Wanted: Dead or Alive
9 Then he said to me, "Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, mortal, and say to the breath: Thus says the Lord GOD: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live." 10 I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood on their feet, a vast multitude. 11 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.' 12 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. 13 And you shall know that I am the LORD, when I open your graves, and bring you up from your graves, O my people. 14 I will put my spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you on your own soil; then you shall know that I, the LORD, have spoken and will act," says the LORD. (Ezekiel 37:9-14)
To a people displaced by exile, Ezekiel spoke God's words of restoration and renewal. The people of Israel knew that their own sin was the reason for their circumstances, and they were unsure if God still claimed them or if God's promises still applied to them. But, as God commanded, life was restored to the dry bones when God's breath - or spirit - was breathed over them. Through Ezekiel, God spoke reassurance and hope.
When Jesus heard that Lazarus was ill, he waited two additional days before going to see him. By the time Jesus got to Bethany, Lazarus had been dead for four days. His sisters, Mary and Martha, were hurt and angry to think that Jesus would heal so many but allow his friend to die and them to suffer the loss of their brother and the loss of their stability since they were both unmarried. But Jesus wanted to do more than heal - he wanted to show that in him was life itself. After four days dead, no one could say that Lazarus was merely healed. Jesus had done the unimaginable and restored life the the lifeless.
With long-dried bones in the Old Testament and with the restoration of life in the New Testament, God consistently shows that life begins and ends when God says so - and not a moment before. Where are the dry places in our lives that we need God to breathe life over? Where have we bound up and buried a dream that awaits God's call to be unleashed? We are encouraged to speak in trust with Ezekiel, even in our uncertainty. We are called to faith with Martha, even when all seems lost. May God open our eyes to the ways and places that God is showing up and showing out, and may we never fail to praise the One who makes ways out of no way.
39 Jesus said, "Take away the stone." Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, "Lord, already there is a stench because he has been dead four days." 40 Jesus said to her, "Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?" 41 So they took away the stone. And Jesus looked upward and said, "Father, I thank you for having heard me. 42 I knew that you always hear me, but I have said this for the sake of the crowd standing here, so that they may believe that you sent me." 43 When he had said this, he cried with a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out!" 44 The dead man came out, his hands and feet bound with strips of cloth, and his face wrapped in a cloth. Jesus said to them, "Unbind him, and let him go."
(John 11:39-44)
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