Job Finishes His Defence

29Job again took up his discourse and said:

31‘I have made a covenant with my eyes;
   how then could I look upon a virgin?
² What would be my portion from God above,
   and my heritage from the Almighty^* on high?
³ Does not calamity befall the unrighteous,
   and disaster the workers of iniquity?
⁴ Does he not see my ways,
   and number all my steps?
⁵ ‘If I have walked with falsehood,
   and my foot has hurried to deceit—
⁶ let me be weighed in a just balance,
   and let God know my integrity!—
⁷ if my step has turned aside from the way,
   and my heart has followed my eyes,
   and if any spot has clung to my hands;
⁸ then let me sow, and another eat;
   and let what grows for me be rooted out.
⁹ ‘If my heart has been enticed by a woman,
   and I have lain in wait at my neighbour’s door;
¹⁰ then let my wife grind for another,
   and let other men kneel over her.
¹¹ For that would be a heinous crime;
   that would be a criminal offence;
¹² for that would be a fire consuming down to Abaddon,
   and it would burn to the root all my harvest.
¹³ ‘If I have rejected the cause of my male or female slaves,
   when they brought a complaint against me;
¹⁴ what then shall I do when God rises up?
   When he makes inquiry, what shall I answer him?
¹⁵ Did not he who made me in the womb make them?
   And did not one fashion us in the womb?
¹⁶ ‘If I have withheld anything that the poor desired,
   or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail,
¹⁷ or have eaten my morsel alone,
   and the orphan has not eaten from it—
¹⁸ for from my youth I reared the orphan^* like a father,
   and from my mother’s womb I guided the widow^*—
¹⁹ if I have seen anyone perish for lack of clothing,
   or a poor person without covering,
²⁰ whose loins have not blessed me,
   and who was not warmed with the fleece of my sheep;
²¹ if I have raised my hand against the orphan,
   because I saw I had supporters at the gate;
²² then let my shoulder blade fall from my shoulder,
   and let my arm be broken from its socket.
²³ For I was in terror of calamity from God,
   and I could not have faced his majesty.

the test of justice is applied to God

Why does the dramatist give Job another speech about his virtues? Is he/she just portraying a kind of self-righteousness? No, the key to this passage is Job’s careful recording of his behaviour towards those weaker, less fortunate or with fewer rights than himself. he has treated them with strict equality and kindness.

Job is saying that if this behaviour is required from a good man, why should it not be required of God?

This is a profound standard of judgement for believers. God may be more than human in wisdom and virtue but he cannot be less. If the justice and compassion of God are not greater than human justice and compassion, what reason is there to worship him? To worship the sheer power of God might be a wise precaution but it could never express real devotion. All too often the “gods” worshipped by human beings have been inferior in goodness to the best of humanity.

And if a scripture teaches that God has acted in a way which is inferior to humanity, it’s time that scripture was labled, “This is NOT the word of God.”

7 When the Lord thy God shall bring thee into the land whither thou goest to possess it, and hath cast out many nations before thee, the Hittites, and the Girgashites, and the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and mightier than thou;

² And when the Lord thy God shall deliver them before thee; thou shalt smite them, and utterly destroy them; thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor shew mercy unto them:

John 11:17-29

Jesus the Resurrection and the Life

17 When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus^* had already been in the tomb for four days. ¹⁸Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, some two miles^* away, ¹⁹and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them about their brother. ²⁰When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, while Mary stayed at home. ²¹Martha said to Jesus, ‘Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. ²²But even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask of him.’ ²³Jesus said to her, ‘Your brother will rise again.’ ²⁴Martha said to him, ‘I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.’ ²⁵Jesus said to her, ‘I am the resurrection and the life.^* Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, ²⁶and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?’ ²⁷She said to him, ‘Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Messiah,^* the Son of God, the one coming into the world.’ <!– 28 –>

Jesus Weeps

28 When she had said this, she went back and called her sister Mary, and told her privately, ‘The Teacher is here and is calling for you.’ ²⁹And when she heard it, she got up quickly and went to him. 

resurrection and life

Religious people are familiar with sacred texts which purport to reveal the truth of God, just as they know of devotional and meditative practice which assists the worshipper to experience the presence of God. In the passage above, Jesus expresses the claim which distinguishes Chrisatianity from all such religion: the heart of what human beings desire, that is, life which conquers death, is  what Christianity offers, and it is to be found in Jesus alone, in his divine humanity: “I am the resurrection and the life.” And this is not held out as a doctrine to be accepted but as a gift to be trusted. The salvation towards which Job reached out in the old drama -“I know that my redeemer lives and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth; and though worms destroy this body yet in my flesh shall I see God”- is declared as reality in Jesus. In him the pure goodness of God is made available to those who are bowed down by the sorrows of life.

 

This is not a sectarian claim as if John’s gospel were ruling all other religions null and void; it is a strong recognition of the uniqueness of Christian faith: this is what it offers and this-trust in Jesus- is how it is to be obtained.