Grace Evangelical-Lutheran: Job 19,19-27. Judica

Wednesday, March 24, 2021

Job 19,19-27. Judica

Job 19,19-27 2021

Judica 028

Benedict of Nursia, Patron of Europe, Abbot at Monte Cassino, ✠ 547

21. März 2021

1. O Lord God, Heavenly Father, Your dear Son, our Redeemer Christ Jesus said: „Whoever remains in My word will never see death.“ Pour out Your Holy Spirit into our hearts that Your Son’s Word may come to us and that we may hear it, hold it and commit ourselves to it with our whole heart, and in the midst of death find comfort so that we will never see eternal death. Amen. (Veit Dietrich)

2. »All my intimate friends abhor me, and those whom I loved have turned against me. My bones stick to my skin and to my flesh, and I have escaped by the skin of my teeth. Have mercy on me, have mercy on me, O you my friends, for the hand of God has touched me! Why do you, like God, pursue me? Why are you not satisfied with my flesh? “O that my words were written! O that they were inscribed in a book! O that with an iron pen and lead they were engraved in the rock forever! For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last He will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God, whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another. My heart faints within me!«

3. Job’s lament later became a lament and prophecy of what the Christ would endure: »My friends abhor Me and have turned against Me.« During Holy Week, or Maundy Thursday, Judas Iscariot betrayed Jesus to the Jewish religious authorities. When they arrested Jesus, the other 11 apostles fled and deserted Jesus out of fear for their lives. »My bones stick to My skin and flesh« aptly depicts what a crucified man looks like hanging from a cross. The Suffering Servant passages in Isaiah also describe the traumatic appearance of the crucified Christ: »He was pierced for our transgressions; He was crushed for our iniquities; upon Him was the chastisement that brought us peace and with His wounds we are healed« (Isaiah 53,5).

4. Throughout the book that bears his name, Job cries to Yahweh to judge him and vindicate him. Job pleads his innocene of any sin that would merit the severe punishment he has endured at the hand, and by the will, of Yahweh. Job’s cry is the cry of all who suffer and endure tribulation: vindicate me, O Lord, and save me! To the afflicted, it seems as if God has abandoned them. How many have thought this during the past year of pandemic? How many have suffered, lost friends and family, endure hardship and loss? Job’s words strike home for us: »How long will I be tormented and broken in pieces?« (Job 19,2). How long will Yahweh kindle His wrath against me and count me as His adversary (Job 19,11)? Likewise Jesus cried from the cross: »My God, My God, why have You forsakeen Me?« (Matthew 27,46)

5. Throughout his tribulations and sufferings, Job did not know the reason why he was afflicted but he nevertheless remained steadfast in his trust in Yahweh. He did not sin or charge God with wrong (Job 1,22). In his sighing, Job cried out to Yahweh to draw near to him and redeem him (Job 7,19.21). James tells us in his epistle: »We consider those blessed who remain steadfast. You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is very compassionate and merciful« (James 5,11).

6. We see Yahweh’s compassion and mercy in Jesus Christ, His Son. Paul reminded the Corinthian Christians that we preach Christ crucified, for in that preaching we see God’s love, mercy and compassion. Jesus also taught us that »there is no greater love than that a man lay down his life for his friends« (John 15,13). Job’s cry for vindication is ultimately revealed in Jesus on the cross. God bearing the sin of the world, suffering and dying is His vindication of His fallen creation.

7. Job reminds us that God’s vindication does not conclude at death but in the resurrection. Job believed in the resurrection of the dead, when God ultimately undoes the curse imposed upon fallen humanity. People suffer; and sometimes that suffering is not resolved upon this temporal earth. The resurrection teaches that on the last day all unresolved suffering will be resolved in the eternal life with God.

8. Job proclaims: »I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last He will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God.« Jesus fulfills this with His resurrection, and Paul proclaims: »For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures« (1. Corinthians 15,3-4). Paul says this is the cornerstone of the apostolic proclamation of the gospel. Since Christ is the first fruits of the resurrection, in Him we all shall be made alive (1. Corinthians 15,20.22). With the resurrection, death is swallowed up in victory (1. Corinthians 15,54). Victory over death means victory over suffering, tribulations and sickness; the present fallen world will be restored to its created purity that God had originally made it. With the resurrection, Job is restored, all the saints of God are restored and we who believe in Christ will be restored. We confess with Job: »I know that You, O Yahweh, can do all things, and that no purpose of Yours can be thwarted« (Job 42,1-2). Amen.

11. Let us pray. O Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of Man; You gave Your life as a ransom for all people, so that at the resurrection You will raise us up and we will see You face-to-face. Amen.

To God alone be the Glory

Soli Deo Gloria

✠

All Scriptural quotations are translations done by The Rev. Peter A. Bauernfeind using the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia, 4. Edition © 1990 by the Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart, and the Novum Testamentum Graece, Nestle-Aland 28. Revised Edition © 2012 by Deutsch Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart.

Grace Evangelical-Lutheran

Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church

Wednesday, March 24, 2021

Job 19,19-27. Judica

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