Patrick Comerford
Next Sunday, 2 August 2020, is the Eighth Sunday after Trinity (Trinity VIII).
The readings in the Revised Common Lectionary, as adapted for use in the Church of Ireland, are in two pairs, the Continuous Readings and the Paired Readings.
The Continuous Readings: Genesis 32: 22-31; Psalm 17: 1-7, 16; Romans 9: 1-5; Matthew 14: 13-21.
There is a link to the Continuous Readings HERE.
The Paired readings: Isaiah 55: 1-5; Psalm 145: 8-9, 15-22; Romans 9: 1-5; Matthew 14: 13-21.
There is a link to the Paired Readings HERE.
Introducing the Readings:
In the first reading, Jacob is alone at night when he wrestles – with a man, with an angel, or, perhaps, even with God – until daybreak. Has he had a face-to-face encounter with God?
At daybreak, Jacob asks the wrestler for his name, but instead he receives a new name, Israel, ‘for you have striven with God and with humans, and have prevailed.’
In the Psalm, the psalmist cries out in the middle of the night to God in his quest for vindication, and seeks to see God’s face.
In the Epistle reading, Saint Paul wrestles with his own relationship with the children of Israel in God’s plan, and their unique place in God’s covenants.
In the Gospel reading, Christ wrestles with the disciples’ unwillingness to share their food and to feed the crowds who have followed them into the wilderness. He calls forth a great miracle and in feeding the multitude offers not only a lesson in generosity, but also a foretaste of the heavenly banquet and an object lesson in mission and outreach.
How do we face up to the unknown? And in doing so, are we surprised to find ourselves faced with God’s plans rather than our own?
Where do we encounter God – both in darkness and in light – where are we fed, both physically and spiritually?
Genesis 32: 22-31:
The story of Jacob wrestling with the angel has inspired great artists down the centuries, from Rembrandt and Gustave Doré to Marc Chagall and Sir Jacob Epstein. The story is much richer in the original Hebrew: there is wordplay, allusion, and vivid symbolism. Much of that is lost to us when we read it in English.
At a first reading, Jacob’s struggle with a mysterious being seems abrupt and vague. But this story sheds light on perennial aspects of the human condition: fear, dishonesty, destiny and integrity.
The angel in this episode is referred to as both ‘man’ (אִישׁ) and ‘God’ in Genesis, while the Book of Hosea (Hosea 12: 4) refers to an ‘angel’ (מַלְאָךְ). In this reading, Jacob is given a new name, Israel (verse 28), which means ‘contends-with-God.’
In the narrative in Genesis, Jacob is on the journey back to Canaan, and he spends the night alone on a riverside. There he meets a ‘man’ who wrestles with him until daybreak. In the end, Jacob is given the name ‘Israel’ and blessed, while the ‘man’ refuses to give his own name. Jacob then names the place where they wrestle Penuel (פְּנוּאֵל), meaning ‘face of God’ or ‘facing God.’
This account gives us several plays on the meaning of Hebrew names – Penuel and Israel – as well as similarity to the root of Jacob’s name, which sounds like the Hebrew for ‘heel’ and its compound.
The limping of Jacob (Yaʿaqob), may mirror the name of the river, Jabbok (Yabbok, יַבֹּק, sounds like ‘crooked’ river). The mediaeval Jewish scholar Nahmanides says the name Jacob means ‘one who walks crookedly.’
Jacob is a foundational figure in the Biblical narratives, but that does not mean he is a great leader. He is a follower, a bit of a sneak, all hinted at in the pronunciation of his name. He lies to his father Isaac, he is manipulated by his mother Rebecca, he steals his brother Esau’s blessing, he runs for his life, and then ends up under the thumb of Laban, his father-in-law, for many years.
Now Jacob has earned and accumulated many possessions, and is on his way to visit his estranged brother Esau, hoping to be reconciled with him. He is crossing the Jabbok, the boundary into Canaan, we might say he is crossing ‘his Rubicon.’ But, what man, still fearing the vengeance of his brother, would send the women and children in his family ahead of himself, unprotected, while he stays behind on his own?
Who wrestles with Jacob?
The Hebrew text of Genesis states that Jacob wrestles with a ‘man’ (אִישׁ). The Septuagint (LXX) renders this as ἄνθρωπος (Anthropos), the Vulgate as vir. But later Jacob identifies this ‘man’ with God (Elohim).
Later Jewish versions read ‘because I have seen the Angel of the Lord face to face’ (Targum of Onkelos) and ‘because I have seen the Angels of the Lord face to face’ (Targum of Palestine).
Hosea 12:3-4 refers to the event, but is just as unclear. Verse 3 says Jacob ‘strove with God’ (NRSVA), while verse 4 says that Jacob ‘strove with the angel.’
In Hosea 12: 4, Jacob’s opponent is described as malakh (מַלְאָךְ), ‘angel’: ‘He strove with the angel and prevailed, he wept and sought his favour; he met him at Bethel, and there he spoke with him’ (Hosea 12: 4, NRSVA).
The relative age of the text of Genesis and of Hosea is unclear, as both are part of the Hebrew Bible as redacted in the Second Temple Period. It has been suggested that malakh may be a late emendation of the text, and could represent an early Jewish interpretation of the episode.
The mediaeval French rabbinical scholar Rashi (1040–1105) believed Jacob wrestled with the guardian angel of Esau, his elder twin brother. Maimonides (1138–1204) insisted angels are metaphors for the natural forces of the divine. In his Guide for the Perplexed (2: 42), he argues that Jacob never wrestled an angel, and instead said this was ‘a vision of prophecy.’
The interpretation that ‘Jacob wrestled with God’ (glossed in the name Isra-’el) was accepted by both Luther and Calvin, although Calvin believed the event was ‘only a vision.’
Other commentaries interpret the expression that Jacob had seen ‘God face to face’ as a reference to the Angel of the Lord as the ‘Face of God.’ Others suggest an encounter with the pre-existent, eternal Christ. The Zohar describes Jacob’s battle with the angel as symbolic of humanity’s struggle with our darker side.
Rabbi Shmuel Klitsner, a lecturer in Bible and Biblical Exegesis at Lindenbaum College, Jerusalem, and the author of Wrestling Jacob: Deception, Identity, and Freudian Slips in Genesis (Teaneck, NJ: Ben Yehuda Press, 2009), says this episode opens us to those things that keep us awake at night.
‘The things that you’re wrestling with are the things you’ve relegated to darkness. You can wrestle with things in the dark, but when the rise of dawn comes, that enlightenment is the most threatening part of this,’ Rabbi Klitsner told CBC Radio last year [17 September 2019]. ‘Our ways of prevaricating, of lying to ourselves or deceiving others don’t withstand the light of day.’
After he prevails in his fight with the ‘angel’ and receives his desired blessing, Jacob is injured at the hip. The sun rises, and he is given a new name, Israel, which means ‘he who wrestles with God.’ The new name reflects not only his personal struggle, but the destiny of an entire people, says Rabbi Klitsner.
Professor Tracy Lemos of Huron University College in London, Ontario, and the author of Violence and Personhood in Ancient Israel and Comparative Contexts (Oxford University Press, 2017) says this story ‘gets at the difficulty of reaching transcendence and reaching understanding.’
‘It’s not arrived at easily,’ says Dr Lemos. ‘And even in our moment of victory, we are just left limping toward transcendence. We are still wounded.’
‘This struggle of Jacob’s is so intensely human,’ says Rabbi Klitsner. ‘He needs his identity to evolve the same way I need my identity to evolve: Over time and through struggle.’
Jacob struggled with God and is given a new name, Israel. This change signifies a new era in Jacob’s life, and gives meaning to his future. Jacob is no longer cunning, he now has a mission, he is now divinely commissioned Israel and he is the father of God’s chosen people. Just as he has struggled with God, so does the nation. He is now protected by God, and God’s people now have a role in the unfolding story of salvation.
Psalm 17: 1-7, 16:
Psalm 17 is described as ‘a prayer of David.’ Verses 1-7 can be described as a prayer for God’s intervention on behalf of the righteous, and the concluding verse, verse 16, as a response of faith and hope.
The psalmist prays for deliverance from his accusers who behave deceitfully. May God show them that I am innocent. ‘Visit me by night,’ when I am asleep and defenceless. You will find me godly in action and word. I keep the Law and I have always been peaceful, unlike others. I have kept to God’s ways and never slipped. I am sure that God will hear me, and hear me now.
He asks God to show his love and mercy, already made known in God’s covenant with the people. Through his power, or with his right hand, God has saved those who seek refuge in God. The God who is asked to use his eyes to behold what is right (verse 2) is the God who will keep me as the apple of his eye (verse 8).
And so the psalmist is confident that he will see God’s face (see Jacob’s experience in our first reading) and be in the presence of God.
Romans 9: 1-5:
The Apostle Paul writes in this reading about his great sorrow and unceasing anguish, as he switches his focus from Gentiles to his own people, the Jews. In a pun on his own circumcision, his lasting physical mark that he is a Jew, he would rather be cut off from Christ than to be cut off from his own flesh and blood.
He reminds his readers, who are in danger of counter-posing Jews and Gentiles that Jews or Israelites are God’s chosen people, with a name given to Jacob in our first reading. As such are the recipients of seven great religious gifts from God:
● Adoption: being chosen as children of God and members of God’s family
● Glory: God’s presence in the Sinai and in the Temple
● The Covenants: between God and the patriarchs
● The giving of the Law: the covenant on Mount Sinai and the Torah
● The worship: the worship of the one God in the Temple
● The promises: to Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses and David
● The patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob)
There is an eighth gift too, he points out: the Messiah, who is born a Jew.
Matthew 14: 13-21:
The feeding of the multitude is the only miracle recorded in all four Gospels (see Mark 6: 30-44; Luke 9: 12-17; John 6: 1-15), with only minor variations on the place and the circumstances.
In the verses immediately before this reading, Saint Matthew tells of the beheading of Saint John the Baptist, who was executed after he denounced Herod Antipas for marrying his brother Philip’s wife, while Philip was still alive (see Matthew 14: 1-11).
The disciples of Saint John the Baptist took his body and buried it – a foreshadowing of how his disciples are going to desert Christ at his own death and burial – and they then go to Christ to tell him the news (verse 12).
When Jesus hears this, he takes a boat and withdraws to a deserted place. But the crowds follow him on foot around the shore and find him, and when he comes ashore there is a great crowd waiting for him. He has compassion for them, and he cures the sick among them (verses 13-14).
But a greater miracle is about to unfold – perhaps even two greater miracles.
This is a story of a miracle, but which miracle?
The multiplication of the five loaves and two fish is a miracle in itself, of course. But we might consider how there is another miracle here too.
Saint Matthew places this story in a section in his Gospel about training the disciples for their mission. So, perhaps, Christ is teaching them about how they can do this.
Christ tells the people to sit down – well, not so much to sit down as to recline (ἀνακλίνω, anaklíno, verse 19). They are asked to recline on the grass as they would at a banquet or at a feast – just as Christ does with the disciples at the Last Supper.
In verse 19, we have a reminder of the feeding of the people in the Wilderness (see Exodus 16), but also a foretaste or anticipation of the Last Supper (see Matthew 26: 20-29), the Eucharistic feast, and of the Messianic banquet at the end of time.
Christ takes bread, looks up to heaven, blesses it, breaks it, and gives it to them to distribute it among the people.
The feeding with the fish also looks forward to the Resurrection. The fish is an early symbol of faith in the Risen Christ: Ichthus (ἰχθύς, ΙΧΘΥC) is the Greek word for fish, and can be read as an acrostic, a word formed from the first letters of words, spelling out ἰησοῦς Χριστός, Θεοῦ Υἱός, Σωτήρ (Iēsous Khristos Theou Huios, Sōtēr), ‘Jesus Christ, Son of God, Saviour.’
In verse 20, we are told all ate and were filled (see Exodus 16: 15-18, Numbers 11: 31-32; Elisha’s food miracles, II Kings 4:42-44; cf John 6: 31-33, Revelation 2: 17). In Apocryphal writings, II Baruch 29: 8, a Jewish pseudepigraphical text thought to date from the late 1st century AD or early 2nd century AD, also connects the feeding in the wilderness in Exodus 16 with the Messianic age.
There is yet another level to the story in verse 20. The disciples get everyone to work together with a common purpose. All are filled, and yet much is left over: a basket for each disciple. Each of them has a mission, telling the good news of the infinite abundance of God's love and the kingdom in which all can eat.
A reflection on the Gospel reading:
Whether they are Birthdays, baptisms, weddings, anniversaries, graduations, retirements, or parish celebrations, we all enjoy a good party. Parties affirm who we are, where we fit within the family, and mark the rhythm of life and the continuity of families and communities.
It is not only the eating or the drinking. It is very difficult to sit beside someone at the same table after a funeral, or to stand beside someone at the bar at a wedding, and not to end up getting to know them and – as is said in Ireland – getting to know ‘their seed, breed and generation.’
Families share names, share stories, share memories, share identities, share anniversaries. And that is not all in the past. These celebrations allow us to express and share our hopes for the future too … is that not what baptisms and weddings are about in every family – hope for the future, hope for life itself?
In this story, the disciples have failed to buy or produce enough bread for a meal. Christ responds not by sympathising but by demanding great generosity (see verse 18).
The disciples gather up what is left over. Gathering is an act of reverential economy towards the gifts of God; but gathering also anticipates Christ gathering all to himself. The amount that is left over is a sign of the outpouring of God’s generosity. There are 12 baskets – one for each tribe of Israel and one for each of the 12 disciples. God’s party, the Eucharist, looks forward to the new Israel, not the sort of earthly kingdom that the people now want but the Kingdom of God.
Christ puts no questions of belief to the disciples or to the crowd when he feeds them on the mountainside. They do not believe in the Resurrection – it has yet to happen. But he feeds them, and he feeds them indiscriminately. The disciples wanted to send them away (verse 15), but Christ wants to count them in. Christ invites more people to the banquet than we can fit into our churches.
We often describe this story as the Feeding of the Multitude, or the Feeding of the Five Thousand. But how many people are there?
Verse 21 tells us that there were ‘about five thousand men,’ but adds also, ‘besides women and children.’
We often describe this story as the Feeding of the Multitude, or the Feeding of the Five Thousand. But how many people are there?
Verse 21 tells us that there were ‘about five thousand men,’ but adds also, ‘besides women and children.’
If there were 5,000 men there that day, and one woman and two children for each couple, we are then talking about the feeding of 20,000 people, or the population of a town like Wexford, Celbridge or Mullingar.
Sir Colin J Humphreys of Selwyn College Cambridge, former Professor of Materials Science, in his analysis of the number of people in the Exodus suggests the number of Israelite men over the age of 20 in the census following the Exodus 5,000, and not 603,550. He attributes the apparent error to an error in interpreting or translating the Hebrew word ’lp (אלף), and he goes on to suggest the number of men, women and children at the Exodus was about 20,000. Both of his figures correlate with the figures for the feeding of the multitude in this Gospel reading.
When we invite people into the Church, we have so much to share – much more that the meagre amount people may think we have in our bags.
As we enjoy the feast, enjoy the banquet, enjoy the party, share the Eucharist, are we prepared to be open to more being brought in to enjoy the banquet and the party than our imagination allows us to imagine.
Matthew 14: 13-21 (NRSVA):
13 Now when Jesus heard this, he withdrew from there in a boat to a deserted place by himself. But when the crowds heard it, they followed him on foot from the towns. 14 When he went ashore, he saw a great crowd; and he had compassion for them and cured their sick. 15 When it was evening, the disciples came to him and said, ‘This is a deserted place, and the hour is now late; send the crowds away so that they may go into the villages and buy food for themselves.’ 16 Jesus said to them, ‘They need not go away; you give them something to eat.’ 17 They replied, ‘We have nothing here but five loaves and two fish.’ 18 And he said, ‘Bring them here to me.’ 19 Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven, and blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. 20 And all ate and were filled; and they took up what was left over of the broken pieces, twelve baskets full. 21 And those who ate were about five thousand men, besides women and children.
Liturgical Resources:
Liturgical Colour: Green (Year A, Ordinary Time).
The Collect of the Day:
Blessed are you, O Lord,
and blessed are those who observe and keep your law:
Help us to seek you with our whole heart,
to delight in your commandments
and to walk in the glorious liberty
given us by your Son, Jesus Christ.
The Collect of the Word:
O God, giver of life and health,
whose Son Jesus Christ has called us to hunger and thirst for justice,
refresh us with your grace,
that we may not be weary in well-doing,
for the sake of him who meets all our needs,
Jesus Christ our Saviour;
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
The Post-Communion Prayer:
Strengthen for service, Lord,
the hands that holy things have taken;
may the ears which have heard your word
be deaf to clamour and dispute;
may the tongues which have sung your praise be free from deceit;
may the eyes which have seen the tokens of your love
shine with the light of hope;
and may the bodies which have been fed with your body
be refreshed with the fullness of your life;
glory to you for ever.
Suggested Hymns:
Genesis 32: 22-31:
418, Here, O my Lord, I see thee face to face
226, It is a thing most wonderful
592 , Love that wilt not let me go
Psalm 17: 1-7, 16:
635, Lord, be my guardian and my guide
620, O Lord, hear my prayer
Isaiah 55: 1-5:
646, Glorious things of thee are spoken
576, I heard the voice of Jesus say
557, Rock of ages, cleft for me
448, The trumpets sound, the angels sing
Psalm 145: 8-9, 15-22:
42, Good is the Lord, our heavenly King
365, Praise to the Lord, the almighty, the King of creation
Romans 9: 1-5:
303, Lord of the Church, we pray for our renewing
545, Sing of Eve and sing of Adam
323, The God of Abraham praise
Matthew 14: 13-21:
379, Break thou the bread of life
39, For the fruits of his creation
647, Guide me, O thou great Jehovah
428, Let us break bread together, we are one
435, O God unseen, yet ever near
Some forward planning:
The Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel) has been offering recorded sermons as a Sunday resource for parishes throughout these islands.
The next recorded sermon from USPG will be available for Sunday 9 August (Trinity IX), and is being recorded by the Canon Patrick Comerford, who is a Trustee of USPG.
The Gospel passage (Matthew 14: 22-33) that Sunday recounts Christ’s calming of the storm. On what will be the 75th anniversary of the bombing of Nagasaki – which was home to one of the largest and oldest Christian communities in East Asia – Patrick asks, ‘Where do we find calm in the storms of the world today?’
USPG, one of the oldest Anglican mission agencies, sends out these sermons on the Thursday prior to the Sunday involved.
You can order this sermon for your church or parish by emailing Gwen Mtambirwa, USPG Mission Engagement Co-ordinator, gwenm@uspg.org.uk. In the email, include the name of your church (if it is for a church service), the time of the service, and if you have one, attach a high-resolution photograph of your church attached to your email as a jpeg.
Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicised Edition copyright © 1989, 1995, National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. http://nrsvbibles.org
The hymns suggestions are provided in Sing to the Word (2000), edited by Bishop Edward Darling. The hymn numbers refer to the Church of Ireland’s Church Hymnal (5th edition, Oxford: OUP, 2000)
Material from the Book of Common Prayer is copyright © 2004, Representative Body of the Church of Ireland.
