Time to Wrestle

Mark Dunagan
12/13/15 - Sunday Morning

Time to Wrestle

Long ago Isaiah bemoaned of his generation, “There is no one who calls on Your name, who arouses himself to take hold of You” (Isaiah 64:7).   While Jesus was upon the earth someone in the crowd asked Him, “Lord, are there just a few who are being saved?” (Luke 13:23).  Jesus did not avoid this question and neither did He downplay its importance:

Luke 13:24 “Strive to enter though the narrow door”:  The word translated “strive” means literally to “agonize”. “The word is taken from the Grecian games. In their races, wrestling, and various athletic exercises, they ‘strove or agonized,’ or put forth all their powers to gain the victory. Thousands witnessed them. They were long trained for the conflict, and the honor of victory was one of the highest honors among the people. So Jesus says that we should strive to enter in; and He means by it that we should be diligent, be active, be earnest; that we should make it our first and chief business (1 Corinthians 9:24-26; Philippians 2:16; Heb 12:1) (Barnes Notes). “Exert every power of body and soul-let your salvation be the grand business of your whole life” (Adam Clarke).

Observe how Jesus answers the question.  He does not specifically say “yes” or “no”, rather He points out what is necessary to end up saved.  He points to the practical side of the matter, that is, they are not to waste their time and strength in arguments as to how many will be saved, but everyone must strive hard and make sure that he himself is saved, for whether the saved are to be many or few one thing is certain, the gate leading to life is narrow, and only those who strive with might and whole-heartedly, will be saved.  More than anyone else, Jesus understood that grace plays a vital role in our salvation, but grace does not remove the human obligation to try and to try with intensity (Philippians 2:16). 

Luke 13:24 “For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able”:  This inability is not God’s fault, for He earnestly desires all to be saved (John 3:16; 1 Timothy 2:4; 2 Peter 3:9).  Concerning this verse Isaac Errett wrote, “They seek, but they seek in their own way; they would enter without agonizing, by some royal road that only skirts the territory of self-sacrifice.  They would live with Christ, but they will not be crucified with Him; they would know the power of His resurrection without knowing the fellowship of His sufferings” (Evenings with the Bible, Volume 1, p. 144).

Plenty of Wrestling

There are many verses in the New Testament that speak of our entering the narrow gate and remaining on the narrow path as being compared to a battle or an athletic contest in which a person wrestles and seeks to exert all their strength in this endeavor:

• “Therefore I run in such a way, as not without aim; I box in such a way, as not beating the air; but I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified” (1 Corinthians 9:26-27).
• “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 6:12).
• “Let us lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us and let us run with patience the race that is set before us” (Hebrews 12:1). 

Added to such powerful images and admonitions, we often find Jesus and His followers struggling, wrestling, and fighting for God, their own resistance against temptation, for the truth and for the precious souls of others:

• “And being in agony He was praying very fervently; and His sweat became like drops of blood, falling down upon the ground” (Luke 22:44).
• “My little children, with whom I am again in labor until Christ is formed in you” (Galatians 4:19).
• “Always laboring earnestly for you in his prayers, that you may stand perfect and fully assured in all the will of God” (Colossians 4:12).
• “That you contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all handed down to the saints” (Jude 3).

This Should Not Surprise Us

Isaac Errett correctly observed decades ago something that has always been true, “There are times of wrestling in every true and noble life---in every life that seeks to be true and noble---similar to that in the life of Jacob, though they may not take on the same objective form.   And there are crises, here and there, in every true life, when the whole future seems to be crowded into the decision of an hour, when the wrestlings become fearfully intense” (p. 144).  I was listening to a sports radio program that spoke of athletes that were determined to be the best and the speaker said that all those who had attained greatness had the “sickness”.  They worked incredibly hard.  “All high attainments are the result of persevering toil and conflict, involving serious and even desperate wrestlings with temptations without and corruptions within” (p. 144).

Jacob and the Angel

I am impressed that before we encounter Jacob wrestling with the angel, the text has already given us some very valuable information:

• Jacob had obeyed the command to God to leave Laban and go back home, even though Laban had made it very difficult to leave.
• Jacob knows that he needs to make things right with Esau, he cannot hide from the past.  So Jacob takes the initiative to reach out to his brother (Genesis 32:3).
• Jacob hears that Esau is coming with 400 men and immediately prepares for the worst case scenario (Genesis 32:7).
• Jacob readily admits that he is completely unworthy of all of God’s blessings and care (Genesis 32:10).  He accurately remembers the past.  He had years previously passed the same river with only a staff in his hand (32:10) and now he is a very wealthy man.
• He asks God for help (32:11).  He has done everything he can do and he realizes that he can only do so much.  He also holds on to God’s original promise (32:12).
• Once again, Jacob does everything that he can possibility do (32:13).

The Real Struggle

Many people struggle in life, but their struggle is against God and His wisdom.  It is sad that this struggle is so wasteful and unnecessary and only makes everything if life harder than it needs to be (Proverbs 13:15).

Hosea 12:3-4

“In the womb he took his brother by the heel, and in his maturity he contended with God.  Yes, he wrestled with the angel and prevailed; He wept and sought His favor, He found Him at Bethel and there He spoke to us”.

Did I Really Win?

Too many people think they are winning when in reality they are losing.  Jacob prevailed…..yet not in the sense that most people think of prevailing.  He prevailed not by being physically stronger or stubborn, he prevailed by casting himself upon God for mercy, help and strength. 

• What prevailed was not Jacob’s physical strength or his wits, but rather his humility.
• “O that we all might learn this lesson in time, and save our lives from the vain experiments of pride and self-sufficiency in which so many of our best years are wasted:  for if we ever conquer, it will be by abasing ourselves and taking hold of the strength of God” (p. 147).
• Others have frequently given the same exhortation (Psalm 32:1-6).

Mark Dunagan | mdunagan@frontier.net
Beaverton Church of Christ | 503-644-9017
www.beavertonchurchofchrist.net