Sermon - Lent Midweek 5, 2024 - Job 1:6-22

Job and His Friends, Ilya Repin, 1869

As Christ Suffered, So Shall We

1. Job Suffered

1. He suffered because He was blameless and upright, feared God, and turned away from evil

2. His suffering was good because  through it God proved Job’s faith

2. Jesus suffered

1. He had not sinned, and was not punished for His sins, yet He suffered

2. His suffering was good because it results in our salvation

3. We suffer

1. We are sinners, and we suffer, but not necessarily because of specific sins

2. This suffering is good because it strengthens us and prepares us for our salvation

Why do people suffer? People tend to think of it like karma. If you do bad things, bad things happen to you. If you do good things, good things happen to you. To some extent this is true, there are consequences for your actions. If you’re a criminal, the consequence may be that you go to jail. However, life doesn’t always work so simply. It’s not a one to one correlation, where bad things happen to you because you did bad things, or you’re successful because you did good things.

This is what Job’s friends didn’t understand. When Job suffered and his friends tried to comfort him, they ended up condemning him! They concluded that he was suffering so much because He was being punished for having done certain evil sins, and if he hadn’t sinned then he wouldn’t be suffering so much. Some friends, huh!

But the scripture explains that Job was not suffering because he had committed any particular sin, although he was a sinner like the rest of mankind. He was “blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil.” He regularly offered up sacrifices on behalf of his children: “For Job said, “It may be that my children have sinned, and cursed God in their hearts.” Thus Job did continually.” Job was a righteous and faith filled man, he was a sinner, but he hadn’t done any particularly grievous sins.

On one occasion when angels were meeting with God, the devil was there too, having returned from tormenting people upon the earth. God brought up Job in the conversation so that Satan might bring him much suffering: “Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil?” Satan claimed that Job was only so faithful because God had built up a hedge of protection around Job and made his life really easy. So, to prove Job’s faithfulness to the Lord, God handed Job over to Satan’s torments. Job suffered immensely, lost his children and property in the blink of an eye, and later he lost even his good health, covered in sores from foot to head. Even his wife treated him with disdain.

Job’s response? “Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head and fell on the ground and worshiped. And he said, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.” In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong.” When his wife urged him to “curse God and die.” Job replied: “Shall we not receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil?” Job remained faithful in the midst of his great sufferings. 

It wasn’t just Satan who sent Job sorrows, but God was ultimately responsible for all of the suffering that Job had to endure. This suffering wasn’t because Job was being punished for his sins, rather it was meant to strengthen Job and prove his faithfulness. In the end Job was blessed more abundantly on earth than he had at first. His suffering from God proved his faith, it was not a punishment. Thus, his suffering was actually good.

So too with Christ. We’ve been pondering the suffering of Jesus the past few weeks of lent. Jesus, unlike Job, wasn’t a sinner at all. Jesus is absolutely perfect. He committed no sin. Yet, like Job, the Father handed Jesus over to the power of darkness, and Satan greatly tormented Jesus. Jesus gladly suffered, not as a sinner, but as the sacrifice for us in our stead. Jesus’ suffering was good, not so much because it proved or strengthened His faith, but because by His wounds we are healed, through His suffering we are saved. Jesus’ suffering was good because it results in our salvation.

Like Jesus, we too will suffer. “Because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you… I have said these things to you to keep you from falling away.” Like Job we are not perfect, but when we suffer on account of our faith, we are taught to rejoice. “Rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when His glory is revealed. If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you.”

It seems crazy to rejoice in suffering, it seems crazy to bless the Lord when bad things happen to us, nevertheless God teaches that our suffering in innocence is a privilege wherein we suffer with Christ. We don’t deserve to suffer with Jesus, we are not worthy to share the cross of Christ, and yet, the Lord lays heavy burdens upon us in order to strengthen and prove our faith. This is a good thing because it prepares us for the greater weight of glory which is yet to come in the resurrection.

This is meant for our comfort and consolation in the midst of sorrows. “Let those who suffer according to God’s will entrust their souls to a faithful creator while doing good.” Whether the Lord sends us gladness or sadness, the Lord is good and He is seeking for Himself children to fill His everlasting home. If we have committed particular sins and we suffer for them, God desires our suffering to produce repentance and faith. If we suffer for having committed no particular sin, then God desires our suffering to produce stronger faith in us. So when you suffer, do not despair, instead worship the Lord saying: “Blessed be the name of the Lord.”