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Ezekiel 37:1-14 (ESV)
The hand of the Lord was upon me, and he brought me out in the Spirit of the Lord and set me
down in the middle of the valley; it was full of bones. [2] And he led me around among them,
and behold, there were very many on the surface of the valley, and behold, they were very dry.
[3] And he said to me, "Son of man, can these bones live?" And I answered, "O Lord God, you
know." [4] Then he said to me, "Prophesy over these bones, and say to them, O dry bones, hear
the word of the Lord. [5] Thus says the Lord God to these bones: Behold, I will cause breath to
enter you, and you shall live. [6] And I will lay sinews upon you, and will cause flesh to come
upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live, and you shall
know that I am the Lord." [7] So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I prophesied, there
was a sound, and behold, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone. [8] And I
looked, and behold, there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had
covered them. But there was no breath in them. [9] Then he said to me, "Prophesy to the
breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, Thus says the Lord God: Come from the
four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live." [10] So I prophesied as he
commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived and stood on their feet, an
exceedingly great army. [11] Then he said to me, "Son of man, these bones are the whole house
of Israel. Behold, they say, 'Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are clean cut off.'
[12] Therefore prophesy, and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will open your
graves and raise you from your graves, O my people. And I will bring you into the land of
Israel. [13] And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves, and raise you
from your graves, O my people. [14] And I will put my Spirit within you, and you shall live,
and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I am the Lord; I have spoken,
and I will do it, declares the Lord."
“God Breathes Life”
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and our Lord and savior Jesus
Christ, Amen. Mankind has a fascination with dirt. We play in it when we are younger
and explore it when we are adults. The ground has lead to uncovering a great deal of
information. Paleontologists have helped to reveal unknown creatures like dinosaurs.
Archeologists have contributed to identifying unusual cultures like the Egyptians. Yet, it
is the physical anthropologists that have truly drawn us closest to facing our humanity
in all its shapes and sizes. This field of study looks at the bones of man. Their whole
work could be summed up as digging and sifting through our death. It also has a fair
amount of job security because one thing is for certain during this Lent season, “Dust
you are and to dust you shall return.”
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God made His prophet Ezekiel a physical anthropologist in our Old Testament
reading. He took him by the Spirit of the Lord to a valley that was littered with human
bones. It must have been a shocking sight to experience. There was no distinction for
him between man or woman, child or adult, rich or poor, or even what kind of death.
They were simply a lot of bones and they were old. Unlike movie ratings, the Bible
does not sensor this story from different age groups. It makes it a point that all people
face the reality of death because death is what we have in common from the youngest
to the oldest. However, the purpose of the text is greater than describing some morbid
picture. It is to finally show that underneath such judgment over life the Lord’s
goodness still remains for all those who believe in Him. God will breathe life into death
by His Spirit of the Gospel.
Ezekiel saw quite a wonder as dry bones were being resurrected from the dead.
He declared, “And as I prophesied, there was a sound, and behold, a rattling, and the
bones came together, bone to its bone. And I looked, and behold, there were tendons
on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them.” The Jews that
had been taken away to Babylon were to know of something better than what they had
been experiencing. Their exile was a just consequence for their sinful actions while
living as a divided kingdom in the Promised Land. The nation of Judah might have
lasted longer than Israel by following the Law, but over time they too fell short. Now
there was no glory for any of God’s people. It is in this context that Ezekiel’s words of a
resurrection certainly sounded amazing. To think that they would be given back
everything they lost was a dream come true for those in captivity.
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The excitement of the resurrection also belongs to our teachings as Christians.
We confess it in the creeds stating, “I believe in the resurrection of the body.” It is
something beyond scientific study, but does not mean it is out of this world. We get a
sense of the resurrection anytime a person is revived by CPR or shocked back to life
by fibulators. To teach such a truth from God brings comfort to lives that face death.
Even Martha in our Gospel reading believed in a “resurrection on the last day” without
Jesus telling her. The hope of man being restored to bodily life after death is definitely
not limited to Christianity. There are plenty of other religions that take comfort for a
similar outcome such as Judaism, Muslims, those who teach reincarnation, ancient
Greek philosophies, and Egyptian cults. If anything, this shows that people understand
their captivity to death and want life. Bones lie all around us as evidence of the
undoing that is taking place in our bodies caused by sin against God’s Law. St. Paul
said, “Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.”
As much as Ezekiel deeply watched the bones come together it was God
breathing life by His Spirit into them that made all the difference and received the
center of attention. The Lord said to his prophet, “Prophesy to the breath; prophesy,
son of man, and say to the breath, ‘Thus says the Lord God: Come from the four
winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live.” Israel would receive
more than restoration as a nation to the Promised Land, but they would once again
carry the Spirit of God with them. It was not enough to be alive, but without the Lord in
their presence Israel was better off dead. His Word is what made them alive as the
great nation that sprung up during the time of King David who believed in God’s
promises. However, the prophecy of Ezekiel did not fulfill what many Jews were
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expecting to happen when they returned from exile. The nation never grew to such
status as in their past, but the true glory for them to carry was hidden in God’s promise
of the savior. The Messiah was sent to breathe a life by His Spirit into the death that
covered the lives of all people.
Any talk about the resurrection by Christians quickly departs from the other
religions. It focuses upon receiving the words of life that Jesus’ proclaims. What He
promises to give on the final day is what He already gives to our dead bodies of sin
today. Christ is the one who walked in the valley of death and has seen all the bones
of men. It made Him pour out His life giving Spirit on the cross to declare by his last
breath, “It is finished.” As Jesus was stripped apart by our sin His death was speaking
our words of life. Baptism is where this perfect sacrifice was proclaimed over our
lifeless bodies. It put the Gospel into us as Ezekiel’s words promised, “And I will put my
Spirit within you, and you shall live.” This living continues at the present by confession
and absolution, hearing the preached Word of Law and Gospel, and receiving the
Lord’s Supper for there the Spirit is being given in the midst of our death. We believe
in these promises and they create in us a love that lives toward our neighbor. St. Paul
directs us to pay attention to what God is doing for us saying, “To set the mind on the
flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.”
What is penetrating our flesh is Jesus’ victory that has conquered all sin, death,
and powers of the Devil. We are certainly not waiting for the resurrection. We are living
in it by being in the presence of God’s Son, the Word at creation, the savior who
speaks His words of life into our death by His Word and Sacraments. Oprah Winfrey
recently stated on her talk show that, “There could not possibly be only one way of
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salvation.” What mattered to her was that people were on the right path of doing good
and that was to determine where they go. The physical anthropologist is going to find
the bones of Oprah some day, they will find all of our bones, because our works are
not good enough and it amounts to death. However, there is one man’s bones they will
never find and that is Jesus. He has risen from the dead and is now breathing His
Spirit of forgiveness into people’s lives to have faith in Him. It is this same word of life
that will be preached to our bones on the last day. They will have newness, but more
importantly they will have in them the Spirit of Him who even loves us now by the
cross. Amen. Now may the peace of God which passes all understanding be with your
hearts and minds in Christ Jesus to life eternal, Amen.