Most of us live most of our lives between the two extremes illustrated in our readings today. On the one hand we have Job in the depths of despair, a state that looks much like major depression to our eyes, a demon in both ancient and modern thought. On the other we have the disciples pursuing Jesus, telling him how everyone is looking for him, caught up in the excitement of finding their savior who is healing everyone who needs it.
So here we have the account of how Jesus comes to save and heal and put Job’s (and our) depression behind him. Or do we?
Yes Jesus came to save, and yes he healed. But it’s not quite a simple as that, is it? We know that many sicknesses and demons still exist. Many people 2500 years later could still repeat Job’s words as their own. Jesus didn’t change the world in the sense that there was no more suffering or sickness, regardless of the soaring prophesies of Isaiah.
This conflict between the continuing reality of demons and disease, and our faith in Jesus is set out clearly in our readings. A naive belief that Jesus will heal anyone and anything cannot stand the test of most life experience – and such a belief can tragically lead to loss of faith, as it seems the promised reward is withheld or denied. So what is our faith? Where do we stand in a world still surrounded by demons and suffering?
This question is older than the Book of Job. And that Book doesn’t really provide an answer. Why is Job suffering? Job himself argues vehemently that he’s done nothing to deserve it, and won’t accept the arguments of his “friends” that there has to be some reason and in some way it must be his fault. We know that those who suffer from depression, or other mental illness, and other physical illness are not being punished for some failing or mistake, of theirs or their parents.
The hardest thing about the Book of Job is not simply that it doesn’t provide an answer, but it tells us there is no answer. We can’t understand God. God is so much bigger that there comes a point where we have to accept our limitations and accept that there are things we cannot know:
Then Job answered the LORD and said: I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be hindered. I have spoken but did not understand; things too marvelous for me, which I did not know. Therefore I disown what I have said, and repent in dust and ashes. (Job 42:1-3, 6)
What then of Jesus? He healed everyone around. Doesn’t he promise that we will be OK, that the Father loves us. Yes, the Father loves us, but not everyone gets healed, even in Jesus’ time. In between the rushing around, Jesus tells his disciples what he is doing – he’s not there to heal, he’s come to preach – that is his purpose. Jesus was on earth to show us the reality of God, God in his fullness. And many people were healed, but that was, if you like, a byproduct.
Jesus didn’t come to heal – if he had then he was obviously unsuccessful, given the amount of sickness still around. He came as the presence of God in the world – a God who is beyond our understanding, a God who helps us in the way that He decides is right for us, not how we think we should be treated. Job’s journey is not a journey of understanding, it is a journey of humility, to acceptance that we will not always understand. Jesus recognizes the disciples’ enthusiasm and gets back on the road with them. But he is already telling them it’s not about the healing. They will gradually learn that it is in fact a journey to death. And beyond.