The Birth and Youth of Esau and Jacob

19 These are the descendants of Isaac, Abraham’s son: Abraham was the father of Isaac,²⁰and Isaac was forty years old when he married Rebekah, daughter of Bethuel the Aramean of Paddan-aram, sister of Laban the Aramean.²¹Isaac prayed to the Lord for his wife, because she was barren; and the Lord granted his prayer, and his wife Rebekah conceived.²²The children struggled together within her; and she said, ‘If it is to be this way, why do I live?’^* So she went to inquire of the Lord.²³And the Lord said to her,
‘Two nations are in your womb,    and two peoples born of you shall be divided;
one shall be stronger than the other,    the elder shall serve the younger.’
²⁴When her time to give birth was at hand, there were twins in her womb.²⁵The first came out red, all his body like a hairy mantle; so they named him Esau.²⁶Afterwards his brother came out, with his hand gripping Esau’s heel; so he was named Jacob.^* Isaac was sixty years old when she bore them.

27 When the boys grew up, Esau was a skilful hunter, a man of the field, while Jacob was a quiet man, living in tents.²⁸Isaac loved Esau, because he was fond of game; but Rebekah loved Jacob.<!– 29 –>

Esau Sells His Birthright

29 Once when Jacob was cooking a stew, Esau came in from the field, and he was famished.³⁰Esau said to Jacob, ‘Let me eat some of that red stuff, for I am famished!’ (Therefore he was called Edom.^*)³¹Jacob said, ‘First sell me your birthright.’³²Esau said, ‘I am about to die; of what use is a birthright to me?’³³Jacob said, ‘Swear to me first.’^* So he swore to him, and sold his birthright to Jacob.³⁴Then Jacob gave Esau bread and lentil stew, and he ate and drank, and rose and went his way. Thus Esau despised his birthright.

Jacob offers food to Esau

The storytelling motif of the twins who struggle with each other from birth is common amongst many peoples. Here it is used very skilfully to play with the reader’s reaction. At first we prefer Jacob the  quieter man and not so much of a bonehead. But when we realise the cold-hearted self-interest with which Jacob drives a bargain with Esau we feel sorry for the older brother, reckoning that he will always be outwitted by the younger. Still, the storyteller wants his readers to see that, if only for selfish reasons, Jacob values the blessings involved in the birth-right of the elder brother. Esau’s life is in immediate satisfactions and relationships; Jacob’s name mans that he is the “one up” character, the trickster who is one step ahead of his opponent, but crucially this includes a shrewd estimate of the value of God’s favour. We might say that as a complete materialist, Jacob reckons God as one of the material benefits that are available to him.  As the story unfolds we see that the only one who is trickier than Jacob is God who traps him into desiring blessings which are deeper and costlier than he imagines.

John 7:37-52

Rivers of Living Water

37 On the last day of the festival, the great day, while Jesus was standing there, he cried out, ‘Let anyone who is thirsty come to me,³⁸and let the one who believes in me drink. As^* the scripture has said, “Out of the believer’s heart^* shall flow rivers of living water.” ’³⁹Now he said this about the Spirit, which believers in him were to receive; for as yet there was no Spirit,^* because Jesus was not yet glorified.<!– 40 –>

Division among the People

40 When they heard these words, some in the crowd said, ‘This is really the prophet.’⁴¹Others said, ‘This is the Messiah.’^* But some asked, ‘Surely the Messiah^* does not come from Galilee, does he?⁴²Has not the scripture said that the Messiah^* is descended from David and comes from Bethlehem, the village where David lived?’⁴³So there was a division in the crowd because of him.⁴⁴Some of them wanted to arrest him, but no one laid hands on him.

"The Man made of rain" a poem about redemption by Brendan Kennelly

The Jewish Feast of Shelters celebrated Israel’s time in the desert, living in tents and especially remembered Moses striking the rock at God’s command to let fresh water flow for the people. Jesus’ words relate to this story: just as the manna which Moses gave is nothing compared with the bread of life which Jesus gives, so the water which which Moses gave is nothing compared to the living water which Jesus will give-indeed his gift will make the believer a source as well as a recipient of this lifegiving substance, which is the Spirit. The water stands for the life that Jesus shares with God which will also be shared by those who trust in him. The emphasis is on the freshness and vitality of God’s life in Jesus which is offered to all.  I am writing these words in Dundee, Scotland on a winter day of surpassing beauty-snow, sunshine, blue sky, no wind- which seems to challenge all the dullness of what I do and think. It’s like the tree that the poet Philip Larkin saw: “last year is dead, it seems to say,/ begin afresh, afresh, afresh.” John is attributing this challenging vitality to the life of Jesus and his disciples. Even more than Jacob, Jesus has a shrewd eye for where the blessings of life are to be found.