Between Ruination and Resurrection
Photo credit: Rahib Yaqubov (Pexels)
It can be a bleak place, that space between ruination and resurrection.
Perhaps there is no better first blogpost for “Friend of Job,” seeing as today is the Saturday of Easter weekend, the day between Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday.
The Bible tells of the man Job who experienced a terrible and perplexing suffering. And while readers can see some sense of “resolution” by the end of the Book of Job—though we do well to remember that Job’s initial losses remained losses—we don’t know how long the process lasted. We know from the first chapter that he received all of the news of his household ruin on the same day (1:13-19), but we do not know how much time passed before his body was then covered with painful sores (2:7). Though his friends did come and sit in silent mourning with him for seven days (2:13), we do not know how long Job was alone in his suffering before they arrived.
We do not know how much time passed during the discourses of chapters 3-37, wherein Job’s suffering was multiplied by the harsh words and treatment of his friends. We do not know how long it took for him to finally hear from the LORD—though any time of silence must have felt like an eternity—nor do we know how long it took for those revelations to come. We know that Job eventually lived to 140 years (42:16), but we do not know how long the restoration process took. All told, it’s entirely possible that Job’s experience of ruin lasted for years.
That space between ruination and resurrection may have been the bleakest time for Job. Anyone who watched him could have easily turned it into an opportunity to heap on the disgrace—and they did (e.g. Job 30:1-15). Even his own friends eventually concluded that he was cursed by God, being punished for some wrongdoing (e.g. Job 22:21-30). The space between ruination and resurrection must have been torture, a veritable wasteland of public shame and death to his soul.
We are quick to judge the ruin, whether it be in the lives of others or in our own. We are quick to conclude that, “This must have happened for this reason.” Or, “That person is suffering for that reason.” This is what we do. We always have.
Though Job was truly blameless and upright (Job 1:1, 8; 2:3), he was not sinless. Repentance was still an integral part of his story and his restoration from ruin (Job 42:6).
Only Jesus Christ, the Son of God, was and is without sin and need of repentance. Though He was tempted in every way like us (Hebrews 4:15), He nevertheless knew no sin (2 Corinthians 5:21) and went to His death a sinless and spotless man (1 Peter 1:19). Though much has been written about the unlawful arrest, trial, crucifixion, and death of Jesus of Nazareth, it is still quite difficult to express the ruination experience of the Son of God.
Everything about it appeared to point to His public shame in the eyes of men and God. Like with Job, bystanders could have easily turned it into an opportunity to heap on the disgrace—and they did (e.g. Matthew 27:35-44). The Bible tells us that humanity would look on the Son of God and call Him cursed (Galatians 3:13) and punished by God (Isaiah 53:4). Job felt forsaken by God (Job 19:7-12), but Jesus actually was (Matthew 27:46). And the Lord carried all of this into the grave, into that space between ruination and resurrection, where His enemies appeared to have won, but where He also entrusted Himself to the Father for vindication (1 Peter 2:21-24).
The Son of God understands this bleak space more than anyone, even more than Job. But after the appointed time(s), the literal resurrection of Jesus Christ would infinitely surpass the proverbial one of Job. And if the eventual vindication of Job wasn’t enough of a hope and a caution for us, the vindication of the Son of God should certainly be so.
Whether we need this reminder in how we view the lives of others or in how we view own own, let us be both careful and hopeful. For starters, the Righteous One humbly and willingly suffered and died for us sinners in order to raise us up from our destruction. This is more than enough to ask of us a lifelong humility and hope.
Beyond this, it is always true that we don’t know the whole story—only God does. We certainly don’t want to find ourselves in a position where the resurrection of another means our own disgrace, for it may mean that we have joined in with the punishing voices of Job’s friends and of the Pharisees. And if we find ourselves behaving in this way towards ourselves, even, then it will be all too easy to lose hope. If this is you, take heart in the ruin. Don’t overlook the resurrection on the other side. For God’s people, in one way or another, this resurrection is a certainty.