An Outcast Amongst Outcasts

But now they laugh at me, men who are younger than I, whose fathers I would have disdained to set with the dogs of my flock. What could I gain from the strength of their hands, men whose vigor is gone? Through want and hard hunger they gnaw the dry ground by night in waste and desolation; they pick saltwort and the leaves of bushes, and the roots of the broom tree for their food. They are driven out from human company; they shout after them as after a thief. In the gullies of the torrents they must dwell, in holes of the earth and of the rocks. Among the bushes they bray; under the nettles they huddle together. A senseless, a nameless brood, they have been whipped out of the land.
Job 30:1–8
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An Outcast Amongst Outcasts
Job weaves a vivid tapestry of his current situation.  Once esteemed above all, he now sits in ash and sackcloth outside the city, rejected even by those at the very bottom rung of societies ladder. In a complete reversal of fortunes Job finds himself at a loss to explain his condition. He mourns. To believe we would handle it any differently is to fool ourselves. We lament minor inconveniences when they come our way. Too much traffic, the boss asks us to work late, our favorite ice cream is sold out.  We have a hard time dealing with true struggle and strife, because for most of us living in this country, we rarely experience it, certainly not at Job’s level. However, no matter the situation we find ourselves in, we are to always remember that there was One who had it even worse, and I am not speaking of Job.  Christ Jesus, came down from heaven, put aside His divine attribute for a while, and became flesh.  Jesus did not come into this world in a palace laid on silk sheets with all the privilege of the ruling class. Instead, He was born in a stable, laid in a manger, and lived a life most would consider poor.  And as an adult He was forsaken by His community, His friends, even His own family rejected Him for a while. He was seen as an outcast who dined with the irredeemable.  And in the end the world crucified Him for it.  Yet through it all He never gave up on His people, He never gave up on us.  So now we are privileged to also suffer for His sake (Matt 5:21). For we have been made heirs to His kingdom (Romans 8:17) and are no longer outcast but honored as the firstborn.  For in His resurrection Christ has secured our pardon and given us life eternal.