It may seem strange that this is the reading in our Upper Room Prayer Book on Tuesday during Holy Week, but maybe not. See if meditating on this Scripture might open up an understanding of death, burial, and resurrection for you as it did for us.
Find a quiet place. Read the passage slowly, savorly, even more than once. What word or phrase stands out for you as you read?
Ezekiel 37:1-14
The hand of the Lord came upon me, and he brought me out by the spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. He led me all around them; there were very many lying in the valley, and they were very dry. He said to me, “Mortal, can these bones live?” I answered, “O Lord God, you know.” Then he said to me, “Prophesy to these bones, and say to them: O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. Thus says the Lord God to these bones: I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. I will lay sinews on you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live; and you shall know that I am the Lord.”
So I prophesied as I had been commanded; and as I prophesied, suddenly there was a noise, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone. I looked, and there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them; but there was no breath in them. 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.” I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood on their feet, a vast multitude.
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. And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves, and bring you up from your graves, O my people. 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.”
We invite you to begin your prayer and reflection by addressing God with the name Jesus gave himself, “resurrection and life.” (John 11:25). Consider calling God by this name all day and see what might transform you in your thinking, feeling, and doing.
Reflection questions—
How must Ezekiel have felt as he saw the vision of the valley of dry bones? Did he understand he was talking to “Resurrection and Life”
How does Ezekiel’s vision—”Resurrection and Life’s” ability to raise the dead—give me hope in God’s ability to handle complex, or even hopeless, situations today?
Are there dry, dead areas in your life that you wonder if they can ever come back to life? Talk to “Resurrection and Life” about this…
With Resurrection hope
Scott and Clare