Discourse on Job – Misunderstanding Suffering 

From May to October of 28 CE, Jesus and his apostles stayed at the Zebedee home in Bethsaida, a little village on the northern shore of the Sea of Galilee. Camped nearby were hundreds of Jesus’ followers and aspiring evangelists who attended daily classes presented by the twelve apostles.

During these five months, it was Jesus' habit to meet with individuals who wished to talk with him two evenings each week. These private meetings took place in a secluded corner of Zebedee’s garden. One evening, the apostle John, one of the sons of Father Zebedee, asked Jesus why so many innocent people suffered from so many diseases and experienced so many afflictions.

Jesus replied, paraphrased in modern English: "Recall the story of Job, who was blessed with children, wealth, dignity, position, health, and everything else that men value. According to traditional belief, this was evidence of divine favor. But this is not so. Prosperity does not indicate God’s favor. God loves the poor just as much as the rich; God does not love or favor one person over another.

"There came a time when Job lost everything through no fault of his own and questioned why this happened to him. While people do eventually reap what they sow, Job was not the cause of his suffering. Affliction can happen to anyone. How one reacts to it can bring more suffering or it can bring peace."Job’s first reaction was to try to find the reason for his losses. He went to three unwise friends, one of whom told Job he must have done something to deserve this punishment. Another friend said Job’s children sinned and that caused the loss. A third friend suggested Job was not a righteous man or he would not have to suffer this way."

"Job went away sad but then returned to his friends, asking once more why he suffered such devastating losses. And they repeated their bad advice, this time accusing him of wickedness and holding him in contempt. Job became disgusted and decided to appeal to God, forgetting his friends’ advice and his own beliefs about the reasons for suffering. Failure to receive help from men drove Job to God. Then came a great struggle between faith and doubt. Finally, Job began to see the light of life; his tortured soul ascended to new heights of hope and courage; he realized he may suffer on and even die, but his enlightened soul cried out: "My Vindicator lives!"

"Job’s faith achieved a great victory, for he was given a vision of God. After understanding that God does not punish people, Job ascended to the superhuman plane of moral understanding and spiritual insight. When the suffering servant obtains a vision of God, there follows a peace that passes all human understanding."

Jesus then summed up his answer to John’s question, saying:

"Job longed for an understanding God; he hungered to commune with a divine Being who knows and understands that the just must often suffer in innocence. I came here to live such a life and to comfort all those who must be called upon to endure the afflictions of Job.

"Job was right when he challenged the doctrine that God afflicts children to punish their parents. Job admitted that God is righteous, but he longed for some soul-satisfying revelation of the personal character of the Eternal. And that is our mission on earth. No more shall suffering mortals be denied the comfort of knowing the love of God and understanding the mercy of the Father in heaven. While the speech of God spoken from the whirlwind was a majestic concept for the day of its utterance, you have already learned that the Father does not thus reveal himself, but rather that he speaks within the human heart as a still, small voice, saying, ‘This is the way; walk therein.’ Do you not comprehend that God dwells within you, that he has become what you are, and that he may make you what he is?"

Jesus’ reference to God speaking in a whirlwind came from chapters 38-41 of the Bible’s Old Testament book of Job.

Jesus made this final statement to John: "The Father in heaven does not willingly afflict the children of men. Man suffers, first, from the accidents of time and the imperfections of the evil of an immature physical existence. Next, he suffers the inexorable consequences of sin – the transgression of the laws of life and light. And finally, man reaps the harvest of his own iniquitous persistence in rebellion against the righteous rule of heaven on earth. But man’s miseries are not a personal visitation of divine judgment. Man can and will do much to lessen his temporal sufferings. But once and for all, be delivered from the superstition that God afflicts man at the behest of the evil one. Study the Book of Job just to discover how many wrong ideas of God even good men may honestly entertain, and then note how even the painfully afflicted Job found the God of comfort and salvation in spite of such erroneous teachings. At last, his faith pierced the clouds of suffering to discern the light of life pouring forth from the Father as healing mercy and everlasting righteousness."

John pondered these sayings in his heart for many days. His entire afterlife was markedly changed as a result of this conversation with the Master in the garden, and he did much, in later times, to cause the other apostles to change their viewpoints regarding the source, nature, and purpose of commonplace human afflictions.