The most obvious Christological element in Job is that of the innocent sufferer.1 Through Job’s complaints about his plight we see many of his statements as antithetical to how Christ responded to and accepted His suffering but we also see that both Job and Christ do not deserve the suffering that they undergo.2 In God’s response to Job we come to understand that Job’s understanding of God is incomplete, and God’s reasons for Job’s suffering derive from His wisdom and purposes but are not revealed to Job. Christ on the other hand, understands God’s wisdom and purposes that lead to His suffering and, although He asks God to “[r]emove this cup from me”, He is willing to undergo this suffering to achieve the will of His Father.3 The primary reason for Job’s confusion is that he knows that he has done nothing to deserve the suffering that he is experiencing as seen in his response to Elihu’s urge to repent.4 Christ also knows that He has done nothing to deserve His suffering but through His trust and understanding of the will of His Father He knows that His faultlessness is what necessitates His suffering for the sake of humanity. We also see in Job’s complaints that He has been abandoned by those around him^5^, in the same way that Christ was abandoned by those closest to Him during His suffering^6^.
1) Longman, Tremper III. An Introduction to the Old Testament : Second Edition. Vol. 2nd ed. ; AER ed. Grand Rapids, Mich: Zondervan Academic, 2009. 235
2) Waltke, Bruce K., and Charles Yu. An Old Testament Theology : An Exegetical, Canonical, and Thematic Approach. Vol. 1st ed. Grand Rapids, Mich: Zondervan Academic, 2007. 938
3) Mark 14:36 ESV
4) Waltke, 938
5) Job 6:15
6) Mark 14:66-72
Bibliography
Longman, Tremper III. An Introduction to the Old Testament : Second Edition. Vol. 2nd ed. ; AER ed. Grand Rapids, Mich: Zondervan Academic, 2009.
Waltke, Bruce K., and Charles Yu. An Old Testament Theology : An Exegetical, Canonical, and Thematic Approach. Vol. 1st ed. Grand Rapids, Mich: Zondervan Academic, 2007.