/And the hand of Yahweh was upon me and He brought me out in the Spirit
of Yahweh and He set me down in the midst of the valley, and it was full
of bones...and look, they were very dry. And He said to me, "Son of
Adam, may these bones live?" And I said, "Lord Yahweh, You know." And He
said to me, "Prophesy on these bones and say to them, 'Bones of dryness,
hear the Word of Yahweh!' So says Lord Yahweh to these bones, 'Look I
Myself will cause to come into you breath, and you may live! ...and you
will know that I, Myself am Yahweh." And I prophesied as which I was
ordered, and there was a voice as I prophesied, and look--shaking, and
joined together bone to bone. And I saw, and look, on them sinews, and
flesh came up, and skin on them again from above; yet there was no
breath in them. And He said to me, "Prophesy to the breath, prophesy son
of Adam, and say to the breath, 'So says Lord Yahweh, "From the four
winds come, breath, and breathe on these slain, and they may live."' And
I prophesied as which I was ordered, and came into them the breath, and
they were made to live, and they stood on their feet, an army, very,
very great!/
One important Easter fact to remember: God & Life are inseparable! Death
cannot win, where God is concerned. Oh, that doesn't mean that God
doesn't permit death. He does. He even embraced it for Himself at the +.
But though death may come, it is never the end of the story. Some of
your loved ones have died. You may soon die yourself. But that's nothing
final. For God & Life are always together. If anyone dies in Christ, he
or she still lives! Just as Jesus died, yet rose and still lives on!
Back in the days of the Babylonian captivity, it seemed like all hope
was lost for the Israelites. Nebuchadnezzar's armies had flattened the
walls of Jerusalem, demolished their temple, and took them captive in
Babylon. There they faced lions' dens, fiery furnaces, & threat of utter
annihilation. It surely looked like death, not life, would win the day.
They surely felt like they were already dead, nothing but dry bone
carcasses in the hot Middle Eastern sun. But they weren't dead yet!
The Lord Yahweh would rescue them from Babylon, save them from their
captors, and return them to the land of Israel once more. In the days of
Ezra and Nehemiah, God did just that for His people. But that was only
part of the promise of Ezekiel's prophesy to the dry bones. Sure, they
got to go back to the earthly promised land, but eventually they did
still die, and nothing but their bones were left in their graves. The
Lord Yahweh had one more rescue in mind for them...and for you too!
Fast forward to the week after Jesus rose from death to life again.
Doubting Thomas doesn't believe it could be true. Sure, Jesus had saved
others by raising them from the dead, but now that Jesus Himself had
died, who would raise Him? Surely a dead Savior can't raise Himself to
life...or can he?! God & life are inseparable, remember... The very
Jesus Who was crucified & buried indeed did raise Himself to life again,
and showed himself to His disciples, including no-longer-doubting Thomas.
Though death was necessary for the saving sacrifice of Jesus on the + in
your place, death did not get the last laugh. Jesus raised His body, and
descended with it into hell to spoil whatever evil "God is dead" party
Satan was hosting there. Then He showed it to His disciples as proof
positive that His death at Calvary had indeed conquered death, once and
for all. He made resurrection appearances to hundreds of believers to
show them that there is nothing at all to fear in death any longer!
God & Life cannot be separated, even today! That's why, when you gather
round the Lord's Table to eat Jesus' body given & to drink His shed
blood, you know that your God Jesus is there to bless you.
And you are not cannibals, eating dead food, but it is the risen Lord
Jesus who comes down to feed you at Holy Communion. His ever-living body
is given to you, and life-giving blood is yours! Your God is there,
breathing His breath of life on you in the forgiveness He brings in this
sacrament of life!
Where God is, there life is as well! Where God comes down in the waters
& words of baptism to cleanse you of your sin & its wages of death,
there the ever-living Jesus is to give you life everlasting! Where God's
word is taught in its truth & purity, and where His gospel is preached
as your Savior's unending love for you from Calvary, there too is Jesus,
proclaiming life eternal to you! Where the body & blood of your living
Redeemer come to you in the Sacrament of the Altar, there life is for you!
God & life are never separated for you! Even in God's death for you at
the +, you receive the riches of Jesus victory over sin, Satan, & death
there--the gift of life eternal purchased in full for you there! So even
if you die one day, and your bones are found dried out in your grave,
that is not the end for you. For just as Jesus rose to new, everlasting,
glorious life again on Easter Sunday, so too will you be raised to life
forevermore with Him in paradise. Amen.
John C. Drosendahl, Pastor
[email protected]
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