This is Spoken Gospel.

We’re dedicated to seeing
Jesus in all of scripture.

In each episode, we see what’s
happening in a Biblical text,

and how it sheds light
on Jesus and his gospel.

Let’s jump in.

Job is fed up arguing with Eliphaz.

He believes his suffering
will eventually kill him.

And so, he speaks directly to God.

But the way he talks
about God is concerning.

Job accuses God of being
too strict and exacting.

From Job’s perspective, God watches over
him and punishes him without clear reasons.

Earlier in the book, God even acknowledges
that fact: There are no reasons for Job's suffering.

But Job’s friend Bildad doesn’t
like what Job is saying.

God is always just and would
never let the innocent suffer.

And since Job is suffering, he
can't be as innocent as he claims.

Bildad implies that Job is guilty of rejecting God,
which explains his suffering. If Job is truly innocent,
according to Bildad, none of this would be happening.

But Job responds that it’s useless for a mortal
to try to prove his innocence in God’s courtroom.

God is too powerful.

No human can stand
up to his questioning.

And if God commands the earth and stars against his enemies,
what hope does Job have of surviving God’s prosecution?

Job even doubts that God will hear his case
because mortals don’t get to summon deities.

If God wanted, he could just argue circles around Job anyway,
and find a way to condemn him, even in his innocence.

The point is, Job is just a man, and
mortals can’t argue with God and win.

So, Job hopes that an arbiter—an attorney—will
come and allow him to approach God in his

immortal power and make
a case for his innocence.

Job is right to be afraid of bringing his case into
God’s courtroom and hearing God’s arguments.

Even if Job was the most brilliant attorney, God’s
prosecution will always be more compelling.

That’s why Job hopes for an arbiter to present
the case of his innocent suffering before God.

And that arbiter is Jesus.

Like Job, he innocently suffers.

Like Job, Jesus pleads for an
explanation from God for his suffering.

But unlike Job, Jesus has no reason to
fear God’s courtroom or God’s verdicts.

Jesus is not just a mortal
man, he’s God himself.

Jesus is the attorney who can give
innocent Job his day in court.

And the Apostle John says that Jesus doesn’t only
represent innocent clients, but guilty ones as well.

“If anyone does sin, we have an advocate with
the Father—Jesus Christ the Righteous One”.

Job feared entering into the courtroom, but
Jesus boldly argues that we are innocent.

And more than simply arguing our innocence,
Jesus wipes away our sin through his death.

Because of Jesus’ advocacy and his atonement, we don’t
need to be afraid to stand in God’s courtroom anymore.

Like Jesus, we can boldly come before God’s throne and
ask not just for our innocence but for anything we need.

May the Holy Spirit open your eyes to see
God as an immensely powerful Judge.

And may you see Jesus as the one who not only advocates
for our innocence, but makes us innocent by his cross.