The woman gave birth to a boy and named him Samson. He grew and the LORD blessed him … - Judges 13:24

Today’s Scripture Reading (February 13, 2019): Judges 13

We miss that the Stephen King’s “Green Mile” is essentially a retelling of the story of Jesus, especially the last portion of the life of this Rabbi from Nazareth. Even the hero of the story bears the same initials as Jesus Christ. In the book and movie, his name is John Coffey. And the casting of someone like Michael Clarke Duncan to play the part of John Coffey was also not accidental. Duncan, who stood 6 feet 5 inches (196 cm) and weighed in at 315 pounds (143 kg), was a powerful and imposing figure, a fact that helped him when he was a bouncer at the Chicago clubs earlier in his career. Duncan was not someone that the average person would look at and say “That is someone that I want angry with me.” But in the movie, this powerful individual was actually a gentle soul. Enter Jesus, someone who had the power to heal the sick and raise the dead, and yet openly cried over the death of a friend. And this is a connection that I think Stephen King wants us to make. This idea of a powerful man who is also a gentle soul is something that matches both Jesus and Stephen King’s “John Coffey.”  

When we think of Samson, a man who might be the strongest person in the Bible, it is usually someone like Michael Clark Duncan that we picture in our minds. But Samson was not a John Coffey; there does not seem to be a hint of gentleness about him. He is often viewed as a powerful and imposing figure, who became increasingly prideful and self-absorbed. In the character of John Coffey, as was true with Jesus, the strength of the person was combined with a gentleness and genuine concern and love for others, and while it seems almost counterintuitive, his gentleness and concern actually increased the power of the person. In Samson, the lack of gentleness and genuine concern became a character deficit on which a tragic story was about to be built.

But it is likely that Samson looked nothing like John Coffey or Michael Clarke Duncan. As the story progresses, if we are willing to listen to the narrative, it becomes obvious that part of the story is that Samson did not look like a strong man. If we met Samson in a dark alley, there would likely to be little about him that would cause us to fear him. And that is the main issue of the story. Samson was the most powerful man in the world, but he didn’t look like it. He did not have the physical attributes that we often think of when we imagine someone who is physically strong. Instead, he might have looked like that skinny guy who everyone loves to torment. The question for those who knew Samson was “How can someone who looks like you be as strong as you are.”

The answer is here. Samson was strong because God blessed him. It had nothing to do with how long his hair might have been. The hair was a symbol of his special relationship with God. When, in his pride and self-absorption, Samson forgot that his strength was a result of God’s blessing, and God’s blessing was then removed, he became as weak as any other man – or maybe as weak as he looked.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Judges 14