The Brother Who Ran to Forgive

The morning after Jacob wrestled with God face to face, his hip hurt so much he could hardly walk. Then he looked up and saw his brother Esau coming, with four hundred men behind him.

Jacob had not seen him in twenty years, not since the day he stole Esau's blessing and ran for his life.

Now here came Esau. (Four hundred men is a lot of people to bring to a hello.)

Esau had already met the present Jacob sent ahead, herd after herd of it, all along the road.

Jacob lined up his family. The two servant women, Zilpah and Bilhah, went in front with their children. Leah and her children came next. Rachel and young Joseph went at the very back, farthest from danger. Then Jacob limped out ahead of them all and bowed down to the ground. He got up, took a few steps, and bowed again. Seven times he bowed, all the way down, on a hip God had knocked out of joint the night before.

And Esau ran.

He ran straight at his brother, threw his arms around Jacob's neck, and kissed him. There in the dirt, in front of four hundred men, the two brothers cried.

When Esau could talk again, he looked past Jacob. "Who are all these people?"

"The children God has kindly given your servant," said Jacob. The families came forward, and each one bowed, right down to Joseph.

"And what about all those animals I kept bumping into?"

"They are so that you will be kind to me, my lord."

"I have plenty, my brother," said Esau. "Keep what is yours."

"No, please!" said Jacob. "Take them. To see your face is like seeing the face of God, now that you have welcomed me."

(Esau took them in the end. It is hard to say no to a brother who will not stop asking.)

Esau wanted them to travel together, but Jacob shook his head. "The children are young, and the lambs are new. If we hurry them even one day, the flocks will die. You go on ahead." So Esau rode home to the hills of Seir. Jacob came on slowly, and in the land of Canaan he built an altar and named it "God, the God of Israel," using the new name God had given him by the river.

Esau's hug was real. But a brother can only forgive what was done to him. And even after that hug, Jacob kept calling himself "your servant" and pressing presents on Esau, as if a welcome had to be paid for.

Long after Jacob was gone, his family was still bringing lambs and goats to God's altar, and still wondering how anyone could ever come close to God.

Then a man told a story about another son on the road home. He had wasted his father's money far away, and he set off for home with his words all ready: "Make me one of your hired servants." While he was still a long way off, his father ran to him, threw his arms around his neck, and kissed him. He never let the boy reach the servant part.

The man telling that story was Jesus. He came to show people what Jacob saw in the dirt that morning: the face of God, running to meet them.