[One-Verse Meditation]

Judges 14:14 (NIV) “He replied, ‘Out of the eater, something to eat; out of the strong, something sweet.’ For three days they could not give the answer.”

[Meditation]

Today’s passage is difficult to understand with common sense. Samson kills a lion with his bare hands, takes honey from its carcass to eat, and then makes a riddle about it. Of course, no one could understand its meaning. Why is this strange and unfriendly story recorded in the Bible?

In fact, this strange riddle contains the deep mystery of the gospel of the cross. The riddle is a paradox: ‘Out of the eater (death) came something to eat (life).’ It is the image of Samson, an imperfect model of a savior, striking down the power of death (the lion) and taking life (honey) from within it.

Of course, there is a crucial difference. Samson destroyed the death that attacked him from the outside, but our Lord personally descended into the place of sin and death and became its prey. For the sake of those enslaved to death, Jesus, who knew no sin, became sin for us and was killed. And through that atonement, He gave eternal life to sinners. This is the confession of the Apostle Paul:

“God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21).

When we think about it, the lions that suddenly rush upon our lives—the suffering, failure, and shadows of death that frighten us—are actually the very places of salvation where God has prepared the honey of life. This is the glorious paradox that the world cannot understand, which only the saints can enjoy.

[Prayer]

Lord, You have made the gospel of the cross, which the world can neither understand nor welcome, a song of joy and thanksgiving for us. What great and amazing grace this is. Let this new day be one lived by this grace. Amen.
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[Daily Reading]

Judges 14:5-20