In God’s Kingdom, the innocent pay for the guilty. Only then is restoration possible. Jesus modeled this for us when He offered Himself on the Cross on our behalf.

One of the most beautiful and powerful stories of reconciliation occurred between Esau and Jacob. Esau is the man whose birthright was stolen by Jacob’s act of deception. Esau traded a bowl of stew for his birthright. Realizing his deception had put his life in jeopardy, Jacob fled from Esau to a distant land, where for 20 years, Jacob had to work for Laban to wed his two wives, have children, and gain massive flocks of livestock. After those 20 years came to an end, Jacob returned home, where he would meet the wrath of Esau.

Esau assembled a group of 400 men to confront Jacob on his return. As Esau and his men approached Jacob, he did not realize that Jacob had planned an extravagant gift for Esau. Jacob separated his gifts into different groups to arrive one after the other before Esau. Jacob and his wives would be positioned to arrive last.

“He gave these instructions to the men leading the first group: When my brother, Esau, meets you, he will ask, ‘Whose servants are you? Where are you going? Who owns these animals?’ You must reply, ‘They belong to your servant Jacob, but they are a gift for his master Esau. Look, he is coming right behind us.’” (Genesis 32:17-18). The moment of truth had finally arrived.

“As Jacob approached Esau, he bowed to the ground seven times before him. Then Esau ran to meet him and embraced him, threw his arms around his neck, and kissed him. And they both wept” (33: 3-4). 

At first, Esau refused Jacob’s expansive gift, “But Jacob insisted, ‘No, if I have found favor with you, please accept this gift from me. And what a relief to see your friendly smile. It is like seeing the face of God!” (vs. 10). When reconciliation finally takes place, the heart of God will be revealed to both parties.

While time does not heal all wounds, healing can take place when we’ve had time to process what led up to a separation and allow God the ability to change our hearts. 

During their 20 years of separation, Esau must have regretted selling his birthright for a bowl of stew. At the same time, Jacob understood the depths of his deception and realized he had to make things right with his brother.

God does use time to change our hearts when our guilt or our need to punish our offender is put aside. If both parties come to that place of understanding, God will have His way in their hearts, and a relationship can be restored. After the process of restoration is complete, both parties will do what Esau and Jacob did when they finally met: “They both wept.” Their weeping was joyful because they allowed the Lord to have His way in their hearts.