Heel Turn [Proper 24C - Genesis 32:22-31]
The Rt. Rev. Jeremiah Williamson Genesis 32:22-31 Heel Turn Christ Church, Cooperstown Jacob was a heel. It was right there in his name. He was branded a bad guy at birth. It’s not that he was evil, per say, but he did have a history of morally questionable behavior. And it started in the womb. It can be hard to outrun a name. Or overcome a first impression. Jacob struggled with both. Because his name was the first impression. And it stuck. It could have been a cute story of how twins like to stick together. But that is not how his parents, or the Bible, told the birth story. When mom and dad, Rebekah and Isaac, saw Jacob’s little hand gripping the heel of his slightly older brother, they decided that the younger one would always be scheming to supplant the older one. The name Jacob in Hebrew is related to the word for “heel,” and the phrase “one who grasps the...