THEOSISJohn Chrysostom
When Christ declared, ‘It would have been better for this man not to have been born’ (Matthew 26:24), He highlighted the dreadful fate that awaits him. Similarly, Job laments, ‘If I had not been born, or had been born, I should have died immediately, so that death should accompany birth.’ In this, he does not critique God's providence but rather illustrates the extent of his suffering. It is noteworthy that Job expresses all his anguish directed at the day of his birth, carefully avoiding crossing that boundary, consistently referring to ‘day’ and ‘night’ to signify that he would not have endured his ongoing trials, even if it meant forfeiting the rewards for his faithfulness.
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What do you say? Did you not assert, ‘If we have received good from the Lord, will we not also endure adversity?’ What has occurred? Have you suddenly shifted your perspective and cursed the day of your arrival in the presence of those listening? Do you not find it remarkable that Job could say such things, while I might express thoughts that contradict his remarkable hospitality and profound humanity? Perhaps he did not intend to utter those words; rather, in righteously enduring his afflictions, he earnestly prayed that he might never have been born. Christ spoke of Judas with the words, ‘It would have been better for this man not to have been born’ (Matt. 26:24). Likewise, Job reflects on his existence asking, ‘Why was I born? It would have been better for me not to have been born.’