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“A Jewish “Hippie” wrestles with God”

That night Jacob got up and took his two wives, his two maidservants and his eleven sons and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. After he had sent them across the stream, he sent over all his possessions. So Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him till daybreak. When the man saw that he could not overpower him, he touched the socket of Jacob’s hip so that his hip was wrenched as he wrestled with the man. Then the man said, “Let me go, for it is daybreak.” But Jacob replied, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.” The man asked him, “What is your name?” “Jacob,” he answered. Then the man said, “Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with men and have overcome.”Jacob said, “Please tell me your name.” But he replied, “Why do you ask my name?” Then he blessed him there. So Jacob called the place Peniel, saying, “It is because I saw God face to face, and yet my life was spared.”

[Genesis 32:22-30 NIV]

Fred writes:

Washington, D.C., The Mall

A sea of people gathered in protest. Music and marijuana meandering in the air. There I was talking to Christians about Jesus - the last thing I came there to do. In light of my Jewish background, it seemed all the more strange.

Raised in a Jewish family, I had many of the good things life can offer: loving parents, nice home, my own car at sixteen, on my own at eighteen. Life was going great lots of friends and lots of fun doing what I wanted to do.

During college, things began to change. Philosophy, psychology, mysticism and meditation began to shake up my shallow view of life. I began asking questions: “What is life about? Who or what is behind it all? Why am I here?” Tough questions for which I had no answers.

Then something unbelievable happened. My best friend told me he found Jesus. My response - laughter and mockery. Being raised Jewish, I considered Christianity the problem and certainly not the answer. But my friend’s life I could not laugh off. He was different: a new person. He had a sparkle in his eye and a radiance in his face. He projected life and joy. Even his behavior and morals changed. Love for God and love for people became his new passion. His changed life created a conflict within me. I wanted answers to my questions, but I didn’t want his answer.

May Day 1971, at an anti-war rally in Washington D.C., my conflict ended. I met other people who had the same sparkle in their eye and radiance in their face. They had come to know Jesus and said that I could too. I resisted, arguing that I was Jewish and Christianity was not the answer. To my surprise, they agreed. “It’s knowing the Messiah and receiving atonement (forgiveness) through him. It’s not converting to Christianity but becoming a completed Jew!”

I had never heard of such a thing but when encouraged to ask God in prayer if these things could be true, I did. Alone in my room one night I, like Jacob, wrestled with God. Eventually I prayed, “God, if Jesus is Messiah, please reveal this to me.”

What happened? Amazingly, He did. His light pierced my darkness. My inward eyes were opened and I discovered Him whom the Scriptures speak of Yeshua (Jesus’ Hebrew name) the Messiah, Lord and Lover of life!

The results? A transformation of life I never thought possible. Torah (the Hebrew Bible) became alive to me. Spiritually, my life was changed. Intellectually, my questions were answered. Emotionally, my soul was filled with love overflowing. I encountered the Messiah and hope of Israel. He for whom my people have waited, I discovered had come. Incredible but true. And now many years later I continue to follow Him - the Way, the Truth and the Life, who has come that all may have life and life in its fullness!

Perhaps you have asked similar questions about life. Perhaps, like me, you have been untouched or unimpressed with your religious experience and looked for answers elsewhere. The good news is that there is an answer. More than a religion, you can have a personal relationship with the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. More than services, you can have a life-giving Source. More than principles, you can receive power to live a new life!

Yeshua said, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink.” Do you thirst for an answer? If you do, He says, “Come to Me, I am the answer.”

Have you ever considered whether Yeshua is the answer? Have you ever thought about why one so perfect and pure was crucified? There is only one answer: it was for you, out of love for you.

Ask Yeshua if he is the answer. You have everything to gain in this life and more in the world to come. “For God so loved the world that he gave Messiah that whoever believes in him would not perish but have life eternal.”