JESUS ANSWERS JOB

"When a man dies, will he come back to life? [If so,] I would wait all the days of my struggle until my relief comes. (Job 14:14 HCSB)

Vexed and perplexed--Job searches for hope and seemingly can find none. It has been said that a man can live without many things, but he cannot live without hope. Sifting through the remains of his once blissful life, all this suffering man can feel is that he is abandoned in his misery. Where is God? Why doesn't He come?

Looking beyond the vale of tears, Job doesn't see God, just a grave--the blackness filling his mind with a dread futility. "My spirit is broken. My days are extinguished. A graveyard awaits me." (Job 17:1 HCSB)

He thinks about a tree. Job has seen them cut down, an old stump all that remains, apparently lifeless. But, he has seen that, come spring, green shoots push up from the old trunk. In process of time, the tree lives again. But, Job is not a tree. Is there any hope for him?

It isn't just his impending death that concerns him. His children have died. Job wonders if he has looked into their faces for the last time. The pain of that possibility is unbearable. Listen to his pitiful conclusion,

"My days have slipped by;

my plans have been ruined,

even the things dear to my heart.

They turned night into day

and [made] light [seem] near in the face of darkness.

If I await Sheol as my home,

spread out my bed in darkness,

and say to corruption: You are my father,

and to the maggot: My mother or my sister,

where then is my hope?

Who can see [any] hope for me?" (Job 17:11-15 HCSB)

There is hope! We know something that Job did not. There is an answer to Job's question! Jesus said, "I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in Me, even if he dies, will live." (John 11:25 HCSB)

Standing at the graveside of His dear friend Lazarus, looking into the tear-filled eyes of Lazarus' sister, Martha, Jesus hears Job's question wrapped in different phraseology and voiced in a feminine tone. "God, where are You? Why don't You come to help?" That was what Job wondered. Martha had sent word to summon the Healer when her brother became ill. "Jesus where were You? Why didn't You come sooner?"

Martha's theology wasn't incorrect, just incomplete. She thought resurrection was only a future event. Jesus corrected her. Yes, a future event will come at the end of time, but there was more--resurrection was present in a Person! Standing before her was the One who was life itself. Jesus is the Lord of life, death and eternity. He has absolute authority, and to prove it He summons Lazarus--dead for four days--from the tomb with a cry of command, "After He said this, He shouted with a loud voice, 'Lazarus, come out!' " (John 11:43 HCSB)

Lifeless eyes popped open, rigid muscles flexed, empty lungs sucked in air as a still heart began to thump in the chest of a body bound in burial garb. Lazarus lived!

At last, Job had an answer to his question.

Christ came into this world to die for our sins, and rise to justify us before God. A rugged cross, an empty tomb and the blessed assurance is, "Because I live, you will live too." (John 14:19 HCSB)

Hope cannot die!