The word of God first carries us back to the sixth century before Jesus. The Hebrews are despondent; the Babylonians conquered them, demolished their temple and deported many to Babylonia. But here Ezekiel proclaims that God will breathe his spirit into the “bones” of the demoralized Hebrews. Some of you may remember the negro spiritual “Dem bones, dem dry bones. Don’t you hear the word of the Lord? Toe bone connected foot bone. Foot bone connected leg bone. Leg bone connected knee bone Don’t you hear the word of the Lord?” The image is graphic. The dead bones will knit together; flesh will cover them; and the spirit of God will breathe new life into them. They will become new creatures.
And that is our destiny and our challenge here on earth: to live as new creatures, called to become like God in our daily lives.
Paul in his letter to the Christian community at Rome declares that the spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, dwells within us. That spirit can energize us so that we will manifest the fruits of the spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.
Paul reminds us to let the spirit of God transform us into living shrines or temples of God’s presence.
In the Gospel according to John, Jesus cries out, “Lazarus, come out of the tomb!” And out comes Lazarus, bound with burial wrappings.
Two things always puzzled me about this passage. If Jesus really loved Lazarus, why didn’t he rush to Lazarus when he first heard the news of his illness. Instead, Jesus stayed where he was for two more days.
But in fact, this emphasized the raising of Lazarus as a threshold sign in the unfolding of our own salvation history, a sign of his power to give us eternal life; and a promise to put the imperishable on our perishable selves, to put the immortal on our mortal selves.
Second, “Jesus wept.” Probably tears of friendship. Jesus lost a friend and didn’t have a chance to say good-bye. But then Jesus gave Lazarus a “second chance” and brought Lazarus back to physical life.
I always wondered: did Lazarus ever describe to his sisters what he experienced when dead four days? And also, did the “second chance” change Lazarus dramatically?
In some ways, we are like Lazarus. We have been given many second chances. But are we doing anything differently with this opportunity?
The 20th century American playwright and Nobel Prize winner Eugene O'Neill, who wrote “Long Day's Journey into Night,” also wrote a play titled "Lazarus Laughed." In the play, people gathered at Lazarus' home to mourn. But now, Lazarus is raised from the dead and the grieving is transformed into rejoicing. Lazarus' father proposes a toast: "To my son, whom a blessed miracle has brought back from death."
Lazarus interrupts, "No! There is no death." And the folks holding their wine goblets echo as a question: "There's no death?" And Lazarus laughs, and says, happily, "There is only life. I heard the heart of Jesus laughing in my own heart. 'There is only eternal life,' it said. 'Laugh, laugh with me. Fear is no more.' " Fear not, for the Lord is with you. Fear not, for the Lord is telling you, ‘If anyone believes in me, even though they die, they will live, and whoever lives and believes in me will never die.’ "
Yes, folks, Jesus conquered death. In the agony of Good Friday is the ecstasy of Easter. Life leaped out of death. Nothing will separate us from the love of God, to paraphrase Paul's words to the Romans. We are alive with the life of God. The triune God lives within us and we live within the triune God.
The Spirit’s hidden power equips us with his gifts so that we can become our true selves, new creatures in the likeness of God: we possess by virtue of the life-giving waters of baptism the gifts of wisdom to focus on what truly matters in life; understanding and knowledge, to probe more deeply into the mysteries of God; counsel to make good moral decisions; fortitude or courage to stand up for what is right; piety to give God praise and worship; and fear of the Lord: a healthy concern never to lose that relationship with God.
In light of today's gospel, we might “shout out” to Jesus: untie me from the attitudes and behaviors that prevent me from becoming my true self: a new creature in the likeness of God. In this sign and wonder, we pray that God will empower us to leap out of our own death into new life, life eternal within the triune God and one another. Amen.
