“Well, do you know how to wrestle?”

*Dan is away for a summer sabbatical – a time of rest, rejuvenation and reverence.  Please enjoy one of our favorite Friday Fragments.  This Fragment was initially published on January 27, 2017.

Rowan, our three-year-old grandson, posed the question to Mary as she invited input on plans for the afternoon at our house.

I have many vivid memories of interaction with my grandmother as a child, and I can unequivocally assure you that not only did I never verbalize a question like this, I never conceived of such an idea.

But Rowan’s concept of a grandma is wildly different. It’s engaging and gritty and involved.

And yes, Mary assured Rowan that she knew how. And not only did she know how, she also was willing… to get down on the floor; to engage; to participate in a wrestling match.

The question that Rowan asked had to do with competence and safety and access. It had to do with tangible and visible and practical love.

In so many ways, this is the human dilemma. Fallen, sinful, separated and selfish… we created a gap from God. We distanced ourselves. We revolted.

But God… rich in mercy and love… sent His son. He crossed the great divide. Why?

To wrestle with us.

On the floor. In the ring.

In our brokenness we asked God, “Well, do you know how to wrestle?” Are you safe and secure to grapple with? Are you approachable and real and engaged?

So God sent His son. The wrestler. In the flesh. In the ring.

To wrestle.

No question is unwelcome; no conflict too severe; no sin too egregious.

To wrestle.

As outrageous as it seemed to me to think about a wrestling grandma, how incredibly unthinkable that God sent His son to do the same. In the flesh.

Not a concept to be debated, but a God to be embraced. Not in the classroom, but on the mat.

God in the flesh; in the ring.

Strong and safe. Tender and tough.

“Well, do you know how to wrestle?”

Always and forever…

Jesus.