David Bahn – Reflections

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These reflections grow out 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 Genesis 16-18; Psalm 30.

Genesis 16:1-8, 15-17

When Abram was ninety-nine years old the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless, ² that I may make my covenant between me and you, and may multiply you greatly.” ³ Then Abram fell on his face. And God said to him, ⁴ “Behold, my covenant is with you, and you shall be the father of a multitude of nations. ⁵ No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham, for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations. ⁶ I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make you into nations, and kings shall come from you. ⁷ And I will establish my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you. ⁸ And I will give to you and to your offspring after you the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession, and I will be their God.”

¹⁵ And God said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name. ¹⁶ I will bless her, and moreover, I will give you a son by her. I will bless her, and she shall become nations; kings of peoples shall come from her.” ¹⁷ Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed and said to himself, “Shall a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old? Shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?”

When I think of the story of Abraham and Sarah and God’s promise that they would have a son, I think of Sarah laughing in the tent when the Lord visited them and promised that within the year she would bear a child.

The Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Shall I indeed bear a child, now that I am old?’ Is anything too hard for the Lord? At the appointed time I will return to you, about this time next year, and Sarah shall have a son.” But Sarah denied it, saying, “I did not laugh,” for she was afraid. He said, “No, but you did laugh.” (Genesis 18:13–15)

This encounter is no laughing matter — whether we focus on Sarah’s laughter or remember that Abraham himself first laughed at the Lord’s seemingly impossible promise. It is no laughing matter because this is an encounter with the LORD — with Yahweh himself — who comes in the form of three men. One cannot help but glimpse the mystery of the Trinity in this moment.

Some biblical scholars see the pre-incarnate Christ in the appearances of the Angel of the LORD in the Old Testament, and there is much to commend this view. The Angel of the LORD speaks with divine authority, receives worship, and bears the very name of God — things no created angel may do. He appears distinct from the Father, yet fully identified as God, anticipating Christ, who would later take flesh as the visible, speaking presence of God among his people. The Angel of the LORD appears earlier to Hagar as she flees from Sarah in Genesis 16.

Here in Genesis 18 we encounter not the Angel of the LORD, but three men — and yet they act in the same manner. One of the three speaks and acts with the authority of the Lord himself, receiving Abraham’s reverence and making divine promises. The other two are later identified as angels, underscoring that the Lord is uniquely present among them. Together, this scene offers a profound glimpse into God’s triune life, with the Son appearing before his incarnation while the fullness of the Trinity is quietly implied.

Perhaps God’s startling promises still make us chuckle — whether in delight or disbelief. And yet in Jesus, God has shown up in real and personal ways. He brings promises that sound impossible and reveals a God who is full of grace and truth. Jesus is the Righteous One who stands between us and Satan, sin, and every kind of evil. In Christ, God himself steps into our story and keeps every promise he has made. And that’s no laughing matter.