February 16, 2021
Psalm 110:1–4; Job 19:23–27; 1 Timothy 3:14–16
The passage from Job brings to mind a question that I may have raised before. The footnotes in my study bible tell me that these lines are famous in Job because they were used in part of Handel’s Messiah thinking of Jesus.
The trouble is, that in context it seems unlikely that he was thinking that positively of God in general, let alone Jesus. He was just accusing God before this, he’s not in a good place, and generally wants to die.
For me, when I read these verses I also can’t help but see these words jumping off of the page and into my mouth while I think of the Resurrection and future coming of Jesus. So if this isn’t in the original context, what do we do with that? Am I being a bad bible reader?
Some of the earliest Christians and Church Fathers, Irenaeus, Origen, Athanasius, would have been totally comfortable with saying that these verses are talking about the Resurrection of Jesus. Prior to the humanist movements that led in part to the Protestant Reformation, these interpretations were welcome so long as they were consistent with church doctrine and edifying to the hearers.
But I think that these interpretations can in some cases really undermine Scripture’s power, and I want to be a faithful reader of God’s word as best I can. For me, this means that I first want to look at the context within the chapter, then book, then maybe the whole Old Testament, and more often than not, there will be a theme that emerges—a theme that later Jesus takes up and brings to fulfillment.
So whether Job was specifically thinking of Jesus or not, he was crying out for redemption, and God in Jesus has answered our cry.
