Week 3: Job 22-37/Matthew 12-14

Job 22-37

The first day I was struck by this passage from Job 24:
9 "There are those who snatch the orphan child from the breast,
and take as a pledge the infant of the poor.
10 They go about naked, without clothing;
though hungry, they carry the sheaves;
11 between their terraces they press out oil;
they tread the wine presses, but suffer thirst.
12 From the city the dying groan,
and the throat of the wounded cries for help;
yet God pays no attention to their prayer.

How often have we also felt this way when we look at the world and despair of God's love, care, or even existence? The Bible does not flinch from such questions. Instead it takes them head-on. Perhaps you never realized this. It is a part of the blessing of reading the whole Bible that we get to see the many facets that perhaps we were not aware of.

Starting in Chapter 32 we hear another voice, the young man Elihu. He is the only character with a Jewish name, and it is thought that this is a later addition to the text by a writer unhappy with the argument so far. He desires to give an answer to Job's issue, and we perhaps see a ray of hope when he appears on the scene. However, to quote a note from my study Bible: "Impatient with the failure of Job's friends to provide compelling answers to Job, Elihu proceeds to engage Job's ideas directly. His arguments, however, are often similar to those of the three friends."

Elihu gives the same arguments that Job's other friends do. God doesn't punish good people; only bad people are under his wrath. If God doesn't answer you, the problem is with you, and not with God. This is, of course, a common view, even today among people who believe that if you just think positive and do the right thing that good things will happen to you and you will make it through your struggles. In the East, they call it Karma.

In thinking about Job's friends, I try to remind myself about how to be with people who are suffering. It is perhaps easy to blame the person or to try and piece some meaning out of something that is obviously senseless. This week ask yourself how you would have comforted Job and how have you comforted others who were suffering.

Matthew 12-14

Matthew Chapter 12 is Jesus' first great dispute with the Pharisees. Because he heals on the Sabbath and in general is not deferring to their authority, they accuse him of being an agent of Beelzebul, another name for the Devil. Jesus saying about good and evil treasure will come up again in chapter 13. It is interesting to note that Jesus begins speaking in parables after this dispute.

Chapter 13 is the third great discourse in Matthew. We can know this because after it is done we hear again in verse 53, "After Jesus had finished..." which echoes the end of the other parables. There are many famous parables gathered here, the one about the sower and the seed, the mustard seed, the wheat and the tares. All of these are here to uncover the hidden things of the kingdom (v. 35). Only those whose eyes and ears are open to Jesus can understand them.

After we read of Jesus coming into conflict with his home town we hear the story of the end of John the Baptist. The story is also told outside the Bible by the famous historian Josephus and of course has been immortalized in various plays and even an opera by Strauss. Try to read it anew and notice the details that we fill in.

Chapter 14 also contains the only miracle story (other than the Passion and Resurrection) that is found in all 4 gospels: The Feeding of the 5000. It is a story that is central to our understanding of who Jesus is. Notice the context. Jesus, having heard of the death of John, withdraws in a boat to a deserted place by himself (v. 13) to mourn. The crowds follow him, and when he comes ashore he heals the sick. However, they are far from food, and so when the disciples cannot feed them, Jesus multiplies the food, until there is an over-abundance. Finally we have the story of Peter walking on the water and then sinking. We sometimes deride Peter for his lack of faith - but hey, at least he got out of the boat! No one else did!

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