Revised Common Lectionary readings for today:
Ezekiel 37: 1-14; Psalm 130; Romans 8: 6-11; John 11: 1-45
All of these readings deal with death and life – what makes the difference between death and life. Ezekiel is taken to the valley of dry bones and challenged to prophesy to them to given them life once more. It takes a couple of attempts to reclothe the bones and put breath into them but suddenly Ezekiel sees a multitude. The vision is to show Ezekiel that although the Israelites believe they are beyond redemption, Yahweh has the power to resurrect them – he has not forgotten them.
Psalm 130 picks up the image from the viewpoint of those who feel neglected, left in “the depths”. As is often the case with a psalm that starts with crying out to the Lord, an answer appears in later verses. The author accepts that he needs to wait for the Lord and hope, because he will be redeemed.
In the letter to the Romans we are reminded that we are more than flesh; we have the indwelling Holy Spirit. This gives us life as the same spirit that raised our Lord Jesus Christ lives within us.
In the Gospel, we find the story of the miracle of raising a very dead Lazarus (v 39 in the KJV reads: Lord, by this time he stinketh). A message is received by Jesus that Lazarus is ill. Jesus’s response is: ‘This illness does not lead to death; rather it is for God’s glory, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.’ He delays visiting Bethany but assures the disciples plainly, ‘Lazarus is dead’. A large crowd had gathered to comfort Mary and Martha, who was bold enough tell Jesus that he could have saved her brother if he had attended earlier. Jesus utters the fifth of his I AM sayings: I am the resurrection and the life. Now Mary gets involved, again expressing the view that Jesus’s presence could have saved Lazarus’s life. Mary was weeping, those gathered were weeping and Jesus himself began to weep. Jesus showed signs of being deeply moved by Lazarus’s death as he went to the tomb. He ordered the stone to be removed from the tomb, thanked Father God for hearing his prayer and told Lazarus to come out from the tomb, which he did.
We live in a cynical age where either this miracle didn’t happen or we can explain it away: Lazarus was merely in a coma. Set that aside, if that is how you are inclined to think. Our lives are in God’s hands – his breath is in us, his Holy Spirit, and we trust him to keep us alive both before and after death. We do not know how this process will be achieved – we need to have faith and hope in God’s love. There IS a resurrection; Jesus himself opened the gates of Heaven for us. That is all there is to it, if we are truly Christian. Amen.
Elaine Kinchin
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