Ezekiel 37:1-14
In the Name + of JESUS. Amen.
Can these bones live? That’s the big question. Ezekiel surveys the valley, and they are bleached white, scattered here and there; an image of some dystopian future. The chilling terror of a grotesque horror movie. The aftermath of a devastating disaster. A valley littered with the bones of a once great army. A veritable valley of the shadow of death. It looks like the end - not just for them, but for us. Can these bones - my bones - live?
Ezekiel takes the safe route: “O Lord God, you know.” “Don’t ask me about these big issues of life and death! It’s beyond my brain what can happen. I don’t know if these bones can live. I don’t know what happens after death. I fear the grave and its symptoms, so I attempt to stave them off. I don’t know if these bones, if my bones, can live. But you, O Lord God, you know.”
Then comes the answer: Prophesy! Preach the Word of the Lord over these bones! And the prophet preached as he was commanded. He proclaimed the Word of the Lord over the exceedingly dry bones. And the bones came together with a great rattling. Sinews appeared on them and flesh had come upon them, and skin covered them. But they were dead. More gruesome maybe than just the bare bones. A valley filled with dead bodies.
And then comes the answer again: Prophesy to the breath, the ruach, the Spirit, that He may breathe on them that they may live. And as Ezekiel prophesies to the Breath, the Breath of God, the Ruach of God, that is, the Spirit of God, the Lord and Giver of Life, as it was with the lifeless clay of Adam, so now for these dead bodies - the Breath of God enters them and suddenly they are alive, standing on their feet - a great army!
Can these bones live? Yes, for the Word of the Lord can reconstitute their true nature and the Spirit can give them life. The Living Word and the life giving Spirit, sent from and proceeding from the Father who is life and bestows life.
Now all Old Testament prophesies are history. They have fulfillment in their historical context. And the historical context of this vision, this dream, given to the prophet is a picture of the nation-state of Israel, God’s chosen people. They had forsaken His covenant with them. He allowed them to be decimated by Babylon and hauled off into captivity. As Ezekiel was carried off with many in the first wave they beheld the destruction of the Temple, the tearing down of the Altar, the end of the sacrifices, the demolition of the throne of David. And in the face of such heartbreak they asked, “Would they ever be restored? Has God cut off Israel forever? Has He neglected and forsaken them.” Can these bones live?
But in our Lord’s answer lies a prophecy that was to be fulfilled in the fullness of time; The revelation of God’s power to raise the dead sends beams of light into the future beyond Israel’s rescue from death in the Babylonians graveyard. A revived Israel is but the earthly clay that He will use to call into being a Spirit-filled people of all nations, once dead in trespasses but made alive in Christ Jesus.
Glimpses of this Light are seen in the Seed of the Woman promised to Adam and Eve, in the One who is the antitype of the Ark and the redemption of the world, in the One foreshadowed in the near sacrifice of Isaac. Here is the mystery: Ezekiel beheld the CAVOD YHWH, that is, He who is the Glory of the Lord, seated upon the throne, the One who speaks and the Spirit is bestowed in the Word. All of this ought to sound a bit familiar; reminiscent of the explanation of the Third Article of the Apostles’ Creed, in which you are catechized. The Holy Spirit of Christ is bestowed in the Word of Christ. These two are inseparable and cannot be divorced: the Spirit and the Word.
Further, the One who speaks to Ezekiel and the Word which he spoke, the Second Person of the Trinity, the Word of the Lord which gives life, who caused flesh to come upon the dry bones and give them life, He took up our frail flesh, conceived by the Holy Spirit in the Word spoken to the Virgin Mary, and came in order to bestow upon you and all mankind His life.
Christ came as Ezekiel: the Son of Man, the Son of Adam, the true and final Prophet sent from the Father, commanded to speak His Word of life, bestowing His life giving Spirit. Breathing His life giving Breath into dead, dust, lifeless bones. For this is the fulfillment of the prophecy of Ezekiel - Israel’s own land - it is not the restoration of the nation-state in 1948, rather that the Son of God would be Incarnate of the Virgin and born in Bethlehem, in Israel’s own land.
He came as Israel reduced to One, on behalf of all Israel and all Gentiles, in the place of all humanity, in order to do battle against the Babylon of Satan’s kingdom, to route the exceedingly great army of his demons. He was splayed out upon the Cross, His joints and sinews stretched, His skin pierced with the steel lance, His strength dried up like a potsherd. His hope was lost and He was clean cut off from the land of the living.
But in the Father’s Word and promise did He hope. He was placed into the grave, but its could not hold Him. And the question asked of Ezekiel was Thomas’ question that Easter eve: Can these bones live? The bones of Him who raised the dead, but when He was killed, can He live again?
The others told Him: Yes! These bones can and do live again. But Thomas wanted to see and touch and handle. So did our Lord Jesus abide his request. But not only that, the Resurrected One, sent His Twelve as His Father sent Him: with His Word and Spirit. He breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of anyone, they are forgiven; if you withhold forgiveness from anyone, it is withheld.”
Life risen from the dead sends out His own with an embassy of forgiveness, an embassy sealed with the good news that “these bones live” and because HIS bones live again and forever, ours shall too.
—> Example of King David, Bathsheba, Nathan, and Psalm 51
And this is indeed what occurs each time the Holy Absolution is breathed upon you from the Mouth of the Lord’s Servant. The Lord restores the bones that He has broken. He restores unto you the joy of His salvation and grants you a willing spirit, one in conformity with the Holy Spirit of Christ. For the breath of God goes out in the Word. Excessively creative. He gives life where there is death. Resurrects and restores.
It is written, The hour is coming and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live (Jn 5:25). Indeed that hour is now! For the Prince of Life reigns immortal, never to die again. He bestows His Holy Sprit, and at His command death must surrender its victims. For He who raised Jesus from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies. Can these bones, my bones, live? Yes! For you live in Him who has overcome death, in Him who is Life itself. He has raised you from your watery grave of Baptism and He will raise you from your grave on the Last Day and bring you into the eternal Israel.
In the Name of the Father + and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
In the Name + of JESUS. Amen.
Can these bones live? That’s the big question. Ezekiel surveys the valley, and they are bleached white, scattered here and there; an image of some dystopian future. The chilling terror of a grotesque horror movie. The aftermath of a devastating disaster. A valley littered with the bones of a once great army. A veritable valley of the shadow of death. It looks like the end - not just for them, but for us. Can these bones - my bones - live?
Ezekiel takes the safe route: “O Lord God, you know.” “Don’t ask me about these big issues of life and death! It’s beyond my brain what can happen. I don’t know if these bones can live. I don’t know what happens after death. I fear the grave and its symptoms, so I attempt to stave them off. I don’t know if these bones, if my bones, can live. But you, O Lord God, you know.”
Then comes the answer: Prophesy! Preach the Word of the Lord over these bones! And the prophet preached as he was commanded. He proclaimed the Word of the Lord over the exceedingly dry bones. And the bones came together with a great rattling. Sinews appeared on them and flesh had come upon them, and skin covered them. But they were dead. More gruesome maybe than just the bare bones. A valley filled with dead bodies.
And then comes the answer again: Prophesy to the breath, the ruach, the Spirit, that He may breathe on them that they may live. And as Ezekiel prophesies to the Breath, the Breath of God, the Ruach of God, that is, the Spirit of God, the Lord and Giver of Life, as it was with the lifeless clay of Adam, so now for these dead bodies - the Breath of God enters them and suddenly they are alive, standing on their feet - a great army!
Can these bones live? Yes, for the Word of the Lord can reconstitute their true nature and the Spirit can give them life. The Living Word and the life giving Spirit, sent from and proceeding from the Father who is life and bestows life.
Now all Old Testament prophesies are history. They have fulfillment in their historical context. And the historical context of this vision, this dream, given to the prophet is a picture of the nation-state of Israel, God’s chosen people. They had forsaken His covenant with them. He allowed them to be decimated by Babylon and hauled off into captivity. As Ezekiel was carried off with many in the first wave they beheld the destruction of the Temple, the tearing down of the Altar, the end of the sacrifices, the demolition of the throne of David. And in the face of such heartbreak they asked, “Would they ever be restored? Has God cut off Israel forever? Has He neglected and forsaken them.” Can these bones live?
But in our Lord’s answer lies a prophecy that was to be fulfilled in the fullness of time; The revelation of God’s power to raise the dead sends beams of light into the future beyond Israel’s rescue from death in the Babylonians graveyard. A revived Israel is but the earthly clay that He will use to call into being a Spirit-filled people of all nations, once dead in trespasses but made alive in Christ Jesus.
Glimpses of this Light are seen in the Seed of the Woman promised to Adam and Eve, in the One who is the antitype of the Ark and the redemption of the world, in the One foreshadowed in the near sacrifice of Isaac. Here is the mystery: Ezekiel beheld the CAVOD YHWH, that is, He who is the Glory of the Lord, seated upon the throne, the One who speaks and the Spirit is bestowed in the Word. All of this ought to sound a bit familiar; reminiscent of the explanation of the Third Article of the Apostles’ Creed, in which you are catechized. The Holy Spirit of Christ is bestowed in the Word of Christ. These two are inseparable and cannot be divorced: the Spirit and the Word.
Further, the One who speaks to Ezekiel and the Word which he spoke, the Second Person of the Trinity, the Word of the Lord which gives life, who caused flesh to come upon the dry bones and give them life, He took up our frail flesh, conceived by the Holy Spirit in the Word spoken to the Virgin Mary, and came in order to bestow upon you and all mankind His life.
Christ came as Ezekiel: the Son of Man, the Son of Adam, the true and final Prophet sent from the Father, commanded to speak His Word of life, bestowing His life giving Spirit. Breathing His life giving Breath into dead, dust, lifeless bones. For this is the fulfillment of the prophecy of Ezekiel - Israel’s own land - it is not the restoration of the nation-state in 1948, rather that the Son of God would be Incarnate of the Virgin and born in Bethlehem, in Israel’s own land.
He came as Israel reduced to One, on behalf of all Israel and all Gentiles, in the place of all humanity, in order to do battle against the Babylon of Satan’s kingdom, to route the exceedingly great army of his demons. He was splayed out upon the Cross, His joints and sinews stretched, His skin pierced with the steel lance, His strength dried up like a potsherd. His hope was lost and He was clean cut off from the land of the living.
But in the Father’s Word and promise did He hope. He was placed into the grave, but its could not hold Him. And the question asked of Ezekiel was Thomas’ question that Easter eve: Can these bones live? The bones of Him who raised the dead, but when He was killed, can He live again?
The others told Him: Yes! These bones can and do live again. But Thomas wanted to see and touch and handle. So did our Lord Jesus abide his request. But not only that, the Resurrected One, sent His Twelve as His Father sent Him: with His Word and Spirit. He breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of anyone, they are forgiven; if you withhold forgiveness from anyone, it is withheld.”
Life risen from the dead sends out His own with an embassy of forgiveness, an embassy sealed with the good news that “these bones live” and because HIS bones live again and forever, ours shall too.
—> Example of King David, Bathsheba, Nathan, and Psalm 51
And this is indeed what occurs each time the Holy Absolution is breathed upon you from the Mouth of the Lord’s Servant. The Lord restores the bones that He has broken. He restores unto you the joy of His salvation and grants you a willing spirit, one in conformity with the Holy Spirit of Christ. For the breath of God goes out in the Word. Excessively creative. He gives life where there is death. Resurrects and restores.
It is written, The hour is coming and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live (Jn 5:25). Indeed that hour is now! For the Prince of Life reigns immortal, never to die again. He bestows His Holy Sprit, and at His command death must surrender its victims. For He who raised Jesus from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies. Can these bones, my bones, live? Yes! For you live in Him who has overcome death, in Him who is Life itself. He has raised you from your watery grave of Baptism and He will raise you from your grave on the Last Day and bring you into the eternal Israel.
In the Name of the Father + and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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