This week’s Lectionary texts can be found here.
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In our texts today, we are confronted with the reality of unjust suffering, Christ’s presence in and victory through suffering, and the messiness of human suffering in divorce and infant mortality. We need a few cleansing breaths as we hear the Word of the Lord this week.
In our Old Testament passage (Job 1:1; 2:1-10) we are told that Job is “blameless” and “upright;” and yet he still faces suffering at the hand of the Accuser. Though this text disturbs us, it is also strangely comforting as it reminds us that one’s portion of suffering is not equal to one’s sin or lack thereof. In short, life is complicated.
There are times in life where we find ourselves scraping with a potsherd among the ashes. The worldwide pandemic in which we find ourselves has left us with significant grief. Though Job will struggle in the coming chapters, here in his suffering, he does turn away from God. This passage points us to the place where Job will come to the end of himself and his response is prayer.
Our Hebrews text (Hebrews 1:1-4; 2:5-12) extols the supremacy of the Son who is the ultimate expression and reflection of God’s glory. He is greater than anything, including the angels. In Christ, by his death and resurrection, the human vocation to steward and rule the world has been restored. The twist? This has all been accomplished “because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.”
This is the God who stands in solidarity with our suffering. Like Job, Jesus suffered unjustly. As the author says, this “is fitting.” It is who God is! Because of his suffering, his solidarity, his self-emptying, we have been saved, we radiate with God’s glory, we are holy (set apart) for God’s purpose, and we are part of the family of God.
In our gospel text (Mark 10:2-16), the Pharisees try to trap Jesus with a politically explosive question about divorce. Jesus upholds God’s design for marriage. Though Israel has always been hardhearted, Jesus is leading into a new kingdom, a new humanity. Living in this new reality, let us uphold God’s proper intention for marriage.
This does not mean that there are no possible times where divorce is permissible (see Matthew 19 and 1 Corinthians 7) as we still live in a world where we do not see the kingdom in fullness. But, in Christ, we are invited to embrace the “one-fleshness” that happens in marriage.
Divorce is painful. For those who have walked through the pain of divorce, our God sits with us in the pain.
In fact, God always sits with the suffering and the vulnerable and our posture towards those who are the hurting, the outcast, and the vulnerable in society is reflective of our openness to the kingdom of God.
*Our Deep Dive this week features a more in-depth look at the book of Job, the outline of Hebrews, and more about the divorce laws in first century Judaism. We feature the work of Tertullian on marriage as well as a few illustrations from politics and sports. You can sign up for this in-depth (9+ page weekly brief) here.