Jesus and Jacob - Part 1

When we celebrate Christmas, it is important to remind ourselves of the identity and character of Jesus, the one whose birthday we celebrate.

The Gospel of Matthew begins with the genealogy of Jesus – His earthly family tree (Matthew 1:1-17). If you were to look at the list, you will find a name near the start. I am thinking of Jacob, Abraham’s grandson.

You may remember that the name Israel was given to Jacob by God. That name has since become the corporate name for the Jewish people, and the modern state of Israel derives its name from him. This man Jacob lived about 2,000 years before Jesus, who was born as a Jew, an Israelite. In doing so, Jesus came as a new Jacob, to begin a fresh and reordered Kingdom of God, a new people who lived according to a new covenant.

While Jacob is a ‘type’ of Jesus, that is, a biblical character who represents Jesus in some way, we can immediately note the deep differences between Jacob and Jesus.

Jacob was a man who was plagued by anxiety and a deceptive

nature. His sinful nature was evident even at birth. He was the twin brother of Esau, and at their birth, it is recorded that soon after Esau was born, “his brother came out, with his hand grasping Esau’s heel; so he was named Jacob” (Genesis 25:26, emphasis added). That name had a double meaning: literally, it meant ‘he grasps the heel’ but figuratively it meant ‘he deceives’.

What an appropriate name, for this same Jacob later deceived his own father Isaac into giving him the blessing of the firstborn that was meant for Esau. When Esau found out, Isaac sadly told the inconsolable Esau: “Your brother came deceitfully and took your blessing” (Genesis 27:35).

Jacob’s grasping nature was evident for a large part of his life; it led him to all kinds of problems and heartaches.

Jesus is the total opposite of Jacob. Of Him it is said: “Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature

God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness” (Philippians 2:5-7, emphasis added). While Jacob was born grasping, Jesus was born not grasping; Jesus instead emptied and gave Himself to His Father’s will and purpose.

The giving hands of Jesus were later nailed to the cross, and His

bleeding hands became the eternal symbol of the generous giving

nature of God. They were totally empty of all the things that Jacob and his descendants (and all their earthly cousins) had grasped in their deceived and deceiving lives.

Jesus, the perfect Israelite, showed hands that gave away everything

out of sacrificial love – the only hands unstained by the sinful and

destructive habit of grasping. While Jacob stole his brother’s blessings, Jesus came to take away the curse that hangs over every human head. “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: ‘Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree’” (Galatians 3:13).

There are also other differences between Jesus and Jacob that we

need to take note of.

The deceived father Isaac gave Jacob his blessings, saying: “May

nations serve you and peoples bow down to you. Be lord over your

brothers, and may the sons of your mother bow down to you” (Genesis 27:29, emphasis added). This man Jacob would be made a lord and many would bow before him.

Consider this:

Study the way Jacob and Jesus are compared and contrasted. Jesus

came to earth not grasping – unlike Jacob. What is it that makes humankind a race of graspers? Are you more like Jacob or Jesus?

Excerpted from Apprenticed to Jesus by Robert Solomon. © 2023 by Robert Solomon. Used with permission. All rights reserved.