The Lion Has Been Crossed

Then Samson went down with his father and mother to Timnah.  And behold, a young lion came toward him roaring. Then then the Spirit of the LORD rushed upon him, and although he had nothing in his hand, he tore the lion in pieces as one tears a young goat. Judges 14:5-6

A good friend of mine who has spent much time with the Masai Tribe in Kenya, said, in the past when young males turned 14, to show their courage and manhood they, as a group, would kill a lion.  They were armed only with clubs called Arungu.  One youth would bait the lion, then kneel as it charged.  The rest of the young men would close in with their clubs and kill the beast.  The boy who baited the lion was considered the bravest warrior. Understandably so.

One of the best definitions of courage I’ve found says, “Courage isn’t the absence of fear.  It simply implies that there ought to be a concept that is even bigger than terror inside us.”

Luke tells us in his Gospel that when Jesus faced His time on the cross He was in great distress (Luke 22:44).  The physical agony of crucifixion was certainly part of it, but the sinless only Begotten Son, taking our sins on Himself, would, because of it, for the first time in eternity, be separated from His Heavenly Father (John 17:5, Matthew 27:46). This would be His greatest agony of all.

Christ was obedient to suffer and die that death. It had been decided before the foundation of the world (Philippians 2:8, Revelation 13:8). Fear at the cross and death was followed for a couple of days by the celebration of hell.  But the power of the Devil, that roaring lion, seeking to devour, was destroyed on that third sunrise.  Courage won out in that new dawn, as the color drained from the his face, when he saw the King step into the morning light.

 Ken