Job 14:3-4. "And dost thou open thy eyes upon such a man and bring him into judgment with thee? Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? There is not one." Job is stating the problem original sin without the benefit of knowing Jesus. Job is saying to God that man is irredeemably broken; even the best of men is "full of trouble" (Job 14:1) and is doomed to die. So why, then, does God bother to test and try man? Why would He bring man into judgment with Him when we all know what that judgment must be? Job finishes this verse by asking God to just "look away from him and desist, that he may enjoy, like a hireling, his day." (Job 14:6).

It is difficult for any of us to fully appreciate Job's suffering because we do know about Jesus. No matter how trying my life gets, no matter how much pain and suffering I have to endure, I know that if I endure it rightly, I am participating in the redemptive suffering of Christ. I know that there is hope. I know, unlike Job, that I can stand before the judgment seat of God and, even though I am unclean, I can be made clean through the sacrifice of Christ - I can wash my robes in the blood of the Lamb. All of this that I know makes my suffering bearable, and even something to be appreciated. But Job had none of that knowledge, because Jesus had not yet come. So Job can only rely on what God has revealed of Himself so far in his time.

Job is a very good man, but even he is the heir of original sin. He knows this, and in the midst of his terrible suffering, he wonders what the point is. His suffering can't make him clean, so why is God allowing it? He was already a good and upright man, why doesn't God just leave him alone? When God "answers" Job, it is not with an actual explanation (how could God possibly explain Jesus and what He would accomplish to Job?), but rather with a series of questions that serve to remind Job of who God is, how powerful He is, and what He has done. God's questions show Job how all-powerful God is; they show that God is in charge of everything in the universe, from the smallest grain of sand to the largest sun, from the beginning of time to its end. Job, properly chastened, ends up admitting that there are things too wonderful for him which he did not know. (Job 42:3). Even though God will not explain His plan in full to Job, Job is left with the understanding that there is a plan, and if God is allowing suffering, there is a reason for that. "I know that thou canst do all things, and that no purpose of thine can be thwarted", he proclaims. (Job 42:2). God's questions leave Job with hope.

This is such a beautiful reminder that God loves us each so much, that Jesus came for everyone, and that God is outside of time. Jesus' sacrifice will reach back to Job (and even his obnoxious friends). Job's suffering, rightly borne, can and will be merged with the suffering of Christ for the benefit of Job and everyone else. While God will not explain this to Job, and Job would have no way of understanding it if He did, God does spend the time with Job that Job needs, and asks the questions Job needs to hear and contemplate, in order for Job to continue his life with hope.

Job was extraordinary, both in his goodness and his ability to suffer well. We, who have the benefit of knowing the reason for the hope, really have no excuse for not bearing ours well, too. God has given us everything we need to do so. We have Christ's example on how to do it, and His promise of what it will attain.