give you what you want. Paul warned about itchy ears in search of hokum, of those seeking out the lying prophets who will say anything for your money and will steal your soul.<\/p>\n

Dear ones, Pledge Sunday is not a transaction. Today, in gratitude for the nail-pierced hands of the Crucified God, who will never let us go, we say, \u201cHere, take what is already Yours. It\u2019s Your time, talent, and resources. Use them as You will for your saving and redeeming work. As child of God, I will go where You want me to go. I will do what You want me to do. I will say what You want me to say. I will be what You made me to be. Show me the way, precious Lord. Grant me grace to do it. In the mighty name of Jesus of Nazareth, Master, Savior, Redeemer. Amen.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.<\/p>\n

\n

\u00a9Samuel David Zumwalt
\nszumwalt54@gmail.com<\/a>
\nSt. Matthew\u2019s Ev. Lutheran Church (AALC)
\nWilmington, North Carolina USA<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost | 19.10.2025 | Genesis 32:22-31 | Samuel David Zumwalt | Genesis 32:22-31 Scripture taken from the New King James Version\u00ae. Copyright \u00a9 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved \u00a022\u00a0And he [Jacob] arose that night and took his two wives, his two female servants, and his eleven […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":25508,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,539,2,727,157,853,108,114,110,1080,349,109,160],"tags":[],"beitragende":[],"predigtform":[],"predigtreihe":[],"bibelstelle":[],"class_list":["post-25527","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-genesis","category-18-so-n-trinitatis","category-at","category-archiv","category-beitragende","category-bibel","category-current","category-deut","category-engl","category-kapitel-32-chapter-32-genesis","category-kasus","category-predigten","category-samuel-david-zumwalt"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25527","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25527"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25527\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25528,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25527\/revisions\/25528"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25508"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25527"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25527"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25527"},{"taxonomy":"beitragende","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/beitragende?post=25527"},{"taxonomy":"predigtform","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/predigtform?post=25527"},{"taxonomy":"predigtreihe","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/predigtreihe?post=25527"},{"taxonomy":"bibelstelle","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bibelstelle?post=25527"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}