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Job – Job Is a Type of Christ?
Job is a Type of Jesus?
Job is a forerunner of Jesus in dealing with suffering and Satan. In both:
1. The innocent offered sacrifice for the guilty.
2. The “victim” is blameless though suffering.
3. The trials are met with triumph.
4. The friends turn on their friend by falsely accusing.
5. God held responsible those who falsely accused.
6. The end result is blessing for the victor by being restored to a place of honor.
After the original victory wherein Job, “in all this did not sin” (1:22; 2:10), Job succumbs as all would. All, that is, except Jesus. Job’s sin did not cause his suffering but his suffering caused Job’s sin. He challenges God’s just way of running the world, wanting to sue God in court for wrongful actions against him (Job 9). Today we would call this, “defamation of character”. That is because Job had the same flawed theology as his friends in thinking only the unrighteous suffer.
In the end, Job repents in ashes (Job 42:6). His final victory finally comes through submitting to God’s sovereignty as shown in his acknowledgment that he spoke on things he shouldn’t have (Job 42:3,6).
Jesus never needed to repent. However, His continual and final victory likewise comes through submitting to God’s sovereignty, “even to death on a cross” (Phil.
. His death leads us to repent. In His death he speaks well.
. His death leads us to repent. In His death he speaks well.God’s answer to Job in asking, “Where were you?” (Job 38:4) sounds cold, dismissive, and authoritative. He isn’t, as it might appear, telling Job to “mind your own business”. Instead, as I see it, God is telling Job that all the answers to the problem of evil are beyond his understanding. If we mere humans can’t understand all the physical workings within this world, how can we understand all the spiritual machinations? Can anyone truly explain why salmon must instinctually return to their spawning source even dying in the journey?
Many philosophers and theologians have attempted theodicies. One tradition even warns against the attempt. Each will fail no matter how close they get to the truth because no explanation can contain all the complexities anymore than any theory of atonement is sufficient. Our inadequacy inhibits us too because “where were you” applies to us also.
Having said that, just as Job is a forerunner of Jesus, the gospel tells us something important about evil and suffering. It doesn’t explain why God allows evil. The gospel explains what God is doing to conquer evil. That answer is Jesus.
Jesus participated in this evil world being attacked by Satan much like Job. The two most prominent scenes of Satan tempting man (and even God?) is in Job and the gospel. Unlike His forerunner, Jesus triumphed over all His suffering.
Our familiarity with the gospel removes the surprise at another difference. Unlike Job, who God said Satan couldn’t kill, the protagonist in the gospel narrative dies. Satan can kill God’s Son. Only through the most evil act possible must evil to be defeated through the holiest act possible. Job doesn’t teach us that lesson. Jesus does. The answer is always Jesus.
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