Saturday, October 30, 2004
Melutin, King of Serbia
Kellia: Judges 13:15-25 Epistle: 2 Corinthians 5:1-10 Gospel: St. Luke 7:1-10
Judges 13:15-25, especially vs. 23: "But his wife said to him, 'If
the Lord had meant to kill us, he would not have accepted a burnt offering and a cereal offering
at our hands, or shown us all these things, or now announced to us such things as these.'" St.
Luke confesses in his Gospel that when he and Cleopas met the risen Lord along the road to
Emmaus "their eyes were restrained so that they did not know Him" (Lk. 24:16). Even the very
godly and devout among earth-born mortals are not always swift to hear and know when God is
communicating with them. And so, as the Lord Jesus walked along with those two blessed men,
He gently chided them for not grasping the depths of their encounter with Him: "O foolish ones,
and slow of heart to believe...." (Lk. 24:25).
The present reading describes how two souls came to realize that they were in the presence of the
living God. The passage is instructive, for it discloses how we human beings receive revelation:
in small increments, tiny bits at a time, much like our human vision at night, which slowly
increases with the approach of dawn prior to the full bursting forth of the sun above the horizon.
More and more is disclosed of that which at night is largely obscure and dark. To help Manoah
and his wife past their limitations, God addressed them through an "angel of the Lord" (Jdg.
13:21), but they assumed that he was "a man of God" (Jdg. 13:8,10,11), although in the final
moment of realization, "they fell on their faces to the ground" (Jdg. 13:20). Let us review the
development of God's revelation to Manoah and his wife, to discover how the Lord enlightens
His servants, and, perhaps in His grace, even us. Both husband and wife, after meeting the angel
face to face, perceived that they were dealing with one who was close to God, a person they
identified as a "man of God" (Jdg. 13:8,10,11). Once they both actually accepted the angel with
this understanding, Manoah was quick to extend hospitality to the visitor: "Pray, let us detain
you, and prepare a kid for you" (Jdg. 13:15).
Although the angel declined the hospitality, he immediately prompted them to make an offering
to God directly: "if you make ready a burnt offering, then offer it to the Lord" (vs. 16). Notice
that the authentic activity of grace leads from human responses, such as hospitality, to worship,
and to the offering of self to God. Anciently, "a burnt offering" consisted of presenting to God
that which one might set before a human guest, except that the gift was put on a fire and totally
consumed as a holocaust, signifying one's complete self-offering to the Lord. Manoah and his
wife were prepared to serve their guest whom they supposed to be a "man" of God (vs. 15); but at
his suggestion, instead, they made a holocaust to God with the same gifts (vs. 19). Notice next:
before they made the offering, Manoah still needed to have some of his questions answered. So
much must have been "going through his mind." On the assumption that their visitor was "a man
of God," Manoah asked him, "What is your name?" (vs. 17), explaining that he would like to
know the visitor's name so he might honor him. The angel responded to the question with a
question: "Why do you ask my name, seeing it is wonderful?" (vs. 18).
The introduction of the word "wonderful" signaled to Manoah that the visitor might well be more
than an ordinary mortal man, for, in Hebrew, the word connotes both "full of wonder" and
"beyond comprehension," and significantly, it is a word reserved, most of the time, for God
rather than for men. So, Manoah offered to "Him who works wonders" (vs. 19). He was close to
recognizing God's presence, which the angel's ascent in the flames then confirmed undeniably.
Illumine our hearts, O Master Who loveth mankind, with the pure light of Thy Divine knowledge,
that we may enter upon a spiritual manner of living, well pleasing unto Thee.
