Jesus and Jacob

This is the fifth of my Christmas devotionals focused on the pre-incarnate appearances of Christ in the Old Testament.  Previous devotionals focus on Adam, Abraham, Moses, and Joshua.  

Jesus and Jacob

When we think of Jesus appearing in the Old Testament, just about the last thing we expect him to do is wrestle.  But that is just what he did with the patriarch Jacob!  Jacob was in the proverbial place "between a rock and a hard spot."  He had just cheated his father-in-law Laban out of his best herds.  Running from him, Jacob now faced his brother Esau, who he earlier had cheated of the family's covenant blessing.  Jacob was in a quite a fix, all because of his conniving ways.