Homily For The third Sunday After Easter 2026
Today, during this third Sunday in Easter, we are going back to the Old Testament, particularly to the end of the period of the Judges in I Samuel chapter two. In terms of redemptive history, the life and work of Samuel is the pivotal point, indeed, the hinge of the time of the Judges. Immediately after Joshua’s conquest of Canaan, we have a period of over 400 years in which people did what was right in their own eyes. Every so often, God would raise up a deliverer, what was termed in the Old Testament, a judge, a ruler, to deliver God’s people from suffering and oppression. There is a cycle in the Book of Judges that follows this pattern: the people stray and serve other gods, God brings judgment, God raises up a deliverer, the people are delivered; after a period of time, Israel returns to its earlier rebellion and the cycle is replicated.
This cycle of cycles continued until the coming of the final judge - the prophet Samuel, who is the subject of Hannah's song in our Old Testament Lesson.
Our Old Testament Lesson is a response to Hannah’s pregnancy, a confirmation that her petitions had been accepted. Her song has been called “the Magnificat of the Old Testament” because it celebrates profound confidence and joy in God.
This song of triumph was rooted in the sorrow of the childlessness of Hannah. She knew the bitterness of being without a child. Elkanah, her husband, had another wife and through her he had children. The tone of this story is similar to that of Jacob with Rachel and Leah. You may recall that Jacob loved Rachel and agreed to work seven years in exchange for her hand in marriage, but Rachel’s father tricked Jacob into marrying her older sister, Leah before allowing him to take Rachel as his wife.
Rachel was loved by Jacob but was barren; Leah was unloved by Jacob, but was fertile. Here, Elkahah asks Hannah if he isn’t better to her than ten sons. Hannah’s unrest, her unhappiness in remaining childless is expressed as she comes to the Temple, praying with such fervency that Eli the High Priest confuses her silent prayer with drunkenness because he sees her lips moving but hears nothing she says. We read earlier in chapter 1 that she tells Eli that she is sober but is vexed in her spirit because of her infertility. Eli tells her to go in peace; the Lord will answer her. Hannah is immediately encouraged and returns home in a completely different frame of mind. We read that God opens her womb. We should remember that it is God who enables fertility, who allows one to bear children. Fertility is not a “given” fact, as many today will attest. God opens the womb and this song is Hannah’s expression of joy in that God has heard the voice of her prayer.
Let us consider the language Hannah uses in her song, which is a kind of prayer and how it reflects a change in Hannah’s outlook. Out of the overflow of her “heart”, she, by faith, proclaims God’s goodness. For the heart in the Hebrew is more than any physical reality, more than merely the organ which pumps blood. The heart refers to the centre of the person, their moral aspirations, their intellectual life and the seat of their will. Her heart rejoices in the Lord and brings forth a godly confidence. Because she rejoices in the Lord’s salvation, “her horn”, that being her own strength, has been bolstered by this inward joy. Her mouth is enlarged over her enemies; in contrast to those whose mouths are full, enlarged with cursing for their enemies. Hannah’s mouth is enlarged, in other words, it is full of what God has done for her. It is full of blessings. She has joy in God’s salvation - the Lord’s work in small and great things, all working his kind purposes toward those who rely upon him.
In verse 2, Hannah reflects a new perspective. She has turned from focusing on her own dejection to focusing on the character of God. She lauds the holiness of God. Holiness speaks to God’s integrity; The Lord’s intentions, His actions are marked by integrity and absolute perfection. Hannah also speaks to His exclusive existence, there is no other god. There may be spiritual pretenders, the demons who masquerade as gods, but no matter how powerful they may be, they are creatures who are subject to the Creator. Indeed, she characterizes the Lord as the rock; a refuge, a hiding place, a source of protection for God’s people who hide themselves in Him and clothe themselves in His holiness.
In verse 3, Hannah celebrates the fact that God knows the truth. In her circumstance, it appeared to those around her that she was cursed. Eli even imputed drunkenness to her when she was pouring out her heart before the Lord. Yet, the Lord knew.
There is no room for arrogance, there is no room for pride; indeed, pride and arrogance are attitudes that receive the Lord’s judgment.
Verses 4 - 8 are full of contrasts. For the realities here on earth have been stood on their heads by Yahweh’s intervention. Mighty men who were renowned for their physical power have had the source of their strength removed while those who have stumbled, miscalculated, failed have been girded with strength. The wealthy have hired themselves out as servants to provide for their daily bread while those who were beggars for their daily bread have ceased to be in need.
All these point to the economics, the accounting in the kingdom of heaven, in which, Jesus says the first will be last and the last made first. Oftentimes, the poor receive the gifts of God while the rich refuse to take the gift.
Those who trust in themselves find that what they trusted in has failed them while those who stumble about in darkness, recognize their need and frailty and are given light, even clothed with strength from God. Those who are full of all types of earthly comforts, and have earthly aspirations find their lives devoid of meaning, hiring themselves out for bread, while the poor, the truly hungry find that God is truly all they need. Those who seem to be blessed with physical resources are left barren while those whose circumstances should make them despair are full of hope and spiritual fruitfulness. Indeed, it is the Lord, not the individual man who brings life; it is He who has control over death and the grave. God opens the womb - indeed, this song is rooted in God’s faithfulness to answer prayer, His ability to take our deepest disappointments, our heartaches and convert them into songs of praise. This is a similar spirit to the Psalmist for the Psalm appointed for Tuesday Morning - Psalm 50 - which says, “Call upon me in the day of trouble, and I will deliver thee and thou shalt glorify me.”
Hannah called upon the Lord in her trouble. He delivered her. She glorified God as she had other sons and daughters - Samuel was just the beginning of her joy of motherhood.
Hannah rejoices in that the Lord opens wombs and tombs.
We know in the case of our Lord, death gives birth to life and salvation, as Jesus passes through the tomb of death and makes it a pathway for all who trust in Him to have eternal life. It is indeed, as we celebrate this Easter season, God alone who can bring life back up from the dead. If Hannah had reason to rejoice, we have more. All that is necessary for our salvation has been accomplished through Christ's conquest over death. He converted the sterility of the tomb which was barren, which held no life but a dead body, into the womb of new creation, our everlasting life through His resurrection.
Here, Hannah makes mention of the glory of the poor being raised up, that God has the power to bring the beggar up from the most humiliating of circumstances.
Indeed, it is the power of God, truly the power we celebrate this Easter season that grants to beggars, outsiders like us, adoption into God’s family.
For the common folk, those who know they need God’s help are those who receive it. It is the Lord’s good pleasure to exalt them. It may be an exaltation to a different station in this life; rags to riches as it is seen by all. It could be the exaltation of a greater sort of eternal significance in which physical poverty and adversity makes one rich in eternity through patient endurance here on earth. In either case, the poor in spirit or in goods inherit riches when they take hold of the hope and joy of their true and heavenly inheritance, because the Kingdom of God rests upon the immutable, unchangeable foundation of God’s power.
Our Old Testament Lesson concludes with counsel from Hannah. The faithful can rest in God’s goodness, His character, His provision while he will silence those who rebel against Him.
There is no human strength that can prevail against God. There is no power in heaven or on earth which can wrest from God that which He has not determined to give. Truly, the adversaries of God: the world, the flesh and the devil, were crushed in Our Lord’s resurrection. The Ascended Christ reigns at the present and is making all things subject to Him.
What can we take away from our reading today? Hannah models for us the right approach to our greatest challenges. First, she prayed earnestly and made use of the opportunity to draw near to God in His temple, where God promised to hear and to dwell. She went to the Temple to plead before the Lord as she and her family went up to worship at the Feasts. After pouring out her heart, she took comfort in the fact that God knew best.
Her celebration reflected her knowledge of God’s attributes. She had heard the Scriptures, she knew the story of Israel’s redemption. More importantly, she internalized these truths and they gave birth to faith that is the point of all of God’s self-revelation. Faith responds in willing, loving obedience to God with thanksgiving and joy for what He has done for us. Hannah’s celebration, her song communicated the change of status brought about by God’s deliverance. God flips the script of worldly power and outcomes. In the Lord’s kingdom, the one of eternal consequence, the poor in spirit are made fat by the feast of God’s grace. Let us draw near to God like Hannah did. Let us pour out our hearts to Him, setting our troubles at the foot of His throne and emptying ourselves of finding comfort in any created thing. Let us acknowledge apart from God that our souls are full of leanness and poverty, for we come to a God who promises to fill us with the fulness of Himself.
Her song reminds us, even in the Old Testament context, of the power of God to transform us - whether He chooses to transform our circumstances or not, He will transform us by giving us hope that transcends our present challenges. Beloved, let us enter the reality of Easter and the hope of everlasting life. Amen.
