David Bahn – Reflections

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Today’s readings are Mark 11-12; Psalm 6. I hope you will join me in reading these passages.

Psalm 6

O Lord, rebuke me not in your anger,
    nor discipline me in your wrath.
² Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am languishing;
    heal me, O Lord, for my bones are troubled.
³ My soul also is greatly troubled.
    But you, O Lord—how long?

⁴ Turn, O Lord, deliver my life;
    save me for the sake of your steadfast love.
⁵ For in death there is no remembrance of you;
    in Sheol who will give you praise?

⁶ I am weary with my moaning;
    every night I flood my bed with tears;
    I drench my couch with my weeping.
⁷ My eye wastes away because of grief;
    it grows weak because of all my foes.

⁸ Depart from me, all you workers of evil,
    for the Lord has heard the sound of my weeping.
⁹ The Lord has heard my plea;
    the Lord accepts my prayer.
¹⁰ All my enemies shall be ashamed and greatly troubled;
    they shall turn back and be put to shame in a moment.

I used to watch so-called Professional Wrestling on TV as a kid. It was many years ago – so many that the programs were in black and white. Dick the Bruiser had a tag-team partner, The Crusher and they would inflict pain and injury on their opponents beyond belief. Arms twisted four times around, chairs crashed across faces, and body slams that would kill a mere mortal. Double-teaming their opponents while tagging out. Now I know that was all scripted, but even though the outcomes were predetermined, the physicality was very real, and the “work” (the scripted performance) often blurred into a “shoot” (legitimate physical struggle).

The tag team effort to confound and discredit Jesus was at first successful only in providing fodder for Jesus’ confrontation of the Pharisees, Sadducees, scribes, and chief priests. They couldn’t touch him. No matter the sly posturing Jesus always had an answer. “Whose wife will she be?” the Sadducees ask. “You know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God,” Jesus answers. They ask, “By what authority do you do these things?” Jesus responds, “I’ll answer you if you tell me whether John’s baptism was from God or from man.” (These examples are from today’s Mark readings.)

Tag-team tactics against Jesus just don’t work. And when they’ve exhausted their energy trying to take him down, he teaches a parable about those who should have provided the fruit but who did not and quotes, “The stone the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone.” They would reject Jesus, but he would not be discarded. He will stand.

I can imagine that Jesus considered Psalm 6 more than once. And in the end his prayer in that vein was answered. He was delivered – even though he would go to the cross and die. And, sadly, his foes would be ashamed by their rejection of God’s Son our Savior.

Maybe you feel like you’re being tag-teamed. You might wonder whether God has abandoned you. But he has not. Just as surely as he rescued his Son from the grave, we will be rescued as well. We have been redeemed. We will stand with Jesus before God in humble faith and eternal praise.

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Today’s readings are Mark 9-10; Psalm 5. I hope you will join me in reading these passages.

Mark 9:1-8

And he said to them, “Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God after it has come with power.”

² And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, ³ and his clothes became radiant, intensely white, as no one on earth could bleach them. ⁴ And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses, and they were talking with Jesus. ⁵ And Peter said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good that we are here. Let us make three tents, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah.” ⁶ For he did not know what to say, for they were terrified. ⁷ And a cloud overshadowed them, and a voice came out of the cloud, “This is my beloved Son; listen to him.” ⁸ And suddenly, looking around, they no longer saw anyone with them but Jesus only.

My son is an officer in the United States Navy. When I think of power, I think of the aircraft carrier he served on a few years ago — a massive ship with immense resources to move through the seas and project strength where needed. Or I think of a powerful locomotive pulling tons of freight across the nation. Or the engines of a widebody jet, producing nearly 200,000 pounds of thrust.

When I think of spiritual power, my mind goes to the walls of Jericho falling as Joshua led Israel around the city. Or to Jesus calming the storm, commanding wind and waves to be still. Or to Jesus ordering the demons out of the man possessed by a legion.

But Jesus gives us a different picture of the kingdom of God coming with power. Mark makes clear that the Transfiguration fulfills Jesus’ promise: “There are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God after it has come with power.”

We might expect a bolt of lightning or another Red Sea moment. And in a way, that is exactly what the disciples are given — Moses, the witness to God’s saving power at the Red Sea, and Elijah, who once saw fire fall from heaven on Mount Carmel. They appear with Jesus before Peter, James, and John on the mountain.

So what does it mean to see the kingdom of God come with power? It means seeing Jesus for who he truly is. He is the fulfillment of the Law and the Prophets. He is God’s beloved Son, to whom we must listen. For a time, he hid his glory as he walked among us — but here, for a brief moment, that glory shines through.

And this is where the power of the kingdom still meets us today: not in displays that impress the strong, but in the Son who goes on from the mountain to the cross. There, in weakness and suffering, God’s true power is revealed — power to forgive sinners, to defeat death, and to give life that will never end.

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Today’s readings are Mark 3-4; Psalm 2. I hope you will join me in reading these passages.

Mark 3:1-12

Again Jesus entered the synagogue, and a man was there with a withered hand. ² And they watched Jesus, to see whether he would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse him. ³ And he said to the man with the withered hand, “Come here.” ⁴ And he said to them, “Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to kill?” But they were silent. ⁵ And he looked around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart, and said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was restored. ⁶ The Pharisees went out and immediately held counsel with the Herodians against him, how to destroy him.

⁷ Jesus withdrew with his disciples to the sea, and a great crowd followed, from Galilee and Judea ⁸ and Jerusalem and Idumea and from beyond the Jordan and from around Tyre and Sidon. When the great crowd heard all that he was doing, they came to him. ⁹ And he told his disciples to have a boat ready for him because of the crowd, lest they crush him, ¹⁰ for he had healed many, so that all who had diseases pressed around him to touch him. ¹¹ And whenever the unclean spirits saw him, they fell down before him and cried out, “You are the Son of God.” ¹² And he strictly ordered them not to make him known.

In 12 short verses Jesus encounters people in need with dramatic results because of the encounter. When he withdraws with his disciples to the sea, great crowds follow him and he teaches them, and heals many. When he encounters the unclean spirits they fall before him and confess that he is the Son of God. He will not let them witness to his identity. The time has not yet come. The religious leaders are not yet fully united and he has not accomplished all he was destined to do before his sacrificial death.

But he has certainly gotten their attention! Why would there ever be a question about healing someone – even on the Sabbath?!? What kind of religiosity do the Pharisees hold to that would even call that into question? I shake me head in unbelief as I consider their response. Jesus heals a man with a withered hand and the Pharisees take counsel with the Herodians(!) how to destroy him.

I suppose there are those who value decorum over grace. Some would see a man in desperate need – hungry, dirty clothes, unshaven, and smelly – and not wish him to enter their house of worship. I might even be put off in such a situation. But honestly, I’d be more fearful of the responses of the church members than I would of the man so obviously in need.

Jesus is not afraid of either. He came to seek and save the lost. He is the physician of the sin-sick. He is the healer of body and soul.

God, give us the courage to receive those who you send to us so that we may be instruments of your Good News to those in need!

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Today’s readings are Mark 3-4; Psalm 2. I hope you will join me in reading these passages.

Mark 3:1-12

Again Jesus entered the synagogue, and a man was there with a withered hand. ² And they watched Jesus, to see whether he would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse him. ³ And he said to the man with the withered hand, “Come here.” ⁴ And he said to them, “Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to kill?” But they were silent. ⁵ And he looked around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart, and said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was restored. ⁶ The Pharisees went out and immediately held counsel with the Herodians against him, how to destroy him.

⁷ Jesus withdrew with his disciples to the sea, and a great crowd followed, from Galilee and Judea ⁸ and Jerusalem and Idumea and from beyond the Jordan and from around Tyre and Sidon. When the great crowd heard all that he was doing, they came to him. ⁹ And he told his disciples to have a boat ready for him because of the crowd, lest they crush him, ¹⁰ for he had healed many, so that all who had diseases pressed around him to touch him. ¹¹ And whenever the unclean spirits saw him, they fell down before him and cried out, “You are the Son of God.” ¹² And he strictly ordered them not to make him known.

In 12 short verses Jesus encounters people in need with dramatic results because of the encounter. When he withdraws with his disciples to the sea, great crowds follow him and he teaches them, and heals many. When he encounters the unclean spirits they fall before him and confess that he is the Son of God. He will not let them witness to his identity. The time has not yet come. The religious leaders are not yet fully united and he has not accomplished all he was destined to do before his sacrificial death.

But he has certainly gotten their attention! Why would there ever be a question about healing someone – even on the Sabbath?!? What kind of religiosity do the Pharisees hold to that would even call that into question? I shake me head in unbelief as I consider their response. Jesus heals a man with a withered hand and the Pharisees take counsel with the Herodians(!) how to destroy him.

I suppose there are those who value decorum over grace. Some would see a man in desperate need – hungry, dirty clothes, unshaven, and smelly – and not wish him to enter their house of worship. I might even be put off in such a situation. But honestly, I’d be more fearful of the responses of the church members than I would of the man so obviously in need.

Jesus is not afraid of either. He came to seek and save the lost. He is the physician of the sin-sick. He is the healer of body and soul.

God, give us the courage to receive those who you send to us so that we may be instruments of your Good News to those in need!

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Today’s readings are Mark 1-2; Psalm 1. I hope you will join me in reading these passages.

Mark 1:1-15

The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

² As it is written in Isaiah the prophet,

“Behold, I send my messenger before your face,
    who will prepare your way,
³ the voice of one crying in the wilderness:
    ‘Prepare the way of the Lord,
    make his paths straight,’”

⁴ John appeared, baptizing in the wilderness and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. ⁵ And all the country of Judea and all Jerusalem were going out to him and were being baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. ⁶ Now John was clothed with camel’s hair and wore a leather belt around his waist and ate locusts and wild honey. ⁷ And he preached, saying, “After me comes he who is mightier than I, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. ⁸ I have baptized you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”

⁹ In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. ¹⁰ And when he came up out of the water, immediately he saw the heavens being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. ¹¹ And a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”

¹² The Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. ¹³ And he was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted by Satan. And he was with the wild animals, and the angels were ministering to him.

¹⁴ Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, ¹⁵ and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”

I may pick back up with the 49 week challenge next year (2027), but since we are reading the Bible together at St. John, I thought I would join in that process and use readings from the Follow the Word reading plan we’ll be using as a church this year. So here’s my reflections on the reading for day 1, January 1, 2026.

I can’t help but think of one of my favorite Movies, Sound of Music, and sing, “Let’s start at the very beginning…” Maria is teaching the Von Trapp children to sing. It’s a delightful scene, ending with an astounding rendition of “Do a deer…”

Mark’s beginning of the gospel [good news] of Jesus Christ, Son of God begins not only with his identity as the Son of God, but also with a call back to a 750-year-old prophecy of the coming of God’s messenger who will prepare the way for Jesus’ coming. John comes on the scene and declares that Jesus will baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire – abundant grace poured out in power, and a fire that both cleanses and judges. John recognizes that he is not worthy to untie Jesus’ sandals – Jesus is that great. That from the one of whom Jesus will say there is no one greater than John in the kingdom of heaven!

Jesus does come and helps us to understand the nature of the Good News. He announces that the time has come. This is an historic moment – a defining moment in the history of the world and of the kingdom of God. It is such because the reign and rule of God is at hand.

It is remarkable that Mark ties Jesus’ inaugural message – the kingdom of God is at hand – with the imprisonment of John the baptist. God’s reign and rule is mysterious, complex, and elegant all at once. It is also not dependent on outward circumstances. Wherever Jesus is present there is the reign and rule of God. And in the face of this terrible miscarriage of justice, Jesus comes and proclaims that God reigns.

He then tells us how that is really to happen. It happens when men and women repent and believe the gospel. In the face of sin, injustice, suffering, guilt, and shame stands Jesus. He is the embodiment of the good news of God.

Repentance is a life-long every-day process. Luther says, “When our Lord and Master Jesus Christ called men to repent, he meant that the entire life of the believer should be one of repentance.” The fullness of repentance is not only sorrow for sin, but faith in the goodness, mercy, love, and grace of God in Jesus.

This is the beginning and the end of the Good News: The kingdom of God is at hand when Jesus is present, and we must repent and believe this good news.

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Today’s readings are Colossians 1; Psalm 43; 89; 2 Chronicles 1; Job 39. I hope you will join me in reading these passages.

Colossians 1:15-19

[Jesus] is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. ¹⁶ For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. ¹⁷ And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. ¹⁸ And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. ¹⁹ For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, ²⁰ and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.

When you picture God, do you think of the glory of God as seen in the Tent of the Meeting: a pillar of cloud by day and of fire by night? Or Moses wishing to see God and being told that he cannot look on the face of God and live? God hides him in the cleft of the rock and passes by. And God said, “‘The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.”

That characteristic of God was clearly seen in Jesus. He abounded in steadfast love and faithfulness. He is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, forgiving iniquity. Yet he challenged the religious leaders who had made God inaccessible to the people of their day.

Paul says that in Jesus all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell. That in mind, I cannot get past the willingness of many to leave Jesus out of any talk of true religion or faith. Spirituality apart from Christ is empty and vain.

That’s to say nothing of those who strip Jesus of his true identity as the Son of God. Some want to claim to be Christian yet contend that he is a good teacher and no more. Others want to make Jesus one of several multiple choices in a pick-your-own-god vending machine of spiritual offerings. Many just ignore him altogether.

But it was through Jesus that God delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of Christ. Through him we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. We know who Jesus is. We honor him rightly and center our faith in his creative majesty, merciful redemption, amazing grace, and eternal salvation. No one else has those things to offer. Jesus. Only Jesus.

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Today’s readings are Acts 27; Numbers 29; Acts 28; Psalm 15; Psalm 119:65-96. I hope you will join me in reading these passages.

Acts 27:16-26

Running under the lee of a small island called Cauda, we managed with difficulty to secure the ship’s boat. ¹⁷ After hoisting it up, they used supports to undergird the ship. Then, fearing that they would run aground on the Syrtis, they lowered the gear, and thus they were driven along. ¹⁸ Since we were violently storm-tossed, they began the next day to jettison the cargo. ¹⁹ And on the third day they threw the ship’s tackle overboard with their own hands. ²⁰ When neither sun nor stars appeared for many days, and no small tempest lay on us, all hope of our being saved was at last abandoned.

²¹ Since they had been without food for a long time, Paul stood up among them and said, “Men, you should have listened to me and not have set sail from Crete and incurred this injury and loss. ²² Yet now I urge you to take heart, for there will be no loss of life among you, but only of the ship. ²³ For this very night there stood before me an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I worship, ²⁴ and he said, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul; you must stand before Caesar. And behold, God has granted you all those who sail with you.’ ²⁵ So take heart, men, for I have faith in God that it will be exactly as I have been told. ²⁶ But we must run aground on some island.”

There’s an old joke about the man who asked, “God, a thousand days are like a minute with you, right?” God answers: Yes. The young man says, then that means that 1 million dollars would be like 1 dollar, right?” God answers: Yes. The young man says, “Can I have a million dollars?” God answers, “Wait just a minute.”

How do you do with waiting? If you have to wait more than 30 minutes at the doctor’s office do you consider it par for the course, or do you get up and leave? How about the fast food drive through? What’s your time limit?

I thought of these things as I read about Paul’s journey to Rome – especially this portion of it as Luke records: And on the third day they threw the ship’s tackle overboard with their own hands. When neither sun nor stars appeared for many days, and no small tempest lay on us, all hope of our being saved was at last abandoned. I can’t imagine having to deal with a storm at sea for three days having both the sun and stars obscured from my sight. It must have seemed an eternity.

God operates outside the bonds of time and space. We are firmly held within both. Not only so, we are so very short-sighted. Think of the 400 years in Israel’s history between the time of Malachi the prophet and John the Baptist. No new Word from God was given — no prophet arose to speak with the authority of ‘Thus says the Lord.’ Finally John the Baptist begins his ministry, preparing the way for Christ.

God was not absent nor inactive during these years. Even in the long silence between the prophets, He was at work preserving His people and His Word. The development of the synagogue system, and the careful work of the scribes in copying the Scriptures, helped keep the Scriptures central in the life of Israel. And although the Pharisees often appear in conflict with Jesus in the Gospels, their emphasis on the authority of the Scriptures and the importance of teaching them played a role in keeping the faith alive among God’s people.

Just because God is unseen or unheard does not mean He is absent. What was true in Israel’s silent years was also true on that desperate ship with Paul and the others.

I’m not certain what was going on in the minds and hearts of the men with Paul on that ship. I know I would be pleading for God’s mercy, help, and deliverance. And I do know that deliverance was to come.

Whatever storms swirl in your life do not despair. There will be a deliverance. God is not asleep nor unaware. He hears your prayers. The storms will one day subside. When they do, give him the glory and rejoice in his deliverance.

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Today’s readings are Acts 26; Psalm 119:41-48; Jeremiah 1; 18; 35. I hope you will join me in reading these passages.

Psalm 119:41-43

Let your steadfast love come to me, O Lord,
    your salvation according to your promise;
⁴² then shall I have an answer for him who taunts me,
    for I trust in your word.
⁴³ And take not the word of truth utterly out of my mouth,
    for my hope is in your rules.

I think I’ve had it wrong all these years. Whenever I’ve read Psalm 119, I’ve heard “laws, rules, or decrees” merely as a list of do’s and don’ts. Of course the law of God is a list of things we must do and which we must not do. “Thou shalt not…” and “Thou shalt…” is all over especially the Old Testament. But one who tends toward rule bending (I’m not a deliberate rule-breaker, nor am I a rigid rule-follower), the love for God’s decrees, laws, and statutes has been somewhat muted.

But then I began to think differently. IRS rules: yuck! Bureaucratic paperwork requirements: No thank you! HOA covenants: only when they apply to others in my neighborhood. Same goes for the rules of ruthless dictators, drug lords, or organized crime bosses. No. Thank. You.

But God’s rules are all about justice, truth, love, and mercy. And even when those rules impinge on my own sense of righteousness – self-righteousness to be exact – they are meant to turn me back to God. When I realize I’ve broken God’s laws, decrees, or commandments, I repent, seek forgiveness, and change my way of living.

If true repentance means a change of mind – and that’s literally what the Greek word metanoia means – then I’m repenting of my bad thoughts about God’s decrees, commandments, and laws. I’m learning to love them.

You might be almost shocked to hear my confession in this regard. I’m sorry if that’s the case. But we all can learn new things about God’s word, law, commandments, and decrees. And I’m pretty sure I’m not finished learning.

In fact the laws of God are pure and good because God is not primarily a law-giver. God is a redeemer of sinners, a lover of the lost, abounding in steadfast love. So I say, “Let your steadfast love come to me, O Lord, your salvation according to your promise.” Amen.