A crucified Saviour, Luke 23:33-38

A faultless Saviour, Luke23:1-5, 13-17

A rejected Saviour, Luke 23:18-25

Chapters one and two of first Samuel have clearly established that Samuel’s parents are from the tribe of Ephraim, one of Joseph’s sons. So Samuel was not descended from Aaron’s family, and not even from the tribe of Levi. Therefore, he had no right to function as a priest, you needed to be a descendant of Aaron for that, or as a Levite. In brief, he should not have been able to participate in administering the offerings of God, or the service of the tabernacle in any way. And yet in our chapter for today Samuel is clearly living and working in the tabernacle, and later chapters of 1 Samuel will detail how he regularly offered sacrifices. Although this is never explicitly stated, it is presumably the fact that he was given by his mother to God, and by extension to Eli, the high priest, that allowed him to function as a priest.