David Bahn – Reflections

These devotions are part of the Follow the Word Bible reading program at St. John Lutheran Church in Cypress, Texas. This year we are reading through the Scriptures together, listening for how God speaks through his Word day by day. I hope you will join me on this journey.

Today’s readings are Joshua 18-20, Psalm 95.

Psalm 95

Oh come, let us sing to the Lord;
    let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!
² Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving;
    let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!
³ For the Lord is a great God,
    and a great King above all gods.
⁴ In his hand are the depths of the earth;
    the heights of the mountains are his also.
⁵ The sea is his, for he made it,
    and his hands formed the dry land.

⁶ Oh come, let us worship and bow down;
    let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker!
⁷ For he is our God,
    and we are the people of his pasture,
    and the sheep of his hand.
Today, if you hear his voice,
⁸     do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah,
    as on the day at Massah in the wilderness,
⁹ when your fathers put me to the test
    and put me to the proof, though they had seen my work.
¹⁰ For forty years I loathed that generation
    and said, “They are a people who go astray in their heart,
    and they have not known my ways.”
¹¹ Therefore I swore in my wrath,
    “They shall not enter my rest.”

Take a look at the Bible Project graphic of Joshua below. Notice what it says about chapters 13-22: BORING. I guess that’s true except for those who received the allotments of land. It surely must have been exciting for them! These chapters describe some necessary business following the initial conquest of the Promised Land. To that end we can identify. There are things we must do now that our salvation has been won. And while in a sense we are still wandering in the wilderness waiting for the final deliverance into the Life of the World to Come, we’re celebrating today – remembering Jesus’ death for us and rejoicing in his resurrection. So we sing this beautiful Te Deum – this hymn of praise to God!

Christ is risen! He is risen indeed. Alleluia! O come let us sing to the Lord! Let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!

Jesus is the rock who is no longer held in the tomb by the stone that covered the entrance. He truly is is a great God, and a great King above all gods.

Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker! AND LIVING SAVIOR!

I hope you will worship him with your fellow redeemed ones today!

Click here for an audio version of this blog post.

These devotions are part of the Follow the Word Bible reading program at St. John Lutheran Church in Cypress, Texas. This year we are reading through the Scriptures together, listening for how God speaks through his Word day by day. I hope you will join me on this journey.

Today’s readings are Joshua 12-14, Psalm 93.

Psalm 93

The Lord reigns; he is robed in majesty;
    the Lord is robed; he has put on strength as his belt.
Yes, the world is established; it shall never be moved.
² Your throne is established from of old;
    you are from everlasting.

³ The floods have lifted up, O Lord,
    the floods have lifted up their voice;
    the floods lift up their roaring.
⁴ Mightier than the thunders of many waters,
    mightier than the waves of the sea,
    the Lord on high is mighty!

⁵ Your decrees are very trustworthy;
    holiness befits your house,
    O Lord, forevermore.

Joshua 12–14 looks back in time and forward to the future at the same time. It recounts the kings defeated under Moses and Joshua, marking God’s faithfulness in giving victory, and then begins the distribution of the land among the tribes according to God’s promise. Joshua himself acknowledges that he is advancing in years and nearing the end of his life, even as much land remains to be possessed. This raises the sense of urgency and recognizes the ongoing nature of God’s work. In the midst of this, Caleb stands out as an example of enduring faith, confidently claiming the inheritance promised to him years earlier, trusting that the Lord will continue to give what he has pledged.

I noticed the word inheritance coming up 20 times in these chapters. An inheritance is something you receive from someone who has died. It may be a reward for one’s special care or as a recognition of the special place in the heart of the one giving it. But an inheritance by definition requires death. In these chapters no one has died.

Some might say this land distribution was a different kind of inheritance. But I wonder. I’m thinking of the deaths that were a part of Joshua’s conquest and the promised allotments of land in the Promised Land. I think of the Passover Lamb that was sacrificed, and the various animal sacrifices through the 40 years of wandering in the wilderness. And there’s the matter of the Israelites who died in their unsuccessful bid to take the city of Ai; not to mention the deaths of the peoples of the cities and kings Moses and Joshua conquered. There were plenty of deaths.

Then I think of Hebrews 9:15:

Therefore Jesus is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, since a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant.

That takes me to Good Friday. Jesus is sacrificed on the cross as the atoning sacrifice for the sins of the world. All the Old Testament sacrifices pointed forward to This One Sacrifice: the death of the Son of God. He has died for the remission of our sins. Thanks be to God!

Today’s psalm points us toward an important truth regarding Jesus’ death on the cross. Jesus has said that when he was lifted up he would draw all people to himself. He was lifted – you might even say exalted – on the cross. There are some very interesting connections between Jesus’ exaltation, his reign as the King of Grace when he hung on the cross.

So read that psalm again. And when you read about the king being clothed, remember that Jesus was stripped. And yet he reigned for he remained faithful. And let the One who was crucified for your sins and mine reign in your heart forever, live under him in his kingdom. Serve him in eternal righteousness, innocence, and blessedness – even as he is risen from the dead, and lives and reigns for all eternity – clothed now in majesty, splendor, and glory for all time. He lives and reigns for all eternity. This is most certainly true!

Click here for an audio version of this blog post.

These devotions are part of the Follow the Word Bible reading program at St. John Lutheran Church in Cypress, Texas. This year we are reading through the Scriptures together, listening for how God speaks through his Word day by day. I hope you will join me on this journey.

Today’s readings are Joshua 9-11, Psalm 92.

Joshua 10:12-21

At that time Joshua spoke to the Lord in the day when the Lord gave the Amorites over to the sons of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel,

“Sun, stand still at Gibeon,
    and moon, in the Valley of Aijalon.”
¹³ And the sun stood still, and the moon stopped,
    until the nation took vengeance on their enemies.

Is this not written in the Book of Jashar? The sun stopped in the midst of heaven and did not hurry to set for about a whole day. ¹⁴ There has been no day like it before or since, when the Lord heeded the voice of a man, for the Lord fought for Israel.

¹⁵ So Joshua returned, and all Israel with him, to the camp at Gilgal.

¹⁶ These five kings fled and hid themselves in the cave at Makkedah. ¹⁷ And it was told to Joshua, “The five kings have been found, hidden in the cave at Makkedah.” ¹⁸ And Joshua said, “Roll large stones against the mouth of the cave and set men by it to guard them, ¹⁹ but do not stay there yourselves. Pursue your enemies; attack their rear guard. Do not let them enter their cities, for the Lord your God has given them into your hand.” ²⁰ When Joshua and the sons of Israel had finished striking them with a great blow until they were wiped out, and when the remnant that remained of them had entered into the fortified cities, ²¹ then all the people returned safe to Joshua in the camp at Makkedah. Not a man moved his tongue against any of the people of Israel.

I’ve often said that the Old Testament shows us, again and again, what does not finally bring about the life God intends. Consider:

• A perfect creation, a garden full of good gifts, and only one prohibition—and yet it is undone by Adam and Eve’s sin.
• God judges the world’s wickedness through the flood, cleansing the earth—yet afterward, Noah falls into drunkenness, and sin rises again within his own family.
• God rescues his people from slavery in Egypt—yet they grumble, long to return, and that generation forfeits the promise.
• Joshua defeats cities and kings—and for a time there is peace… but only for a time.

Military victories, dramatic rescues, decisive judgments—even a perfect beginning—do not bring the fullness of God’s reign and rule. That is yet to come.

And yet, these same events reveal what is sure:

• God is the Creator of all things—and what he makes is good.
• God is mighty and gracious—rescuing his people and confounding his enemies.
• God does not ignore evil, yet provides a way of salvation for his people—flawed as they are.
• God hears even bold prayers, showing his power over all creation.

So while these accounts show what does not finally accomplish God’s purpose, they clearly show who God is—and in that we take comfort.

The final answer comes not through greater displays of power, but through something altogether different. This is what we remember this week.

God’s saving work is carried out in Jesus—through his life, teaching, miracles, betrayal, suffering, death, and resurrection. And it will be completed when Christ returns and gathers his people into the eternal Promised Land of light and joy.

On Maundy Thursday, a woman anoints Jesus in preparation for his burial. He shares the Passover with his disciples. In the garden, he prays while they sleep. Judas betrays him with a kiss. Jesus is arrested.

It does not look like victory. Nothing like Jericho. Nothing like Ai.

But those earlier stories were not the end—and neither is this one.

The history of Israel unfolds in a pattern of grace received, then forgotten, followed by exile, repentance, and restoration—until, after centuries of silence, John the Baptist calls people to prepare the way of the Lord.

Now that same pattern gathers around Jesus—but with one decisive difference:

Jesus remains faithful.

He goes to the cross. He dies. And he rises again.

So we sit in these moments of Maundy Thursday. We hear his new commandment—to love one another. And we wait—not for a possible salvation, but for the salvation Jesus has won for us..

Click here for an audio version of this blog post.

These devotions are part of the Follow the Word Bible reading program at St. John Lutheran Church in Cypress, Texas. This year we are reading through the Scriptures together, listening for how God speaks through his Word day by day. I hope you will join me on this journey.

Today’s readings are Joshua 6-8, Psalm 91.

Joshua 8:30-35

At that time Joshua built an altar to the Lord, the God of Israel, on Mount Ebal, ³¹ just as Moses the servant of the Lord had commanded the people of Israel, as it is written in the Book of the Law of Moses, “an altar of uncut stones, upon which no man has wielded an iron tool.” And they offered on it burnt offerings to the Lord and sacrificed peace offerings. ³² And there, in the presence of the people of Israel, he wrote on the stones a copy of the law of Moses, which he had written. ³³ And all Israel, sojourner as well as native born, with their elders and officers and their judges, stood on opposite sides of the ark before the Levitical priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord, half of them in front of Mount Gerizim and half of them in front of Mount Ebal, just as Moses the servant of the Lord had commanded at the first, to bless the people of Israel. ³⁴ And afterward he read all the words of the law, the blessing and the curse, according to all that is written in the Book of the Law. ³⁵ There was not a word of all that Moses commanded that Joshua did not read before all the assembly of Israel, and the women, and the little ones, and the sojourners who lived among them.

The destruction of Jericho by a band of priests and people marching and blowing trumpets is followed by the sad story of Achan, who took some silver for himself and was executed because he had transgressed the covenant of the LORD and done an outrageous thing in Israel (7:15). This is discovered only because of the ignominious defeat of Israel when they first attacked Ai. When Joshua cried out to the LORD because of this defeat, he learned of Achan’s treachery.

When the time comes to attack Ai – this time at the LORD’s bidding – a plan is devised by which the men of Ai are lured away from the city and ambushed by the men Joshua had positioned for that purpose. God gave Jericho into Israel’s hand by means of the blast of a trumpet. God now gives Ai into Israel’s hand by means of stealth and strategy.

After the victory, Joshua builds an altar to the LORD on Mount Ebal and reads the Law of Moses before the people. He recognizes that both the path behind them and the one ahead of them are the LORD’s. Yet even this points beyond itself. One day another offering would be made on a hill outside the city—the sacrifice of God’s Son to atone for the sins of the world.

Wednesday of Holy Week is much like that – quiet, but not empty. While Jesus continues on the path set before him, hidden plans are unfolding. Judas arranges his betrayal, and the leaders move forward with their scheme – not with noise and spectacle, but with strategy and stealth. No crowds, no miracles, just the quiet working of sin alongside the steady unfolding of God’s purpose. It is a sobering reminder that even in the ordinary and unseen moments, we are either participating in what God is doing or working against it. Yet none of this takes Jesus by surprise. He moves forward willingly, not deterred, but resolved to go to the cross for us.

Sometimes God’s work is miraculous and dramatic, like the walls of Jericho. Sometimes it comes through strategy and stealth, like the second battle of Ai. Our calling is to look to Jesus and seek his ways in all of life. Not every challenge we face is desperate and decisive. But every day we are given opportunities either to participate in what God is doing or to work against it.

Moses’ promise has been fulfilled: the prophet like him has come – and more than a prophet, he is the Son, the one to whom we must listen. In his death and resurrection he has secured forgiveness, life, and salvation, and he now speaks God’s truth and gives his grace for all – gifts received not by our effort, but by faith because God was at work through him – for our good and the praise of his glorious grace.

Click here for an audio version of this blog post.

These devotions are part of the Follow the Word Bible reading program at St. John Lutheran Church in Cypress, Texas. This year we are reading through the Scriptures together, listening for how God speaks through his Word day by day. I hope you will join me on this journey.

Today’s readings are Joshua 3-5, Psalm 90.

Joshua 3:9-17

And Joshua said to the people of Israel, “Come here and listen to the words of the Lord your God.” ¹⁰ And Joshua said, “Here is how you shall know that the living God is among you and that he will without fail drive out from before you the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Hivites, the Perizzites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, and the Jebusites. ¹¹ Behold, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth is passing over before you into the Jordan. ¹² Now therefore take twelve men from the tribes of Israel, from each tribe a man. ¹³ And when the soles of the feet of the priests bearing the ark of the Lord, the Lord of all the earth, shall rest in the waters of the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan shall be cut off from flowing, and the waters coming down from above shall stand in one heap.”

¹⁴ So when the people set out from their tents to pass over the Jordan with the priests bearing the ark of the covenant before the people, ¹⁵ and as soon as those bearing the ark had come as far as the Jordan, and the feet of the priests bearing the ark were dipped in the brink of the water (now the Jordan overflows all its banks throughout the time of harvest), ¹⁶ the waters coming down from above stood and rose up in a heap very far away, at Adam, the city that is beside Zarethan, and those flowing down toward the Sea of the Arabah, the Salt Sea, were completely cut off. And the people passed over opposite Jericho. ¹⁷ Now the priests bearing the ark of the covenant of the Lord stood firmly on dry ground in the midst of the Jordan, and all Israel was passing over on dry ground until all the nation finished passing over the Jordan.

Strength and courage writ large today! No staff-waving. No waiting for the winds to blow back the waters of the Red Sea. No dry ground in advance of their advancement. The waters of the Jordan are flowing. The priests carrying the Ark of the LORD step into the river. The waters stop. They pile high while the priests stand in the riverbed and the people of Israel pass through.

I can imagine the trepidation of everyone involved. Will the river waters really stop? Will the priests stay there while everyone passes over into the land? Will the waters stay piled up until everyone is across and the priests finish their duties? I can imagine people down stream waiting and seeing the waters stop flowing so that the pathway is larger and larger. I can imagine people shaking their heads in disbelief – only they are seeing what they can’t believe. I’m shaking my head now as I imagine this scene.

Joshua is being validated as Israel’s new leader. The priests were giving an object lesson of their function: holding back the waters as an image of their duties to stand between God’s judgment and the people. The people were given a lessons in faith, in God’s providential sovereignty over all things, and in his promise to give them the Promised Land. And Joshua was given a booster shot of courage and strength, for he is seeing the strength of God in their behalf. This is how they will overcome their enemies and occupy the land.

This is but a prelude to the next great sign from God when the walls of Jericho will come a-tumblin’ down. God is delivering on a promise he had made to Abraham centuries before. The deed isn’t done yet, but I cannot help but fast-forward into the centuries ahead. Eventually they will lose their land. They will lose their temple. The final Old Testament prophet – John the Baptist – tells the people of his day that their ancestry means nothing apart from God’s favor and grace. He can raise up stones to become his children (Luke 3:8). That’s why there would need some day to come a Savior the True Israel who will lead his people into the eternal promised land.

Let the crossing of the Jordan remind us of our baptism, by which we gain access into the family of God.

Think of the twelve stones as pointing to the living stones which God is using to build a spiritual house for his praise (1 Peter 2:5).

Imagine Rahab the harlot as foreshadowing of the woman taken in adultery whom Jesus forgave and sent her on her way to a new life (John 8:10-11).

Realize that just as the walls of Jericho fell when the people marched around the city and blew their trumpets at God’s command, just so, the stone in front of Jesus’ grave rolled away at his command and the Champion of Grace, Truth, Love, and Faith will rise. His reign will never end!

This is Holy Week. We’ll see Jesus at every turn even in these Old Testament accounts. Thanks be to God!

Click here for an audio version of this blog post.

These devotions are part of the Follow the Word Bible reading program at St. John Lutheran Church in Cypress, Texas. This year we are reading through the Scriptures together, listening for how God speaks through his Word day by day. I hope you will join me on this journey.

Today’s readings are Deuteronomy 34, Joshua 1-2, Psalm 89.

Deuteronomy 26:16-19

After the death of Moses the servant of the Lord, the Lord said to Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ assistant, ² “Moses my servant is dead. Now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, you and all this people, into the land that I am giving to them, to the people of Israel. ³ Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given to you, just as I promised to Moses. ⁴ From the wilderness and this Lebanon as far as the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites to the Great Sea toward the going down of the sun shall be your territory. ⁵ No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you or forsake you. ⁶ Be strong and courageous, for you shall cause this people to inherit the land that I swore to their fathers to give them. ⁷ Only be strong and very courageous, being careful to do according to all the law that Moses my servant commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may have good success wherever you go. ⁸ This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. ⁹ Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

God must be serious about Joshua’s need to be strong and courageous. Three times in these opening verses the command is repeated. “Be strong and courageous,” God tells Joshua, “for you shall cause this people to inherit the land that I swore to their fathers to give them” (v. 6). Then again: “Only be strong and very courageous, being careful to do according to all the law that Moses my servant commanded you” (v. 7). And once more: “Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go” (v. 9).

Moses is dead. The words land with a jarring finality. The great leader who brought Israel out of Egypt, through the Red Sea, and across the wilderness now stands at the edge of the Promised Land no longer. He endured complaints and rebellion, stood between God and the people, and spoke with the Lord face to face. But now he is gone. Joshua is the anointed leader. He is in charge. And into that moment comes God’s command: be strong and courageous.

The very next verse adds another dimension. Joshua must be strong and courageous not only to lead, but to remain faithful – to do all that Moses had commanded according to God’s Word. Following the Lord’s ways – especially as a leader – is no small task. Jesus himself speaks of the narrow way. Faithfulness requires strength of heart and courage of spirit. Sometimes that means resisting temptation; other times it means standing firm against pressure. Such courage is essential, especially for those who lead God’s people.

Then comes the third command – this time anchored in a promise: “Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” This is the foundation of it all. The call to courage is never given apart from the promise of God’s presence. Just as the Lord was with Moses, so he will be with Joshua (v. 5). The command and the promise belong together.

God is at work in each of us. Some are called to visible and demanding vocations – soldiers, EMTs, firefighters, police officers. As a pastor, I have needed strength and courage to lead God’s people. But all of us are called, in our own places, to stand firm and act faithfully. Whether resisting the temptation to drift from God’s mission or standing against pressures that pull us away from his ways, we hear these words and take courage from his promise: he is with us wherever we go.

And above all, we look to Jesus. He faced every temptation, yet without sin. Though he is the Son of God, he did not turn inward in self-preservation, but gave himself fully – even to the suffering of the cross. Where we falter and fail, he stands firm for us. He is our true and faithful leader, who has gone before us and now leads us into the Promised Land of life with God.

Click here for an audio version of this blog post.

These devotions are part of the Follow the Word Bible reading program at St. John Lutheran Church in Cypress, Texas. This year we are reading through the Scriptures together, listening for how God speaks through his Word day by day. I hope you will join me on this journey.

Today’s readings are Deuteronomy 25-27, Psalm 86.

Deuteronomy 26:16-19

“This day the Lord your God commands you to do these statutes and rules. You shall therefore be careful to do them with all your heart and with all your soul. ¹⁷ You have declared today that the Lord is your God, and that you will walk in his ways, and keep his statutes and his commandments and his rules, and will obey his voice. ¹⁸ And the Lord has declared today that you are a people for his treasured possession, as he has promised you, and that you are to keep all his commandments, ¹⁹ and that he will set you in praise and in fame and in honor high above all nations that he has made, and that you shall be a people holy to the Lord your God, as he promised.”

How do you identify yourself? Sometime in the past when she was asked about her church, Diane responded, “I am a follower of Jesus, and I worship in a Lutheran community.” That might not satisfy some who would wish for either, “I’m a Lutheran,” or “I’m a Christian.” But I think it is just right. Some don’t know what a Lutheran is. Others have preconceived notions about both Lutherans and Christians. Follower of Jesus brings him to the fore of the conversation. That’s where he belongs.

Years ago a group of pastors were having lunch and our server made a point of telling us she was a lesbian. I’m not sure what she expected from us; and frankly it may have just been a way to fend off unwanted advances. But I was saddened that she felt the need to make that her identity. We are more than our sexual orientation. Much much more.

Then there are those who broadcast their political affiliations on Facebook, X, or Instagram. Others make it all about their favorite sports team. Have you seen how some people dress up for games?

How do you identify yourself? Notice how God identifies his people here. They are a people for his treasured possession, and that they shall be a people holy to the Lord your God.” Notice the words after each: “as he has promised.”

Our ultimate identity is not self-chosen. It’s not up to us to claim to be a child of God. We become children of God through faith. John says it well: To those who received him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God (John 1:12). This is God’s promise. He has initiated the relationship by his grace. Just as he called Israel out of Egypt, God has called us out of the darkness of sin and death to faith in his Son.

We are his beloved sons and daughters by faith. That is our true identity. This is not only something to remember, it must shape our behavior in every aspect of life as we walk in his ways, and keep his statutes and his commandments and his rules, and obey his voice. This is how we show we have been redeemed, and that we are his children – all by God’s grace through faith in Jesus – in whom our true identity is founded and centered.

Click here for an audio version of this blog post.

These devotions are part of the Follow the Word Bible reading program at St. John Lutheran Church in Cypress, Texas. This year we are reading through the Scriptures together, listening for how God speaks through his Word day by day. I hope you will join me on this journey.

Today’s readings are Deuteronomy 22-24, Psalm 85.

Deuteronomy 24:17-22

“You shall not pervert the justice due to the sojourner or to the fatherless, or take a widow’s garment in pledge, ¹⁸ but you shall remember that you were a slave in Egypt and the Lord your God redeemed you from there; therefore I command you to do this.

¹⁹ “When you reap your harvest in your field and forget a sheaf in the field, you shall not go back to get it. It shall be for the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow, that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hands. ²⁰ When you beat your olive trees, you shall not go over them again. It shall be for the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow. ²¹ When you gather the grapes of your vineyard, you shall not strip it afterward. It shall be for the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow. ²² You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt; therefore I command you to do this.

There are some wildly different rules and laws in these chapters. They range all the way from men wearing women’s clothing, to two kinds of grain in the same furrow, to the way a man is to treat his wife, and the manner in which restitution and repayment is to be required. Some of them seem tender: the way one is to treat a bird’s nest in any tree or on the ground, with young ones or eggs and the mother sitting on the young or on the eggs (22:6). Some of them seem curious, like the prohibition against wearing cloth of wool and linen mixed together (22:11).

These laws show how God’s people are to live out justice, holiness, and love for neighbor in the ordinary, everyday details of life. And that becomes more obvious as we look closer to see that some deal with the manner in which the love for neighbor is to be expressed. They deal with returning lost property (22:1–4), building a parapet on a roof for safety (22:8), caring for the vulnerable (widows, sojourners, the poor) (24:17–22), fair wages paid promptly (24:14–15).

Some of them deal with protecting the weak and vulnerable: women in marriage laws, the poor through gleaning laws, debtors through limits on collateral, hired workers through just treatment. Deuteronomy 22–24 may seem like a collection of disconnected rules, but together they paint a picture of what life with God looks like in practice. These laws take the command to love God and love neighbor and press it into everyday situations – how we treat others, how we handle property, how we exercise power, and how we care for the vulnerable. God is not only giving laws; he is forming a people whose daily lives reflect his justice, mercy, and holiness.

That becomes most clear in the admonition: “You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt; therefore I command you to do this” (24:22). That memory – and the call to show mercy, justice for the weak, and care for others – shaped Jesus’ ministry far more than concerns about what kinds of cloth may be worn together or the tassels on the corners of garments. He quotes Hosea 6:6: “I desire mercy, and not sacrifice,” pointing us to a righteousness of the heart and calling us to treat others with dignity.

This matters more than technical adherence to legalistic rules. This – more than any outward clothing or ritual observance – should mark us as followers of Jesus and heirs of his salvation.

Click here for an audio version of this blog post.

These devotions are part of the Follow the Word Bible reading program at St. John Lutheran Church in Cypress, Texas. This year we are reading through the Scriptures together, listening for how God speaks through his Word day by day. I hope you will join me on this journey.

Today’s readings are Deuteronomy 19-21, Psalm 84.

Deuteronomy 19:15-21

“A single witness shall not suffice against a person for any crime or for any wrong in connection with any offense that he has committed. Only on the evidence of two witnesses or of three witnesses shall a charge be established. ¹⁶ If a malicious witness arises to accuse a person of wrongdoing, ¹⁷ then both parties to the dispute shall appear before the Lord, before the priests and the judges who are in office in those days. ¹⁸ The judges shall inquire diligently, and if the witness is a false witness and has accused his brother falsely, ¹⁹ then you shall do to him as he had meant to do to his brother. So you shall purge the evil from your midst. ²⁰ And the rest shall hear and fear, and shall never again commit any such evil among you. ²¹ Your eye shall not pity. It shall be life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.

In Deuteronomy 19–21, God’s law meets real life. These are not abstract commands, but concrete situations—questions about justice, responsibility, life, and death. Again and again, the pattern is the same: When this happens… here is what you are to do. God is shaping his people to live faithfully not just in principle, but in the complicated realities of everyday life. Moses is laying out a system of justice designed in such a way that, even when every possible situation is not addressed, there is a guiding principle for how God’s people are to act.

The scales of justice are meant to be balanced. When someone suffers loss, there is to be a just and measured restoration. In that light, the familiar phrase “eye for eye, tooth for tooth” sounds very different. Rather than a harsh or vengeful demand, it reflects a principle of fairness—justice that is proportionate and evenhanded. Years ago I heard it as a stern quid pro quo; here it reads more like a safeguard against excess, ensuring that justice neither overreaches nor falls short.

By the time Jesus came, however, these case laws had been so refined and expanded that the spirit of the Law was often obscured. People became more concerned with the details of Sabbath observance than with the purpose of the Sabbath—and failed to recognize the Lord of the Sabbath standing in their midst.

True justice amounts to more than keeping the scales balanced. When Jesus was asked, “Who is my neighbor?” or was told, “Tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me,” he did not simply apply the law—he called people deeper. At times he said, “Go and do likewise.” At other times, “Neither do I condemn you; go, and sin no more.” Jesus does not discard the Law, but fulfills it, revealing its true goal: faithful love and gracious compassion.

This is what pastors seek as they serve God’s people. We wrestle with real situations and real lives, asking: What does faithfulness look like here? In pastoral circles, this is often called casuistry—the careful application of God’s Word to specific and sometimes difficult circumstances. But it is not only about getting the answer right; it is about leading people to Jesus, the source of true justice, mercy, and love.

God’s justice is finally and fully revealed in Jesus Christ, and it is received by faith. So next time we are looking for justice, let our starting point be the justice and mercy Jesus provides, and let grace and truth guide our judgements.