For the next few weeks we will put our Job sermons and devotions on hold while I am away on study leave. But this doesn’t mean that we leave the Biblical themes we have been unpacking. Over the coming three Sundays we will have messages from Luke 18, and all of them have links to what we have seen in Job.

First we will look at the parable of the Persistent Widow (Luke 18:1-8). Here we find Jesus encouraging us to never give up asking for justice. How much might this be said of Job, who was steadfast in his crying out to God? Like a man in court (Job 13:33), he longed for true representation and arbitration (Job 9:33). He longed for a witness, a mediator (Job 16:19-20), a redeemer (Job 19:25-27).

Then we will look at the parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector (Luke 18:9-14). In this parable- much like the book of Job- the expected stereotypes of righteousness are turned on their head. Like his friends, it is easy to think that Job is a desperate sinner who thoroughly deserves what he is experiencing. Like the despised tax collectors in Jesus’ day, Job appears like a man with no hope- nothing in his hands to bring to God. How different from an external perspective is the Pharisee? A man of showy obedience, the Pharisee has the outward appearance of righteousness, but ‘his without does not match his within’. We need to remember that the Lord looks at the heart! (1 Samuel 16:7)

Finally, we will look at Jesus’ interaction with the Rich Ruler (Luke 18:18-30). Once again we are challenged by the supposed ‘blessing’ of wealth. For Job, everything was taken from him and he remained faithful. Yet here we find a young man who is otherwise faithful- except for his unwillingness to lose everything to follow Jesus.

My encouragement over the coming weeks is to keep looking for parallels to the glorious gospel themes across God’s glorious Word. There is a sweet unity to the message of the Bible which is a great encouragement as we receive it. I remember well the words of the late evangelist John ‘Chappo’ Chapman who said

“The Bible doesn’t say thousands of different things. It says a few important things thousands of different ways!”