God lets Abraham win the argument over how many righteous people need to be in the city in order to save it. God lets Jacob prevail in the wrestling match. God lets Moses win the discussion over whether to destroy the people in the wilderness. Our Lord takes the position of the disciples in the talk with the Canaanite woman concerning what is fed to the children and not to the “dogs.” Then Jesus lets the woman win the argument.
God sends his Messiah to free his people from the oppressors, and then it looks as though those colonizers actually win, and they execute the Messiah.
We look to the divine throne at the end of the Bible and we expect to see a victorious lion, but instead we see a lamb, who seems to have been killed.
What is going on here? God is God, but it sometimes looks as though he allows himself to lose. Mothers and fathers and lovers can understand this sometimes…