Matthew Jones

A bit of wonder and possibly confusion.

I've been attending St. Alban's since moving to Baton Rouge in 2018. I enjoy serving as a Eucharistic Minister or on Altar Guild with my wife, Leah, and I also serve on the Advisory Committee.

"Then he said to me, “Mortal, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They say, ‘Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are cut off completely.’ Therefore prophesy, and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: I am going to open your graves, and bring you up from your graves, O my people; and I will bring you back to the land of Israel." Ezekiel 37:11-12

Click here to read the appointed scripture for Sunday in the Fifth Week of Lent.

Devotional

This passage from the prophet Ezekiel reads in an almost mystical tone while wrapped in symbolism. There’s a heavy focus on “flesh and bones”, with a visceral description of Ezekiel’s vision of God “laying sinews” upon these dry bones. If you read this as I did with a bit of wonder and possibly confusion, some historical context may help frame the scripture.

Ezekiel was a Judean exile in Babylonia in the 6th century BCE. He was among the first group of exiles taken from their homeland. In the earlier part of the book, his message focuses primarily on the coming doom of Israel, which is ultimately manifested in the Babylonian’s destruction of Jerusalem and Temple a mere decade after Ezekiel was exiled. We can only imagine that this period of turbulence felt like a complete shattering of everything the Israelites had known and held dear. After this catastrophe, however, the latter part of his prophetic career can be characterized as a message of hope and redemption for a broken Israel. This brings us to the passage in Chapter 37.

God says to Ezekiel, “Mortal, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They say, ‘Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are cut off completely.” He then instructs Ezekiel to say to them, “Thus says the Lord God: I am going to open your graves, and bring you up…I will bring you back to the land of Israel. And you shall know that I am the Lord…I will put my spirit within you, and you shall live…”

This passage is striking in its resemblance to Paul’s message in his letter to the Romans. “But if Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ from the dead…will give life to your mortal bodies also through his Spirit..” (Rom 8:10-11).

Perhaps Ezekiel’s conversation with God here is actually pointing us towards Israel’s future redemption through Christ. Their lives had been thrown into complete chaos, and they may have even felt like God had abandoned them. In this seemingly hopeless moment, God’s message is that He will act. Through no action of their own, God will “open their graves and bring them up.” In the same way, we were as good as dead when left alone in our sin. But God offers us new life. During this season of Lent, hold on to the hope that this new life is not earned through our righteousness, but freely given because of His righteousness.