God as the Giver of gifts and His Son, Jesus, "the Holy One of God" as a teacher pointing to God the Giver by His healing activities - these are brought to our attention today.

In the account of Hannah's receiving from God the gift of her son, we see God listening to the pleas of a desperate, humble and powerless person. The very name of Samuel chosen by her for her son, "since I asked Yahweh for him" (v.20), indicates how fully Hannah appreciated the gift . It reminds us of her pleading and throwing herself absolutely on the merciful munificence of God.

God listened, as did Jesus to the mocking of the man with the unclean spirit who, even in the challenging of Jesus, had to admit Jesus' real identity - "the Holy One of God", and His power as such. To the people of His time who believed that spirits were an ever-present menace, causing illness and upsets, this was the most forceful form of teaching and it underlined the claim to His identity made by the evil spirit. Now, it was clear He was indeed the Holy One of God, the Son of God, a God who had generously given Him to them. His gift of a son to Hannah was merely a prelude to His gift of His Son to His people. They began to have some inkling of God's loving power.