“Can these bones live?” Interesting, isn’t it, that it is God Himself who asks the question of Ezekiel. It’s not Ezekiel asking God if the valley of bones has any chance of life returning – it’s God asking Ezekiel: Creator asking Created; Living God asking Mortal Man about Dead Bones. “Can these bones live?” Is it a good question, or is it a silly question? On the one hand, Ezekiel most certainly heard about Elijah and Elisha both raising the dead back to life, and even a dead man being brought back to life merely by touching Elisha’s bones. So, good question – can this valley of bones live, also? Sure! But each of those examples were recent deaths – the bodies only beginning to decay with bones far from being “very dry” as Ezekiel was seeing. How can dehydrated, sun-bleached and brittle bones have the slightest chance of life returning? Can these bones – these very dry bones – can these bones live?
If a human being had asked that of another human, the
affirmative answer would have been laughable. Marrow-less bones are lifeless
bones, bloodless bones are dead bones, and these are so far from life that it
is impossible to even begin to think there could be life.
Except when the Word of the Lord speaks. “Son of man, can
these bones live?”, Ezekiel is asked. His answer: “O Lord God, you know.” It’s
as if he is saying, “While from my eyes it appears that there is no life, humanly
speaking, with no hope left in these bones, all thing are possible for you, O
Lord.” The Lord commands Ezekiel to preach to the strangest congregation ever
assembled. Talk about a dead crowd.
God did not take Ezekiel to merely observe the scene. The
prophet is called to declare the word of the Living God that will being life
once again to the bones of the dead. As the vision unfolds, God speaks, then
the prophet speaks, then the bones rattle as they begin to creep across the
surface of the ground, one toward each other. It would be spooky if it wasn’t
so miraculous! Each bone joins itself to its neighbor. Ligaments appear and
tighten; muscles form and take shape; tendons join muscles together, organs
form and then skin spreads across the entire body. The horror of death is being
undone before Ezekiel’s eyes. But it’s not done, yet. There are, now, bodies…a
valley full of bodies…but they are not yet alive. God speaks again, then the
prophet speaks again, and the winds, the breath, the spirit of God, they are
summoned to bring and carry life into the dead. The corpses – now living
persons – stand on their feet.
It is normal and right that we see in this vision of Ezekiel
a foreshadowing of the resurrection of the dead. For Christ has promised to you
that on the last day He will join your bones one to another, sinew and
ligaments and tendons will join everything together, muscles will regrow, and
flesh will again cover you. Breath – His breath of life - will again fill your
lungs and blow out the cobwebs of death and you will stand wholly – and holy +
- resurrected before the Lord of Life Himself. Your resurrected voice will join
the entire people of God, also resurrectedly whole, from every nation and every
race, and your living voices will be united at the very throne of the Lamb to
resolve the babbling of Babel with the glorious unity of Pentecost in one great
Te Deum to rattle the halls of eternity with a hymn of Glory to Him who rose in
triumph who conquered death itself.
This Pentecost picture is normal and right. But it is not
the point that God is making to Ezekiel in this text. While this picture of the
resurrection is true for us as well, it is also not the main point for us,
either.
As Ezekiel stands in the vast army of resurrected souls,
three times God makes his point perfectly clear. Three times, God tells the
army that the purpose of the restoration and resurrection is that they may know
that He is the Lord: in verse 6, when the body is re-made; in verse 13, when
the graves are opened, and in verse 14 when the Lord gives them His spirit,
each time declaring “You will know I am the Lord.” In this way, God makes his
message plain. The resurrection of Israel that God foretells is not an end to
itself. It is a means to a greater end. It will teach Israel to know the Lord.
For only in knowing the Lord will Israel finally have eternal life.
Through Ezekiel’s vision, God calls Israel to know the Lord.
I don’t mean “know” in an academic sense – such as to know that the square root
of 9,604 is 98. This is more than head knowledge. This is whole-self knowledge:
to know, to believe, to trust, to rely. He is calling them to know that He, He
alone is God, and to live in the certainty of that faith. In the same way, He
calls you to know the Lord – that is, to know, believe, trust and rely that He
alone is God and to live in the certainty of that faith.
You know – believe, trust, rely – on Him as Your savior. He,
down to His bones, bore the burden of your sins. He, whose bones were nailed to
the cross for your sins. He, whose bones – like His ancestor David – whose
bones were as wax, without strength, and whose tongue was as dry as a broken
piece of pottery. He, whose bones were not broken in death, but were buried
into the earth. You were called to that knowing of Christ as savior by the
power of the Holy Spirit.
We confess this, knowing, believing, trusting and relying on
Him. Easy to say; hard to do. We look into this valley of bones around us and
we wonder. We wonder if these bones can live – can broken relationship be
mended, can broken bodies be healed, can broken minds be at peace, can broken
hearts love again. We wonder if these bones will live – waking up with the
first feeling being one of pain; another trip to the hospital for a loved one;
when you stand at the death bed of a loved one. We wonder if these bones will
live – the guilt over the words spoken in anger; the shame of failing others in
their time of need; the pain of knowing that my sin hurt someone down to their
own bones. Lord, have mercy! Can these bones live?
Dear bones: hear the Word of the Lord: “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.” He has
spoken that in baptismal water, your sins are washed away and you are made His,
redeemed and beloved children. He has spoken His Word, repeated through the
breath of parents and Sunday school teachers and pastors who proclaim that Word
of forgiveness, grace and compassion. He has spoken that His body and blood are
truly, miraculously present in this sip of wine and thin wafer for the
forgiveness of sins and the strengthening of spirit and bones that are made
weary by the world. He has given you such a faith. You know Him as Jesus, the
Christ, the Son of the Living God. Not
just know [touch head] but to know [make sign of cross], believe, trust and
rely in Him as Jesus, the Christ, the Son of the Living God. And, He knows you
as His.
To strengthen you in that faith, as you walk through this
valley of the shadow of death, surrounded by dry dusty bones that yearn for
life eternal, our Lord gives you His Word of comfort that He is the
resurrection and the life and that all who believe in Him will have eternal
life. This is most certainly true! But in that same Word of God, we also find a
hint, a glimpse, at the what the Lord does in and through those moments when it
seems that you are, in fact, nothing but a pile of dried up bones: “that you
may know I am the Lord.” In those moments of weakness, God is our refuge and
strength. In those moments of dryness and brittleness, His strength is made
perfect in our weakness. In those moments when we feel as useless as a valley
of bones, God speaks to us and reminds you that you have been united to the
body of Christ. You do not go through this valley alone; united to Christ,
baptized into Christ, clothed with Christ, fed by Christ, He – who is your
great High Priest and knows your joys and sorrows – carries you through the
valley of the shadow. That’s when you realize, it’s not about you at all. It’s
about Him and His Word. He is the Lord. He has spoken and He will do it.
In Christ, you do know the Lord. You know Him now! You know
Him with the same certainty that God gave to Ezekiel’s army.
In the certainty of that faith you live.
Know it. Believe it. Trust it. Rely on it.
And live it.
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