John the Baptist and Jesus were both conceived through a special grace of God. Both of them were children born of a promise of God. The story of the birth of Samson shows us how God was working all through the history of Israel to prepare for the fulfilment of the promise of a saviour.

God taught the people of Israel not to be overwhelmed by circumstances and blind to God's greatness. God created nature but his divine power and his goodness were not limited by nature. The stories of Samson and John the Baptist both assure us that God's grace will always, when necessary create ever new opportunities and occasions of grace. Similarly, in fulfilling the promise of a saviour, God was not limited by the expression of that promise. As we have had occasion to remark before in these reflections, God never said that he would send his Son as our saviour, but then, in the fullness of time God sent, not just a human saviour but his own Son, born of the Virgin Mary.

In response to these biblical revelations, we learn not to be too quick to determine for ourselves what God can or cannot do: "With God all things are possible" (Mt 9:26; Mk 10:27).We may always expect the unexpected from God's infinite love and mercy.