Blessed and Limping — Genesis 32:22-31 · Proper 13, Year A

A man spends the night wrestling a stranger by a river. His hip comes out of its socket. He hangs on until dawn anyway, because he wants a blessing and he won't let go without one, and he never finds out who he was fighting. This week: Proper 13, Year A. Genesis 32, Romans 9, Matthew 14. Three readings, and nobody in them is okay. Jacob is alone and terrified at the ford of the Jabbok, out of moves. Paul is carrying a grief over his own people so heavy he says he'd trade his own place in Christ to fix it. And Jesus — who has just gotten word that his cousin was beheaded at a birthday party, on a whim — gets in a boat to find somewhere quiet, and doesn't get one afternoon. We sit with the Hebrew verb ye'aveq, "wrestled." It appears twice in the entire Hebrew Bible, both times in this scene, and it looks like it's built off the word for dust. The closest encounter with God in all of Genesis, and Scripture reaches for a word about getting filthy. What ties the three together isn't that suffering is God's ingredient list. It's smaller and truer: you don't have to be okay first. Jacob doesn't get cleaned up before the encounter — he gets dusty in it. Paul doesn't get over the sorrow before he preaches. And a grieving man on a beach takes five loaves and two fish, not enough and everybody knows it's not enough, and feeds five thousand. "Bring them here to me." Blessed and limping. Both, at once, still walking. Chapters 00:00 — Cold open: wrestling a stranger in the dark 00:46 — Welcome to Monday to Sunday 01:38 — This week: Proper 13, Year A 02:04 — Jacob alone at the ford of the Jabbok 03:29 — Who was he actually fighting? 05:37 — Ye'aveq: the wrestling word built from dust 06:57 — Romans 9: Paul's unceasing anguish 08:30 — Matthew 14: why Jesus got in the boat 10:23 — Five loaves, two fish, and a sack lunch 11:53 — You don't have to be okay first 12:42 — Bring it now 13:26 — Blessed and limping Read the full write-up at mondaytosunday.life New episodes Tuesdays and Thursdays.