“For the cross was the greatest trick; the biggest grift of all time,” Justin proclaimed on Sunday after explaining the familiar story of Jacob tricking his father, Issac, into giving him the blessing that was intended for the eldest son, Esau in Genesis 27.

I was always frustrated by Jacob and his trickery - how easily he seemed to cloak his arms with goat’s skin and cook up a good meal to maliciously tell his father he was his favorite son.  Who swindles an old, seemingly dying, blind man, let alone their own father?  And Rebecca, Issac’s wife, is the mastermind behind the grift, instructing her son of how to pull the whole thing off, and even encouraging him when he remains unsure of the plan’s possible success.

But Justin shared the great irony of the story and the true grifter in the story.  All along, Issac and Rebecca knew the prophecy: “The older will serve the younger.” (Genesis 25:23) But Issac loved his son Esau more because of the meals he cooked and served to his father.  Issac knew that the Lord was going to perform another great reversal, turning culture on its head, and raising up the younger son against tradition and customs.  But Issac was so attached to the idea of keeping with culture and choosing the bowl of wild game over the untraditional way of blessing that he fought against God’s words.  He attempted the grift, calling for his oldest son over and over before giving his blessing, trying to circumvent the prophecy.  Who can grift God?

Maybe I’ve been so frustrated with Jacob because I’m so much like Issac, attempting to pull the grift over on God because I’m so attached to my way of thinking.  I’m caught up in my expectations, those expectations that have been shaped by my culture and how my world might view me, that I ignore the possible bigger picture the Lord is working through His unconventional ways. And I’m rarely like Rebecca, scheming to carry out what the Lord has foretold, and then sacrificing my son, never seeing him again, to ensure he carries on the blessing and is part of the promise to Abraham.

Justin finished the sermon pointing back to the Gospel.  God lavishly extends his grace and mercy to us through the biggest grift of all time - the death of Christ on the cross.  What seems so unfair, just like Jacob placing the goat’s skin on his arms, is actually God’s grace in our lives through unconventional means and great sacrifice.

~Emily Spare