Years ago in college I wrestled a gold medalist. That match confirmed I should not give up my pursuit of being a pastor. I had a double helping of humble pie, yet it was an eye-opening experience.
My younger brother Andrew wrestled against a much more difficult opponent than the gold medalist with whom I grappled. He wrestled the world famous "Victor the Bear."
Victor not only appeared on the Johnny Carson show, Donahue and Ed Sullivan, but he wrestled at county fairs facing over 20,000 opponents. This 7 foot 700 pound bear, whose heyday was in the 1970's, had only a few draws (ties) and allegedly only three defeats.
Victor was known to have pinned Lee Marvin, Clint Eastwood, and Dick Butkus of the Chicago Bears as well as a host of all star wrestlers. Victor once wrestled the most villainous of wrestlers in All Star Wrestling Rowdy Roddy Piper. Mr. Piper had to pay the piper as Victor ripped Piper's pants off leaving the chagrined wrestler in need of a fig leaf.
My brother Andy rode Brahman bulls on the rodeo circuit for five years and said that wrestling Victor was more daunting than any of his rodeo bull bucking experiences. Just before Andy's match with Victor, a giant human wrestler locked up with the massive bear. The human Goliath was pinned and injured seriously. Andy's prayer life quickened.
Andy had two strategies in mind when wrestling Victor. One, he could do as one professional football player did, namely, run around the ring the whole time and hope to wear Victor out. Two, he could run straight at Victor, jump in his arms and attempt a sleeping hold to put the lights out on the big brown bear. This latter plan is where he took his stand.
Blessedly, Victor was declawed, defanged, and muzzled. Normally Victor's match lasted a minute or less and then he pinned his opponent. His pre-match ritual was to sit on a stool in the corner and wolf down bottles of Coca-Cola. He could drink a bottle of coke in about a second. He was known also to have been given a mix some of his pre-flight drinks of bourbon whiskey followed by the coke. My guess it was to slow him down a bit but there was another effect that came as a result of this concoction. My brother would find this out the hard way.
The bell rang. Andy ran at Victor jumping into his ursine arms. He then applied a sleeper hold on Victor. Not easy. Bears don't have shoulders. Victor was woozy, breathing hard. Andy thought he had found the formula to subdue this giant. Then, with the heavy breathing, Andy felt the effects of the bourbon and coke Victor had imbibed. Victor's breath was so bad Andy could not hold the sleeper grip. He let go and from there the wobbly Victor and exhausted Andy held each other to a draw.
As strange as this match was it was far from the strangest wrestling match in history. You can read about that one in Genesis 32 when Jesus shows up in humility as God in flesh and wrestles all night long with Jacob. This was a major miracle in its strange own way. The best of wrestlers are winded after eight minutes of rugged grappling. However, Jesus gives the strong Jacob superhuman strength to wrestle all night long. This was excruciatingly painful beyond comprehension. It was a prelude in a strange way to the cross where Jesus wrestled against all the cosmic forces of hell. It is also reminder that our God is the Jacob-Wrestling God--with us and for us (Psalm 46; Genesis 32:24-32).
Jacob on that night realizes that mysteriously he has wrestled with God in veiled form and yet lived (Gen 32:30)! He receives a new name to go along with a Divine blessing from Jesus. That name given to him that night in that match was "Israel"--the Contender! Also, that night Jacob received an injury to his hip where Jesus touched it and Jacob limped from that moment until he was taken to heaven. It was at that moment Jacob realized his loving Opponent could have turned him into toast, but instead, blessed Jacob for all history and all eternity.
As the sun rose that morning, Jesus disappeared. Jacob looked like a beleaguered beaten down old, old man. As his brother Esau came over the hill with four hundred well-armed soldiers, Jacob had to wonder if Esau would now kill him after 20 years for Jacob having had stolen the birthright blessing from their father Isaac. When Esau saw his battered dehydrated brother, he no doubt concluded he had ended up with the better end of things. They embraced, wept, and buried the hatchet from the past. Jesus had blessed Esau with much during those two decades and provided a hedge for Jacob in unexpected ways.
Our whole life is in many ways a joyful struggle. We wrestle against the devil, the world, and our own sinful flesh. Nevertheless, we are more than Conquerors (Victors) through Christ Who loved us (Rom 8:37). Jesus dwells within us to help us in this wrestling match feeding us through His means of grace as we fight the good fight (Rom 8:34; Galatians 2:20; Acts 2:42).
From Victor the Bear to the realization from a cosmic point of view we are more than Victors through Jesus Who loves us (Rom 8:37), we see the strangeness of life. The news of God's infinite love on that strange cross on Mt. Moriah where Jesus' wrestled and defeated life's fiercest foes is the key in life to see we are loved by history's greatest Victor.
