Job the Righteous Sufferer

The Biblical narrative contains numerous examples of ‘righteous sufferers’—men who suffer not as a result of their own sin, but because of and to some extent for the benefit of others—Joseph, Moses, Elijah, Jeremiah, etc.

The most extreme OT example of a righteous sufferer, however, is surely Job.

Job wasn’t merely a good man; he was the most upright man on earth (Job 1.8). Job wasn’t merely a rich man; he was the richest man in the east (1.3). And Job didn’t merely come upon hard times; he lost everything, his integrity excepted.

As such, Job is a remarkable picture and anticipation of Jesus, the righteous sufferer par excellence—a man who wasn’t merely upright but morally perfect, a man who, though rich, became poor for the sake of his people, a man who was failed and abandoned by his friends and brothers, a man who laid aside his throne and reputation, and who, unlike Job, did so voluntarily.

The parallels, however, run much deeper. Below we’ll consider just two.

The first concerns Job’s battle with Satan. Contra the opinion of Job’s friends, Job suffered not because he was a sinner, but precisely because he was righteous. It was God who first drew Satan’s attention to Job, which he did because he was pleased with Job’s life. “Have you considered my servant Job”, he asked Satan, “how there is none like him on the earth?”. Immediately afterwards, Job found himself in Satan’s cross-hairs. And Jesus’ experiences were the same. As Jesus began his earthly ministry, a voice came from heaven, declaring, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased” (Matt. 3.17). Immediately afterwards, Jesus was led into the wilderness in order to be tempted by the devil (Matt. 4.1). And, just like Job, Jesus overcame Satan’s temptations.

Satan seems unable to grasp the notion of genuine loyalty to God—of a love which perseveres both in sickness and in health. He assumes every man has his price. (“Stretch out your hand and smite his bone and flesh, and he will curse you to your face!”) Yet, in the lives of Job and Jesus, Satan is shown otherwise, and God is thus glorified.

A second parallel between Job and Jesus concerns the Messianic character of their lives. When God draws Satan’s attention to Job, he doesn’t simply say, “Have you considered a man named Job who lives in Uz”? Rather, he refers to Job as “my servant” (1.8), and does likewise every other time he refers to Job (2.3, 42.7, 42.8 x 3).

God’s words should remind us of another righteous sufferer whom he consistently refers to as “my servant”—the sufferer of Isaiah 53.

Indeed, Job has many things in common with Isaiah’s Messiah. Consider the V-shaped trajectory of Isaiah’s prophecy. At its outset, we find the Messiah (like Job) “high and lifted up” (52.13). In the very next verse, we find him marred beyond recognition (52.14), just as Job’s trials make him unrecognisable to his friends (2.12). And, at the climax of Isaiah’s prophecy, we find the Messiah—again like Job—restored and able to “see his children/seed” (53.10).

Of particular note are the specific details of Job and Jesus’ restoration.

At the close of the book of Job, an unusual event occurs. God tells Job’s friends they have spoken wrongly of him and need to ask Job to pray for them. Why? My suggestion is as follows. Job’s friends have been miserable comforters to him. They can’t now simply go their way, confess their sins in private, and leave Job to pick up the pieces of his life. They must seek forgiveness, and they must do so through Job, which is a highly significant detail. The very person whom Job’s friends had deemed a secret sinner and accursed by God is the one whom God has appointed as their means of reconciliation.

As such, the confession of Isaiah 53’s converts can rightly be put on the lips of Job’s friends. Job is a righteous man, blessed by God, and yet they have esteemed him smitten by God and afflicted (53.3–4). Although Job has done no violence, it has been the will of the LORD to crush him (53.10). And Job now has to make intercession for them, the transgressors (53.12), which is what he does. Importantly, however, Job starts to pray for his friends before he has been restored, i.e., while he is still in the midst of his affliction (42.10).¹

The first words uttered to Job by his friends—‘Behold, you have instructed many others,…but now disaster has come upon you, and you are dismayed!’ (4.3–5)—can thus be compared to those uttered by Jesus’ onlookers, viz. ‘He saved others; he cannot save himself!’ (Matt. 27.42). Meanwhile, the last words uttered in the book of Job can be compared to some of Jesus’ most famous last words: ‘Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do’.

1. The sense of 42.10 may be ‘The LORD restored the fortunes of Job even as he prayed (בְּהִתְפַּלְלוֹ) for his friends’, which would serve to emphasise the causal connection between the two events.