February 28, 2025

Today's Reading: Job 31:1-12, 33-40

Daily Lectionary: Job 31:1-12, 33-40; John 9:24-41

“Let me be weighed in a just balance, and let God know my integrity!” (Job 31:6)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. 

When Christians are confronted with suffering in their lives, they often read the book of Job. After all, Job suffered, and God blessed him. Maybe there’s some secret in there for us. At the end, though, most people are confused. They’re told this is how you deal with suffering. But reading it gave them no clue on how to deal with suffering. What did we just read? We know Job’s friends aren’t supposed to be any help to him. But their words are the same as found in Proverbs.

Rather, Job sounds like the problematic one. Can’t he see that God blesses the good and punishes the evil? Does Job really believe that he has no sin for which to repent? Does Job think that he is on equal footing with God to make statements like these? We come to the conclusion that Job needs to get his act together. Which isn’t what we went looking for. 

Because our lives sometimes look a lot like Job’s. We’re told to repent of doing good. Those who do wrong are prospering all around us while we suffer. We find ourselves paying the price when we do the right thing. The pain we endure feels meaningless. We cry out as Job did and wonder where God’s answer is.

Did you know that everything Job lamented was answered in Jesus? In chapter sixteen, Job laments that he is attacked by enemies on all sides. Jesus conquers all of Job’s enemies, including the devil who is behind them all. In chapter twenty-three, Job wishes that he could find God. Jesus is our God who became flesh and dwelt among us. And through it all, Job laments that the innocent suffer at God’s hand. Jesus, the one innocent man, suffers the wrath of God in order to save us all. He’s crucified, the worst death anyone can possibly imagine because that’s why He came. That's how he saved Job, you, me, and the world. 

The book of Job is about a man who suffers even though he is relatively righteous. The whole Bible is about another man who suffers, even though He has no sin of His own but to save all people. The lesson of Job is that there is no such thing as pointless suffering. The suffering we think is unjust does, in fact, serve God’s purpose.

It isn’t as though our Lord gives you no answer. It’s that the answer is always found in the death and resurrection of Jesus. All of Job’s questions are answered in Jesus. All of our pains, and regrets, and sins, and death, are answered completely in Jesus. For Jesus suffered, and we are given forgiveness, resurrection, and eternal life through Him.

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

God gives me my days of gladness, And I will Trust Him still When He sends me sadness. God is good; His love attends me Day by day Come what may Guides me and defends me. (LSB 756:3)

-Rev. Eli Davis, pastor of St. Paul Lutheran Church in Grants Pass, OR.

Audio Reflections Speaker: Pastor Jonathan Lackey is the pastor at Grace Lutheran Church, Vine Grove, KY.

What makes a church "good?" Come join the fictional family as they test out eight different churches in their brand-new town and answer this question along the way. Will the Real Church Please Stand Up? by Matthew Richard, now available from Concordia Publishing House.