Tonight we move to the third in our Advent series of Sons of Promise. Two weeks ago we read of the promised son Isaac. Last week it was Samson. This week our reading is of Samuel, the son promised through the blessing of Eli, the priest. Our third week and a third miracle in a third promised son to a third mother that was barren and unable to conceive.
Samuel would become a formative figure in Israel during the transition from a loose confederation of tribes into a monarchy, first under Saul and then under David, both of whom he anointed for their office. He is sometimes referred to as the last of the judges and the first of the major prophets. He was one of those jacks of all trades, we might say, as the Lord desired of him, but not because he was a master of none, but because he was humble before the Lord and lived a life of service unto God.
We just read of Hannah’s desire for a child and God’s answer to her prayer, followed by her prayer that is remarkable familiar to the song of Mary, The Magnificat, which we will sing tonight also. Tonight’s sermon is based upon the single verse 28: “Therefore I have lent him to the Lord. As long as he lives, he is lent to the Lord.”
It is an interesting concept that one can loan something to the Lord, such as Hannah loaned her son. But it is a remarkable statement of faith that Hannah makes in this “loaning” of her son. She is confessing that Samuel is a direct result of God’s hand. Samuel is a direct fulfillment of the blessing given her by Eli. Samuel is a miracle child. God gave Hannah a son that her barren shame might be removed. Her natural condition was to produce no good fruit, but from that womb that could not give forth, God made to produce a blessing for not only her, but also for all the people of Israel. God gave honor to Hannah through underserved blessing, and she became the mother of this famous man that would judge Israel, prophesy of the Lord, and anoint kings. We could easily say that she became the most blessed in the land in the conception and birth of this promised son that for his entire life would minister to the Lord.
I’m not so sure that “loan” is the best translation of the Hebrew word in our text. I would prefer the words “given over,” but “loan” certainly does convey the idea in English that Hannah did not lose her son when she left him with Eli for service to the Lord. He was only on loan, even if it was a permanent arrangement that would last his entire lifetime. While he remained the son of Hannah, he became the servant of God. He belonged to both God and Hannah.
His name, Samuel, is derived from the same root word that is here translated as “loan” as well as the word “petition” in verse 27 of the text. Hannah “petitioned” God, and “God heard” her prayer, which is what Samuel means, “God has heard.” And so, Hannah “loans” to God her son, Samuel.
Now, as I have mentioned, Hannah’s song is remarkably similar to Mary’s, but the similarities don’t stop there. Mary too loaned her Son to the service of God for His entire life. Samuel points directly to Jesus. God, the One who hears (Samuel), is also God, the One who saves (Jesus). Samuel would be delivered to the house of the Lord and would receive His call as he became a young man. Jesus too would be delivered to the house of the Lord as His family trekked for the annual feast and He remained in the temple making clear His calling to minister to the Lord throughout His life: “Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” (Lk 2:49).
Mary too would be honored with a Son; honored with a miraculous birth of the promised Son, and like Hannah, she would loan her Son to the service of the Lord for all of His life, in fact for the entirety of His life, for it was His very life of obedience that was to be given over even to the point of death. Hannah is a great example for us as one that follows through on her vow – one that has faith that shows in her life. Mary too is an example of one with faith the grabs hold of the promise of God. Certainly Samuel’s life is one of faith and positively, so is the life of Jesus. But if we turn back to that word “loan” and the name of Samuel, we quickly see that it is God that is the active one. It is Samuel who points to Jesus as the One “loaned” to mankind by God.
It was the Son of God that has been promised since the days of the beginning. It is the Son of God that has always been the object that prophesy has directed us and that prophesy fulfilled is meant to help us understand. Samuel, in a big way, points us to the Son that ministered to the Lord, that Son that was loaned to us to be judge, prophet, the anointed. God loaned us His Son for the entirety of His life that He might fulfill the faithfulness to God for each and every one of us that we are unable to fulfill on our own and that He might take to Himself our sin and give Himself as our ransom, and thus making the loan a complete giving over.
Samuel was always the Lord’s and he was always the son of Hannah and so too is Jesus always the Son of God and still always ours, loaned for our righteousness. His earthly work – His ministry and sacrificial death are complete, but the loaning is not done. He was given over to us completely that His service of the forgiveness of sins would continue in every age as it does now through the ministry of His Church. Here in the proclamation of His Word and in the Sacraments, Jesus is still loaned to us that our sins would be covered, that we would always see that His Word is never broken. God has heard the petitions of His people and He has loaned us His Son that He would also save His people. Amen. +
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