“He is not a mere mortal like me that I might answer him,
that we might confront each other in court.
If only there were someone to mediate between us,
someone to bring us together,
someone to remove God’s rod from me,
so that his terror would frighten me no more.
Then I would speak up without fear of him,
but as it now stands with me, I cannot.
The book of Job can be a challenge to read. Most of it is a dialog between Job and three of his friends, trying to make sense of what had happened to Job. All of them agreed that God was behind Job’s suffering. But they disagreed as to why. His friends maintained that Job must have done something wrong, and he was being punished for it. But Job steadfastly maintained his innocence.
Job recognized his insignificance when compared to God. And his inability to turn God away from inflicting suffering on him. While later, Job seeks to confront God, here he understands that such confrontation would be useless. It would be like a mosquito trying to convince a human not to smash it.
And then Job expressed his longing for a mediator. Someone who could speak to God on his behalf and resolve his suffering. Someone who could bring Job back into a loving relationship with God. Something Job was unable to do for himself.
Job’s desire for a mediator is a need shared by all humanity. And humanity’s need for someone to mediate with God on our behalf has been answered.
In 1 Timothy 2:5, Paul tells us there is a mediator between God and man. And that mediator is Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all people. Jesus did what we could not do for ourselves, bridging the great gap between a holy God and sinful humanity. Because of Jesus’ mediatorial work on our behalf, we can be restored to a loving relationship with our creator.
