David Bahn – Reflections

Today’s readings: Luke 20-22, Psalm 119:145-176

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Luke 22:39-46

And [Jesus] came out and went, as was his custom, to the Mount of Olives, and the disciples followed him. ⁴⁰ And when he came to the place, he said to them, “Pray that you may not enter into temptation.” ⁴¹ And he withdrew from them about a stone’s throw, and knelt down and prayed, ⁴² saying, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.” ⁴³ And there appeared to him an angel from heaven, strengthening him. ⁴⁴ And being in agony he prayed more earnestly; and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground. ⁴⁵ And when he rose from prayer, he came to the disciples and found them sleeping for sorrow, ⁴⁶ and he said to them, “Why are you sleeping? Rise and pray that you may not enter into temptation.”

How long, O Lord? How long must I wait for your salvation? This is a paraphrase of the opening words of Psalm 13, a psalm of lament in which David asks four times, “How long, O Lord…?” It’s a legitimate prayer from the standpoint of our human existence. If we are suffering or anxious, fretting or afraid, and we don’t see any help on the horizon, we may wonder how long it will be before God comes to our aid.

That’s what I think of when I read of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, praying to God—not how long, but whether there is a way other than drinking the cup of God’s wrath that was only hours away.

The image of the cup of God’s wrath runs throughout the Old Testament. Psalm 75 speaks of a cup in the LORD’s hand that the wicked must drink “to the dregs.” Isaiah 51 calls it “the cup of his wrath,” and Jeremiah 25 pictures God handing the nations “the cup of the wine of wrath” which they must drink. That background gives added weight to Jesus’ prayer in Gethsemane: “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me.” The cup is more than suffering and death; it is the judgment against sin. And Jesus, who had no sin of his own, will take the cup sinners deserve and drink it for us.

When we watched The Chosen episode that included this event in Jesus’ ministry, we all agreed that it went on so long—maybe too long??? Yet Luke’s account is only eight verses. Matthew gives us ten and adds that Jesus prayed three times. Mark gives us eleven.

Yet these few verses do not express the full extent of Jesus’ prayer. The disciples couldn’t even stay awake the whole time he was praying. I can only imagine how their failure must have added to his loneliness.

Then I think of my failure to pray as I should. On the one hand, I’m not sure I could ever compare to Jesus when it comes to prayer. On the other hand, that may not be the point. You see, Jesus isn’t really finished praying for us. He is even now interceding for us and all believers (cf. Romans 8:34). This should never be an excuse for us to neglect prayer. But it certainly is a reminder of Jesus’ willingness not only to pray for us, but to drink the cup of God’s wrath so that we may take up the cup of salvation, as a foretaste of the feast to come.

P.S. I won’t develop this here, but I noted in my paper Bible that in Luke 20 Jesus’ authority is questioned (vv. 1–8); his loyalty is questioned (vv. 20–26, paying taxes to Caesar); and his theology is questioned (vv. 27–40, questions about marriage and the resurrection). Written notes: one of the benefits of being a member of the Paper Bible Club!

Follow the Word is a daily Bible reading and devotional ministry of St. John Lutheran Church, Cypress, Texas.

Today’s readings: Luke 17-19, Psalm 119:121-144

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Luke 17:1-6

And he said to his disciples, “Temptations to sin are sure to come, but woe to the one through whom they come! ² It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were cast into the sea than that he should cause one of these little ones to sin. ³ Pay attention to yourselves! If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him, ⁴ and if he sins against you seven times in the day, and turns to you seven times, saying, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive him.”

⁵ The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” ⁶ And the Lord said, “If you had faith like a grain of mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.

When I think of asking God to increase my faith, I think of times of doubt or severe struggle. I’m ill and need God’s healing touch, and I read his promise to answer prayer. I pray, and the answer comes all too slowly from my perspective. Increase my faith! I’m facing a major financial challenge. I know God will provide—just as he has in the past—but I don’t see a pathway forward. Increase my faith! A relationship is strained to the point of breaking. There is no hint of the possibility of reconciliation. Increase my faith!

What are the places in your life that cry out, Increase my faith?

I visited with a woman years ago whose sister had offended her and wounded her deeply. She told me that she just couldn’t find a way to forgive her. And she worried about this because she knew she must do so. She just didn’t have it in her, and she wondered whether she should refrain from receiving the Lord’s Supper until she had forgiven her sister.

I told her it seemed like she needed to get up the hill to get gas for her car, but she didn’t have any gas to get up the hill. That may not make sense to you, but to her it did. The Lord’s Supper was the fuel she needed to be able to forgive her sister. She needed to be forgiven so she could forgive.

I think that’s the same thing as saying, Increase my faith!

That real-life example is very closely related to what prompted the apostles to ask Jesus, “Increase our faith!” He had just talked about forgiving an offending brother—even if that brother sins against you seven times in a day and seven times comes back saying, “I repent.” “You must forgive him,” Jesus says.

No wonder the apostles respond, “Increase our faith!”

Jesus answers by telling them that faith as small as a mustard seed could command a mulberry tree to be uprooted and planted in the sea. His point is not that they need some heroic quantity of faith. God draws near to the poor in spirit—to those who know they need what only he can give. He shows mercy to those who come to him.

Such faith doesn’t earn God’s favor or get us to God. Faith receives what God is already giving—the mercy and grace that are ours in Christ.

But God calls us not only to receive his grace, but also to extend that grace to others—to love our neighbors and even our enemies. He sends us into the world to testify to his grace and pass on what we have received. Sometimes that involves forgiving someone again and again. Sometimes it involves waiting, trusting, and hoping for God’s answer to our prayers. Sometimes it means facing something that seems utterly impossible. And sometimes it may simply mean finding our way back to God when we have wandered.

A call to God asking him to increase our faith is itself an act of faith. We ask because we believe he hears us, that he is able to help us, and that his will toward us in Christ is good.

The point isn’t to look inside ourselves and wonder whether we have enough faith. It is to look to Jesus. Faith as small as a mustard seed is enough when it rests in a Savior as great as Jesus.

So when forgiveness seems impossible, when the answer to prayer seems painfully slow, when there seems to be no pathway forward, we can pray with the apostles:

“Increase our faith!”

And then look to the One in whom our faith rests.

Follow the Word is a daily Bible reading and devotional ministry of St. John Lutheran Church, Cypress, Texas.

Today’s readings: Luke 14-16, Psalm 119:97-120

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Luke 15:1-2, 7

Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear [Jesus]. ² And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.”

⁷[Jesus says,] I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.

I recall a conversation between a dedicated Christian woman and a former missionary, seminary professor, and then-current District President. It went something like this. She would ask, “What do you think about…?” His answer: “Well, you have to put that into a different context if we’re going to benefit from asking this question….” It was a very edifying conversation for her, as well as for me as I listened.

Context, you see, is everything.

So while many of us know the Lost and Found parables of Luke 15, we might want to look carefully at the context if we are fully to benefit from their teaching. We certainly can draw various conclusions from them about the value of those things that were lost or the effort taken to find them. We can even find meaning in the progression from 1 out of 100, to 1 out of 10, to 1 out of 2.

But let’s look at the context and occasion for Jesus’ teaching these parables. The Pharisees and scribes were grumbling about the company Jesus was keeping. He was hanging out with sinners and even eating with them. This was scandalous to them. Jesus was sullying himself by these associations to begin with, but dining with the likes of these people was beyond the pale.

So when Jesus tells these three parables, he is making a point about God’s values and the manner in which he deals with sinners. I suppose a shepherd carrying a sheep on his shoulders would not be that unusual. And a woman holding her found coin for all to see would make sense. But the image of a father running to meet his once-lost son is beyond imagination. The rest of the story Jesus tells—the party, the fattened calf, the robe and ring—just adds to the scandal.

So when Jesus says that there is joy in heaven over one sinner who repents, he is seeking to reorient the minds and hearts of these Pharisees and scribes. That reorientation would require deep humility and a new way of looking at the tax collectors and sinners all around them.

But Jesus is offering them something more than a correction. He is giving them a different view of the heart of God. And if they will look honestly into their own hearts, they may discover that they too are among the lost whom God is seeking. Self-righteousness can leave us standing outside the celebration, convinced that others need a grace we ourselves do not.

That’s the context of these parables. Jesus isn’t merely telling us how valuable lost people are. He is showing us what God is like. He searches for the lost. He rejoices when they are found. And in the final parable, the father goes out to meet both of his lost sons—the one who wandered far from home and the one who was lost while standing in his own backyard.

And that’s very good news. Because whichever kind of lost we may be, the Father is still coming out to bring us home.

PS: For those who are interested, Pastor Michael Zeigler, Lutheran Hour speaker recorded a modern-day version of the Prodigal Son parable. It is totally worth watching.

Follow the Word is a daily Bible reading and devotional ministry of St. John Lutheran Church, Cypress, Texas.

Click the image below to watch the Bible Project video for the second half of Luke’s gospel. Or click this link: https://bibleproject.com/videos/luke-10-24/

Please Note: The Bible Project video suggests that the institution of the Lord’s Supper is a symbolic meal. Jesus, however, never uses the word symbol. And throughout the ages Christians have celebrated this meal as a life-giving meal of salvation, receiving as Jesus says, his body and blood, given and shed for the forgiveness of sins.

Today’s readings: Luke 11-13, Psalm 119:73-96

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Luke 13:31-35

At that very hour some Pharisees came and said to him, “Get away from here, for Herod wants to kill you.” ³² And he said to them, “Go and tell that fox, ‘Behold, I cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow, and the third day I finish my course. ³³ Nevertheless, I must go on my way today and tomorrow and the day following, for it cannot be that a prophet should perish away from Jerusalem.’ ³⁴ O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing! ³⁵ Behold, your house is forsaken. And I tell you, you will not see me until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!’”

It becomes clear very quickly that the Pharisees, chief priests, and other Jewish leaders see Jesus as a real threat. The devil has had his turn, taking his best shot in Jesus’ temptation. Then come his minions, as demons confront Jesus again and again.

By chapter 13, Jesus can summarize what he has been doing: “I cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow, and the third day I finish my course.” Interestingly, Luke records no further actual exorcisms after this.

But the opposition to Jesus continues. This isn’t the first time religious leaders have questioned or challenged his ministry, and it won’t be the last. What’s interesting here is that the Pharisees invoke Herod: “Get away from here, for Herod wants to kill you.”

That’s remarkable, because Herod Antipas is the one who imprisoned John the Baptizer and eventually had him put to death. Are these Pharisees really trying to protect Jesus? Luke doesn’t tell us. But whether their warning is sincere or intended simply to get Jesus to leave, Jesus will not be diverted.

“Go and tell that fox,” he says.

Jesus knows the score. Herod’s power extends only as far as God allows. Jesus has a mission to complete, and it is God’s mission. Neither Herod nor any other human being will stand in the way. Jesus will continue his work until he reaches his goal.

He speaks of “today and tomorrow, and the third day.” Those words certainly resonate for those of us who know what awaits him. Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem, and he knows where that road leads.

And it saddens him deeply.

But notice the source of his sadness. Jesus longs to gather Jerusalem’s people “as a hen gathers her brood under her wings.” “And you were not willing!”

That’s the tragedy. The one they reject is the very one who longs to gather them to himself. They will have their way—but what a terrible loss that will be.

Yet rejection will not have the final word.

One day Jesus will ride into Jerusalem hailed as the one who comes in the name of the Lord. And one day every knee will bow—in heaven and on earth—and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Every knee. Every tongue.

Under duress or in praise?

We who call him Lord today will bend our knees in joyful praise, celebrating God’s faithful goodness and the eternal salvation that is ours in Jesus Christ.

Follow the Word is a daily Bible reading and devotional ministry of St. John Lutheran Church, Cypress, Texas.

Click the image below to watch the Bible Project video for the second half of Luke’s gospel. Or click this link: https://bibleproject.com/videos/luke-10-24/

Please Note: The Bible Project video suggests that the institution of the Lord’s Supper is a symbolic meal. Jesus, however, never uses the word symbol. And throughout the ages Christians have celebrated this meal as a life-giving meal of salvation, receiving as Jesus says, his body and blood, given and shed for the forgiveness of sins.

Today’s readings: Luke 2-4, Psalm 119:1-24

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Luke 4:31-37

And Jesus went down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee. And he was teaching them on the Sabbath, ³² and they were astonished at his teaching, for his word possessed authority. ³³ And in the synagogue there was a man who had the spirit of an unclean demon, and he cried out with a loud voice, ³⁴ “Ha! What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God.” ³⁵ But Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be silent and come out of him!” And when the demon had thrown him down in their midst, he came out of him, having done him no harm. ³⁶ And they were all amazed and said to one another, “What is this word? For with authority and power he commands the unclean spirits, and they come out!” ³⁷ And reports about him went out into every place in the surrounding region.

The beginning of Jesus’ earthly ministry is marked with beauty and wonder. Angels rejoice at his birth. Shepherds worship him. Anna and Simeon greet him and his parents in the temple, honoring the child and giving witness to the momentous event of his birth. Later, Jesus and his family visit the temple, where Jesus remains behind when his parents leave because he “must be in [his] Father’s house.” At his baptism it is made clear: The Holy Spirit descends on him, and his Father expresses his clear endorsement. He is God’s Son, with whom the Father is well pleased.

But it won’t take long for Satan to interject himself into this beautiful picture. He realizes what is at stake. He desires to take down Jesus and thwart God’s good plan. First comes the temptation. Satan attacks what has just been declared about Jesus. Is he truly God’s Son? “If you are the Son of God…” Can he prove it? And then comes the lie – for Satan is the great deceiver. He offers Jesus the kingdoms of the world if only Jesus will worship him.

Jesus rebukes Satan and remains faithful to his Father and committed to his mission. But even after passing that test, the challenges continue. A man with the spirit of an unclean demon confronts him. Remarkably, the demon knows exactly who Jesus is: “I know who you are—the Holy One of God.” But Jesus silences him and drives the demon out of the man.

I don’t suppose we would think that saving the world would be an easy task. It shouldn’t surprise us that the devil meets Jesus head-on in the wilderness and that demonic opposition confronts him as his ministry begins. But it does strike me that the devil must be either very angry or very desperate – or both.

They say, “You don’t tug on Superman’s cape,” but it seems the devil is doing that and more.

Jesus, however, does not take the bait or feel the need to prove himself. He meets Satan’s temptations with God’s Word and rebukes the demon, commanding it to come out of the man.

Jesus will not be deterred. In fact, that’s what we see at the end of this chapter. Jesus tells the people, “I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns as well; for I was sent for this purpose.” And so he did. And so he will continue to do. For he came to preach the good news of God’s reign and rule – a reign and rule of grace and truth, in which we may live by faith in him forever.

Follow the Word is a daily Bible reading and devotional ministry of St. John Lutheran Church, Cypress, Texas.

Click the image below to watch the Bible Project video for the first half of Luke’s gospel. Or click this link: https://bibleproject.com/videos/luke-1-9/

Today’s readings: Malachi 3-4, Luke 1, Psalm 118

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Malachi 3:1; 4:5–6

Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts.

^4:5 “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes. ⁶ And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with a decree of utter destruction.”

Luke 1:16-17, 76-79

And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God, ¹⁷ and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.”

⁷⁶ And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High;
    for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways,
⁷⁷ to give knowledge of salvation to his people
    in the forgiveness of their sins,
⁷⁸ because of the tender mercy of our God,
    whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high
⁷⁹ to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death,
    to guide our feet into the way of peace.”

The readings above barely scratch the surface of prophetic allusions and promises that are picked up in Luke 1 and beyond in the ministries of both John the Baptizer and Jesus himself. Consider these:

Malachi 3:1a — I will send my messenger to prepare the way → John (Luke 1:17, 76)
Malachi 3:1b — The Lord is coming → Jesus
Malachi 3:2–3 — He comes with refining fire → Jesus as the coming one who purifies and judges
Malachi 3:6–7 — Return to me → John calls Israel to repentance and prepares a people for the Lord
Malachi 4:1–2 — The sun rises with healing → Luke’s identifying Jesus as the “sunrise…from on high”
Malachi 4:5–6 — Elijah will come and turn hearts → John comes “in the spirit and power of Elijah” (Luke 1:17)

It’s almost as if Malachi’s closing words erupt with prophetic promises. But then come 400 years of silence! Why was God silent? Why don’t we have more witnesses from those years pointing to God’s faithfulness, humanity’s need for a Savior, and prophets calling Israel back again and again to God?

One answer has to do with the timing of God, as Paul says in Galatians 4:4–5: “When the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.” And that’s probably all we need to know. But we’ve already read in Daniel 10 how things are occurring behind the scenes, such that history doesn’t always unfold as neatly and fluidly as we might wish.

But it does unfold according to God’s purposes. And here we get a dramatic glimpse into the ways and means of God’s grace. These beautiful prophecies – along with their fulfillments recorded just in Luke 1 – amaze me. I can’t get over how God inspired Malachi to put forth these promises that are so clearly seen coming to fulfillment in the promised births of John and Jesus.

It’s not only that we’re finishing up with the Old Testament with its accounts of delightful and dramatic events, tragedies of sinful proportions, long lists of names, and prophetic exhortations and promises. It’s that now Luke opens with such expectant words as he begins his “narrative of the things that have been accomplished” in the days of John and Jesus. It’s as though Malachi is saying, “Just you wait!” And God is saying, “Now is the time.”

Follow the Word is a daily Bible reading and devotional ministry of St. John Lutheran Church, Cypress, Texas.

Click the image below to watch the Bible Project video for the first half of Luke’s gospel. Or click this link: https://bibleproject.com/videos/luke-1-9/

Today’s readings: Malachi 3-4, Luke 1, Psalm 118

Listen to today’s devotion

Malachi 3:1; 4:5–6

Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts.

^4:5 “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes. ⁶ And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with a decree of utter destruction.”

Luke 1:16-17, 76-79

And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God, ¹⁷ and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.”

⁷⁶ And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High;
    for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways,
⁷⁷ to give knowledge of salvation to his people
    in the forgiveness of their sins,
⁷⁸ because of the tender mercy of our God,
    whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high
⁷⁹ to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death,
    to guide our feet into the way of peace.”

The readings above barely scratch the surface of prophetic allusions and promises that are picked up in Luke 1 and beyond in the ministries of both John the Baptizer and Jesus himself. Consider these:

Malachi 3:1a — I will send my messenger to prepare the way → John (Luke 1:17, 76)
Malachi 3:1b — The Lord is coming → Jesus
Malachi 3:2–3 — He comes with refining fire → Jesus as the coming one who purifies and judges
Malachi 3:6–7 — Return to me → John calls Israel to repentance and prepares a people for the Lord
Malachi 4:1–2 — The sun rises with healing → Luke’s identifying Jesus as the “sunrise…from on high”
Malachi 4:5–6 — Elijah will come and turn hearts → John comes “in the spirit and power of Elijah” (Luke 1:17)

It’s almost as if Malachi’s closing words erupt with prophetic promises. But then come 400 years of silence! Why was God silent? Why don’t we have more witnesses from those years pointing to God’s faithfulness, humanity’s need for a Savior, and prophets calling Israel back again and again to God?

One answer has to do with the timing of God, as Paul says in Galatians 4:4–5: “When the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.” And that’s probably all we need to know. But we’ve already read in Daniel 10 how things are occurring behind the scenes, such that history doesn’t always unfold as neatly and fluidly as we might wish.

But it does unfold according to God’s purposes. And here we get a dramatic glimpse into the ways and means of God’s grace. These beautiful prophecies – along with their fulfillments recorded just in Luke 1 – amaze me. I can’t get over how God inspired Malachi to put forth these promises that are so clearly seen coming to fulfillment in the promised births of John and Jesus.

It’s not only that we’re finishing up with the Old Testament with its accounts of delightful and dramatic events, tragedies of sinful proportions, long lists of names, and prophetic exhortations and promises. It’s that now Luke opens with such expectant words as he begins his “narrative of the things that have been accomplished” in the days of John and Jesus. It’s as though Malachi is saying, “Just you wait!” And God is saying, “Now is the time.”

Follow the Word is a daily Bible reading and devotional ministry of St. John Lutheran Church, Cypress, Texas.

Click the image below to watch the Bible Project video for the first half of Luke’s gospel. Or click this link: https://bibleproject.com/videos/luke-1-9/

Today’s readings: Malachi 1-2, Psalm 117

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Malachi 1:2-5

“I have loved you,” says the LORD. But you say, “How have you loved us?” “Is not Esau Jacob’s brother?” declares the Lord. “Yet I have loved Jacob ³ but Esau I have hated. I have laid waste his hill country and left his heritage to jackals of the desert.” ⁴ If Edom says, “We are shattered but we will rebuild the ruins,” the LORD of hosts says, “They may build, but I will tear down, and they will be called ‘the wicked country,’ and ‘the people with whom the LORD is angry forever.’” ⁵ Your own eyes shall see this, and you shall say, “Great is the LORD beyond the border of Israel!”

Malachi is the last prophet of the Old Testament era and offers some interesting questions and answers between God and the people of Judah. God speaks of his love for his people, then offers a look into their hearts, asking rhetorically, “How have you loved us?” The LORD is pointing out the real issue between himself and the people of Judah. They really didn’t believe God loved them. They were not confident of the goodness of his gifts. They did not trust that he had their good at heart – or even, if so, whether God’s gifts were truly the best.

I’m reminded of Martin Luther, who for some time struggled with God. “Love God! I hated him,” he is supposed to have said. He did not believe that God truly loved him. He was not convinced that God’s goodness could be his. All he knew was that he was a sinner and, as such, stood under the judgment of God. He could read Malachi 1:4 and believe it applied fully to him: “The LORD of hosts says, ‘They may build, but I will tear down, and they will be called “the wicked country,” and “the people with whom the LORD is angry forever.”’”

It would be some time before Luther discovered the kindness and grace of God, his gift of righteousness – justification – and was freed from guilt and shame. And though he grew to love God, he never forgot his need for God’s mercy and grace.

This is the stuff of faithfulness before God. We never stop needing God’s mercy, because we never stop being sinners this side of eternity. And God is ready to receive us when we repent and come to him through our Lord Jesus Christ. Malachi will make this point and more in the chapters to follow. He will expose deep-seated sin, challenge faithless disobedience, and condemn false religion. He does so because false religion rests on false hopes and can offer no true salvation.

We may sometimes wonder whether God loves us when we face difficult situations, give in to temptation, or fail to live up to God’s commands. We may even try to make it on our own. But God’s love does not finally rest on our circumstances, our performance, or even the strength of our faith. He is the one who saves. He is the one who forgives. And he has made his love unmistakably visible in the life, ministry, suffering, death, and resurrection of Jesus – a love that has reached far beyond the borders of Israel to embrace people of every nation, including you and me. When we wonder, “How have you loved us?” God points us to Jesus.

Follow the Word is a daily Bible reading and devotional ministry of St. John Lutheran Church, Cypress, Texas.

Click the image below to watch the Bible Project video for Malachi. Or click this link: https://bibleproject.com/videos/malachi

Listen to today’s devotion

Today’s readings: Nehemiah 13, Psalm 116

Nehemiah 13:4-14

Now before this, Eliashib the priest, who was appointed over the chambers of the house of our God, and who was related to Tobiah, ⁵ prepared for Tobiah a large chamber where they had previously put the grain offering, the frankincense, the vessels, and the tithes of grain, wine, and oil, which were given by commandment to the Levites, singers, and gatekeepers, and the contributions for the priests. ⁶ While this was taking place, I was not in Jerusalem, for in the thirty-second year of Artaxerxes king of Babylon I went to the king. And after some time I asked leave of the king ⁷ and came to Jerusalem, and I then discovered the evil that Eliashib had done for Tobiah, preparing for him a chamber in the courts of the house of God. ⁸ And I was very angry, and I threw all the household furniture of Tobiah out of the chamber. ⁹ Then I gave orders, and they cleansed the chambers, and I brought back there the vessels of the house of God, with the grain offering and the frankincense.

¹⁰ I also found out that the portions of the Levites had not been given to them, so that the Levites and the singers, who did the work, had fled each to his field. ¹¹ So I confronted the officials and said, “Why is the house of God forsaken?” And I gathered them together and set them in their stations. ¹² Then all Judah brought the tithe of the grain, wine, and oil into the storehouses. ¹³ And I appointed…treasurers over the storehouses…and their duty was to distribute to their brothers. ¹⁴ Remember me, O my God, concerning this, and do not wipe out my good deeds that I have done for the house of my God and for his service.

When Nehemiah returned to Jerusalem, he discovered that many of the reforms the people had promised to keep were already unraveling. First, Eliashib the priest had given Tobiah – one of Nehemiah’s longtime opponents – a room in the temple intended for offerings and supplies. Second, the people had stopped providing tithes for the Levites and singers, forcing them to return to their fields to support themselves. Third, the Sabbath was openly disregarded as people worked and conducted business.

Finally, Jewish men were again marrying women from the surrounding nations, and some of their children could not even speak the language of Judah. Israel was again allowing the faith and identity of the next generation to be swallowed up by the surrounding culture. What especially incensed Nehemiah was that the people had specifically promised God that they would not do these very things.

So while I have to chuckle when Nehemiah reports that he pulled out the hair of some of the offenders, I get his frustration. Leave them for a while and the reforms begin unraveling. But I also shake my head in sadness. After everything God had done for them, they were returning to the same patterns of unfaithfulness. It’s a wonder Nehemiah didn’t pull out his own hair!

I love Nehemiah. There are so many great leadership insights in this book. Leadership begins with a burden – Nehemiah’s heart is broken by Jerusalem’s condition, and he takes that burden to God in prayer. Burden becomes vision when joined with belief: something must be done, and with God’s help something can be done. He enlists others, perseveres through opposition and distraction, and courageously confronts what threatens the mission. Through it all, he knows that “the good hand of [his] God was upon [him]” (Nehemiah 2:8).

But here is the greater lesson. Rebuilding the walls – necessary as that was – could never solve Jerusalem’s deepest problem. Nehemiah could rebuild walls, restore worship, confront sin, and even pull hair! But he could not change the human heart.

Nehemiah begins with broken walls, but by the end we discover that Jerusalem’s deepest problem was never its walls. The walls could be rebuilt. The human heart needed something far greater. And so does ours.

That is where Jesus comes in. He did not come merely to straighten us out or give us another set of reforms to keep. He came to deal with the sin within us. Jesus took our rebellion, wandering, and broken promises upon himself and carried them to the cross. There he won our forgiveness, and through his Spirit he gives us new hearts and calls us again to faith and faithfulness.

Nehemiah could rebuild the walls around God’s people. Jesus came to rebuild God’s people from the inside out.

Follow the Word is a daily Bible reading and devotional ministry of St. John Lutheran Church, Cypress, Texas.