Christ and Job: Good Friday

On Good Friday, Christians remember Jesus’s death on the Cross.

This event is usually described in terms of the redemption of the individual from sin, but this moment in history is more than simply this. It is a far reaching and deeply influential event. It changes the course of history, and theologically, it connects the deep past with the far future.

The imagery taps into every part of the human experience. So by only talking about Christ’s salvation in terms of sin, it means there is no discussion about how Christians are saved from Death and the works of the Evil One. It restricts discussions about the symbolism of the Cross and how this moment is typologically represented in the Old Testament.

This series will address a small part of this by looking at how Jesus’ death and resurrection can be seen through the eyes of the Book of Job.

The story of Job starts with a Divine bet. In order to prove that Job doesn’t only worship God because He blesses him with material goods, God allows Satan to ruin his life.

This seems very unfair, unless we see this from the other end of the story. Where Job learns a lesson about how he should relate to God, and then God goes on to bless him more than before.

It is similar to the story of Jesus. If we didn’t know that God resurrects Christ on Easter Sunday, then we might think the whole affair was meaninglessly unjust.

When encountering the story of Job, there are several telling connections with the Cross moment.

Both Job and Christ are physically damaged. Job with open sores and boils, and Christ scared with the five wounds and lacerations down His back.

They both never give up. Job is tempted to curse God and die, but he refuses to. Christ endured the Cross, because He saw the ‘joy set before Him’.

Hebrews 12 v 2

Fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

In the Gospel of John, we are told there we four people staying with Jesus as he died.

John 19 v 25-26

Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother, his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to her, “Woman, here is your son,”

There are three Marys, His mother, Mary Magdalene and the wife of Clopas. The following verse implies the young John is the disciple whom Christ loved.

When reflecting on Job’s story, he is ‘comforted’ by three older men and a youngster. At the Cross, this is inverted with men replaced by women, and rather than those with Christ arguing with Him, they are silent.

Even though Job is not crucified, you could imagine Christ may have had the dialogue between Job and his comforters running through His mind. He was a righteous man, who did not deserve to suffer like this. Similarly, Job was a man who lived in a right relationship with God, and yet he suffered too.

The last thing I wish to mention is why John used the phrase ‘The disciple whom he loved‘. There are several thoughts on this, but my favourite is how the Gospel according to St John was used as a training manual for new Christians. So when John uses that phrase, the text is encouraging the new convert to put themselves in that place, standing next to Christ on the Cross.

So like John, let us silently stand before the Creator of the Universe, as he saves humanity from Death, sin and the works of the Evil One.

Have a blessed Good Friday.