Wrestle with God

The texts today from the Roman Catholic Lectionary reveal the great ties of the early Church to the salvation history of the Israelites. This is not surprising among those who followed Jesus as He visits synagogues and the Temple observing the Law and Prophets during His public ministry. One of the Jewish men called to follow Him is Nathaniel. The Gospel of John, today, presents the story of the calling of Nathaniel. Friar Jude Winkler explains the word game embedded in this narrative. The straight forward truthfulness of Nathaniel is recognized by Jesus as he places Nathaniel in both the geography and culture of Israel and in the story of Jacob, who wrestles with God (Genesis 32) and has his name changed to Israel. The proclamation of Nathaniel that Jesus is the Son of God seems to be unrelated to Jesus comment that He saw him under the fig tree. Friar Jude explains that the rabbi taught under the fig tree and Nathaniel was wrestling with God as Jacob did. People today “wrestle with God” as we experience Divine Presence and seek guidance, consolation and support. The fruit of wrestling with God for Nathaniel was his recognition of Jesus nature. In Genesis, Jacob wrestles with God and changes from “deceiver” to Israel. He is given a new name and lives a changed life. The text from Revelation which is the vision of the New Jerusalem, the heavenly kingdom resonates with the “Jacob’s ladder” vision in Genesis. Our challenge is to fearlessly wrestle with God and be open to the name change which will signify our transformation to a closer intimacy in communion with God.