Who is this?

[Scott]

I am teaching adult Sunday School and this is a question I am going to ask the class this Sunday. It is a guess who question. Can anyone figure out my riddle? What person does this describe?

* He is a man
* An angel announces his birth to his mother before he was even conceived
* His mother responds with praise at the news
* His birth is miraculous
* He is betrayed to his enemies by one he loves for silver
* He is humiliated before his death
* He is blinded before his death
* The Lord forsakes him at the end of his life
* He achieves more with his death than with his life
* He saves his people

[Edited on 2-18-2005 by Scott]

 

[VirginiaHuguenot]

Samson!

 

[Scott]

Yes, who else from the NT?

 

[ANT]

Originally posted by VirginiaHuguenot
Samson!

It sounds like Jesus in the NT, except for these 2 points ...

* He is blinded before his death
* He achieves more with his death than with his life

 

[Scott]

He was blindfolded at one point (when the Romans mocked and beat him).

And, it was by His death on the cross that he triumphed over the powers of the Devil. His life alone did not achieve our salvation. It was the cross.

 

[VirginiaHuguenot]

Ah, it was the "blinded" that threw me....very interesting parallel.

 

[fredtgreco]

There is one galring difference:

Samson was in that situation as a result of his sin, whereas Christ was not.

 

[TimV]

At first I was thinking of John the Baptist, but the last couple don't really apply. Think about how many do, though.

 

[ANT]

Originally posted by Scott
He was blindfolded at one point (when the Romans mocked and beat him).

I just do not remember reading this, could you refresh my memory as to which verses say this.

Originally posted by Scott
And, it was by His death on the cross that he triumphed over the powers of the Devil. His life alone did not achieve our salvation. It was the cross.

I was only thinking that His life was as equally needed as His death, so He could fulfill the law in our place. His life lived out (basically who He was) was the reason why it was possible for His death to triumph over the powers of the devil. It wasn't that there was more achieved by His death, His life & death were 2 different parts serving the same purpose, which was to do the will of God.

I hope I worded my thoughts clearly. Sometimes I have a problem articulating things I want to say. Would you agree with me?

[Edited on 2-18-2005 by ANT]

 

[Scott]

"Samson was in that situation as a result of his sin, whereas Christ was not."

Without a doubt. Samson's many flaws should cause us to long for the greater savior, Jesus. That is the difference between a shadow and the reality.

 

[Scott]

Anthony: His life certainyl was necessary. Still, He could have lived forever and never have achieved what He did on the cross. Our redemption was not accomplished until the cross.

 

[Scott]

Mark 14:65: "They all condemned him as worthy of death. Then some began to spit at him; they blindfolded him, struck him with their fists, and said, “Prophesy!” And the guards took him and beat him."

 

[ANT]

Originally posted by ANT

Originally posted by Scott
He was blindfolded at one point (when the Romans mocked and beat him).

I just do not remember reading this, could you refresh my memory as to which verses say this.

Sorry, I remember now. It took me a couple minutes to think of it.

 

[Scott]

"At first I was thinking of John the Baptist, but the last couple don't really apply. Think about how many do, though."

Definitely. John and Samson are similar in many ways.

Also, the birth narrative of Samson is similar to many other OT birth stories. Think of how many stories have all or nearly all of the elements: (1) a barren woman, (2) who receives an announcement from a godly messenger that she will bear a child, (3) she does bear a child and the child is a savior, and (4) the mother responds in praise.

These include (1) Sarah and Isaac, (2) Hannah and Samuel, (3) Rebekah and Jacob, (4) Rachel and Joseph, (5) Elizabeth and John the Baptist, (6) Manoah’s wife and Samson, and (6) Mary and Jesus.

Sometimes point the annunciation is not from an angel but from a holy person, such as Eli. And the order of praise is not always the same. For example, Hannah praises after the birth, whereas Mary and Manoah's wife praise after the annunciation. This is even thought Hannah's song is most similar to Mary's magnificat.

 

[ANT]

Originally posted by Scott
Anthony: His life certainyl was necessary. Still, He could have lived forever and never have achieved what He did on the cross. Our redemption was not accomplished until the cross.

I only had a problem with the use of the words ... that He achieved more with His death than with His life. I think they were both equally needed.

 

[Scott]

The point of the riddle in the class is to demonstrate typology in a fairly straightforward way. If you condense the elements I listed into a brief story, it is easy to see that the rough outline of Samson and Jesus are the same. They, of course, differ in detail and scope much in the way a shadow is both similar to and different from the reality.

You could even say, I going going to give you the story of Samson in brief and read those elements. Then, I am going to give you the story of Jesus in brief and then list those elements. They are the same core.

 

[Scott]

Anthony: You should understand Judges 16:30 as a prophecy of Jesus: "And Samson said, "Let me die with the Philistines." Then he bowed with all his strength, and the house fell upon the lords and upon all the people who were in it. So the dead whom he killed at his death were more than those whom he had killed during his life."

See Col. 1: "19For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 20and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross."

The cross accomplished the redemption. Of course His life was necessary too.

 

[Scott]

I may remove the blindless bit for the class. If I stumped even Andrew and Anthony then the story won't serve its purpose (people will focus on that).

 

[Scott]

Anthony: Would it make you more comfortable to phrase "He destroyed more enemies in his death than in his life?"

Enemies of Jesus understood to be the Devil, principalities, and powers.

 

[ANT]

Originally posted by Scott
Anthony: You should understand Judges 16:30 as a prophecy of Jesus: "And Samson said, "Let me die with the Philistines." Then he bowed with all his strength, and the house fell upon the lords and upon all the people who were in it. So the dead whom he killed at his death were more than those whom he had killed during his life."

See Col. 1: "19For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 20and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross."

The cross accomplished the redemption. Of course His life was necessary too.

Yes I do understand. Like I said in the above post, I just had trouble with words used. Sorry, I didn't mean to sound like I was picking it apart. I'm so big on semantics, sometimes I run on about little things.

Please accept my apologies if I sounded to critical.

 

[ANT]

Originally posted by Scott
Anthony: Would it make you more comfortable to phrase "He destroyed more enemies in his death than in his life?"

Enemies of Jesus understood to be the Devil, principalities, and powers.

That does sound better to me.

Thank you for being so gracious.

 

[Scott]

"Ah, it was the "blinded" that threw me....very interesting parallel."

I do think it is important for everyone to realize that I stumped Andrew. :bigsmile:

 

[Abd_Yesua_alMasih]

Oh I did something like this for Jesus in High School. I got all the facts no one knows around here like how he asked his followers to go out and buy swords... etc.. at the end I said something like 'Oh and he is the Son of God..." it was about then people realised it was Jesus.

 

[VirginiaHuguenot]

Originally posted by Scott
"Ah, it was the "blinded" that threw me....very interesting parallel."

I do think it is important for everyone to realize that I stumped Andrew. :bigsmile:

Ha ha!