Job is a difficult book for Christians to read. We really don't want to identify with Job; it is terrifying to think that something like Job's sufferings might come upon us. I know I think a lot about suffering these days, and part of me wants to say, "Enough already! Think happy thoughts!" I could put on a smile, declare myself blessed, cross my fingers and hope like everything that I have tasted the worst that will come my way in this life. But I'm no fool, and God put the book of Job in the Bible for a reason. He has something to say to His people about suffering and we need to know what it is. So I determined to "gird up my loins like a man" and listen to His instruction.
A lot is said about God by Job and his friends who have come to "comfort" him in his misery, some true, some not true. When the first wave of storms hits Job, he worships, aknowledging that everything good that he has received is from God and that it is God's to take away if He chooses. But as the waves continue to crash down in Job's life, he begins to waver in his confidence. His final appeal goes something like this: "I don’t deserve this! I was once a man of honor, who provided for those less fortunate, for the widows and the orphans. I was a man of justice, honored by young men and old men alike. People listened to me and respected me. Now, men who aren't worthy to take care of my dogs are laughing at me. I have become the subject of their singing and mockery. How is this fair? What have I done to deserve this? God, you owe me an explanation!"
A lot is said about God by Job and his friends who have come to "comfort" him in his misery, some true, some not true. When the first wave of storms hits Job, he worships, aknowledging that everything good that he has received is from God and that it is God's to take away if He chooses. But as the waves continue to crash down in Job's life, he begins to waver in his confidence. His final appeal goes something like this: "I don’t deserve this! I was once a man of honor, who provided for those less fortunate, for the widows and the orphans. I was a man of justice, honored by young men and old men alike. People listened to me and respected me. Now, men who aren't worthy to take care of my dogs are laughing at me. I have become the subject of their singing and mockery. How is this fair? What have I done to deserve this? God, you owe me an explanation!"
As Job laments his miserable condition, I am reminded of another man of honor and reputation who was treated as less than a dog by people infinitely inferior to Him. No matter how far Job has descended in the eyes of his fellow man, it cannot compare with the Son of God, condescending to leave His throne and glory to become a mere man, submitting His infinite power and might to the confines of a human body. Mocked and rejected by men not worthy even to look upon Him, He submitted Himself to imprisonment, beatings, scourging, shameful crucifixion and death, in order to bring glory to the Father by obediently purchasing salvation with His own blood for His people. Compared to the glory of Christ, we are less that the lowest worm, yet He became like one of us in order to save us.
So when I, like Job, am tempted to protest my circumstances, claiming that God is not being fair, that He is not giving me what I deserve, I have to ask myself, does my humiliation exceed the humiliation of the Son of God who gave up His throne in heaven to become a man and die a shameful death on the cross in my place? Have I been treated more unjustly than the Son of God who, though He was fully God and lived in perfect obedience to the Father, was put to death as a blasphemer and law breaker? How can I object to harsh treatment from my fellow man, or to being unjustly accused, when I see my Savior being beaten beyond recognition for my sins against a holy God and going willingly to die upon a cross with my name on it? Just as God’s revelation and reminder to Job of His power, His justice, His sovereignty shut Job’s mouth, the cross of Christ silences me. I should bow my head in humble acknowledgment that God has done the unthinkable for me. He has subjected the only One Man who ever walked blamelessly before Him in perfect, joyful obedience, to a shameful, humiliating, undeserved death on a cross.
The book of Job is not just an ancient story about a man who goes from riches to rags then back to riches. It points us to the future suffering of the Messiah, who exchanged the glory of heaven for a lowly and humble life on earth. Through His death and resurrection, He purchased salvation and glory for His own, then ascended to the eternal glory of His Father's right hand. It teaches us that our suffering is never meaningless because we experience it in the light of Christ's suffering which brought forth the glory of God and the fruit of our salvation.
