The two meals that are depicted in these passages speak a powerful message of God's sovereignty. Esau is the firstborn child of Isaac, but through deception he loses the blessing of his father (Which is fitting since he stupidly lost his birthright over a bowl of soup before that). Jacob uses a shared me to lie to his father and cheat his brother out of a blessing...yet he is the one who becomes the Father of Israel (He actually becomes Israel himself - his name gets changed!) and ancient ancestor of Jesus. Skip forward 2,000 years and Jesus is sitting down at a meal with his disciples...a meal he shares with someone he knows is going to betray him. He breaks bread with the disciples who will abandon him and the traitor who will turn him in to the Jewish authorities. God eventually uses their cowardice to cement their commitment to the way of Jesus when he is resurrected and he gives them a second chance - almost every one of them is violently killed because of their unshakable faith in Jesus. God uses Judas' betrayal as the catalyst that will end with Jesus' death on the cross...a sacrifice that was willingly made to offer salvation to all who believe. We see over and over that God uses the imperfect...the rejects...the cowards...the betrayers to bring about His will. In our weakness, God is strong.
Fast forward another 2,000 years to now. You may have failed in some areas...you may have betrayed Jesus...turned your back on him...you may be scared of truly following Jesus because of the cost. Remember that you are in good company! You are a faith descendant of Jacob the trickster and Peter the coward. Use these passages as a reminder that it is true - you aren't good enough to change the world...you aren't smart enough to know what to do...you aren't ready to fight for the faith - but God is. We are made righteous through his sacrifice. We are made wise through His Spirit. We are given the strength to do things we never thought we could. Let God's strength show clearly in light of your weakness...trust your life to Him and see what happens!
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