RBWords

[Job 19:21-27 and Luke 10:1-12.  Note:  These are the scriptures assigned for the Roman calendar in most parishes.  Dominicans (and, of course, Franciscans!) regard this as a feast and the scriptures are different:  Sirach 50:1b, 2-7 or Galatians 6:14-18 and Matthew 11:25-30.]

      But as for me, I know that my Vindicator lives, and that he will at last stand forth upon the dust; whom I myself shall see: my own eyes, not another's, shall behold him, and from my flesh I shall see God; my inmost being is consumed with longing. [Job]

     These are probably the most famous words in the Book of Job.  Modern translations take some of the beauty away in the interest of precision.  The older translations - I'm thinking of the King James, which is featured in Handel's MESSIAH - would say, "I know that my Redeemer liveth..."    Scripture scholars warn us against reading our belief in resurrection into Job's confidence.  Job simply expresses from his desolation that somehow God will vindicate him.  Job's confidence in his innocence is what connects him in faith to God.  Nevertheless, Christian tradition has often found Job's words comforting in this regard even if Job didn't mean them in our way.

     When a human person is reduced to bare survival, as we often see in scenes of destruction like the recent earthquake/tsunami in Indonesia, a kind of numbness can set in.  Hope seems elusive.  Battles take place over a scrap of food.  Faith may be the only thing a person can cling to.  On another level, the destruction that a severe illness can wreak on a human body can also reduce a person to mere survival and confront him or her with faith (or a lack of it).  For the Christian, ultimate triumph over death in resurrection is our "vindication."  St. Paul's words in 1 Cor. 15:55 ring out:  "Death, where is your victory?"  

     Although Job could never have imagined it, he has been "vindicated" in the millions of people who have read his story and reflected on it for centuries!  AMEN