The Lessons: Job 3:1-26; Acts 9:10-19a; John 6:41-51

Job 2-3: It will turn out that Job’s friends are at their best in chapter 2: “They sat with him on the ground seven days and seven nights, and no one spoke a word to him, for they saw that his suffering was very great.” We might wonder where we ought to mirror the friends’ behavior. Job, in turn, begins with a lengthy curse. We might wonder: what groups today might join their voices to Job’s.

Back in 1952 J. B. Phillips gave us Your God is too small. The book’s title might serve as the heading for the Acts and John readings, Ananias assuming that God is unaware of Saul’s doings, Jesus’ audience assuming that they have all the information they need about Jesus. Happily, they articulate their assumptions, and the assumptions can be dealt with. But what happens when our assumptions remain unarticulated?