All the readings attest to the God who does the impossible. He promises to bring the dead bones of Israel to life – to return from exilic abandonment and prosper in the land of promise (Ezekiel 37.1-14). The psalmist trusts in the God who rescues him from the hopeless deep (Psalm 130). Jesus walks up to a tomb concealing a putrid corpse and calls this man out of the darkness and restores his life without lifting a finger (John 11.1-45). Paul stands on the other side of the victory of Jesus’ resurrection and confirms God’s power through the Spirit to do the impossible – and that this work will be final when Christ comes again (Romans 8.6-11).
Old Testament Ezekiel 37.1-14
The socio-historical context of this familiar prophetic vision is the exilic desperation of Israel, which has given up on its mission and destiny (see 37.11). In the vision, this is represented by the bleak desert-like scene of a valley full of sun-scorched bones – long past the remembrance of life. That the image evokes the (distant) aftermath of a battle scene is confirmed by the later portrayal of the reanimated skeletons (in the Authorised Version) as ‘an exceeding great army’.
The depiction of the Lord drawing together and forming the life, and especially the language of breathing life into the dead bodies, is reminiscent of Genesis 1-2 and the ‘inspiration’ of the first people of God. With this new scene, the God of creation promises to work in his people to give them life and to restore them. A key to this passage is the use of the term ruah, which is variously translated ‘breath’, ‘wind’, and ‘spirit’. Again, every time Israel breathed a breath, it would be a reminder that the God who made their physical life was already working out his plan to place his divine spirit within their community, not only to bring them basic life functions, but to make them very strong.
Psalm 130
The psalmist cries out to God from the ‘deep’ (v. 1). This abyss was often portrayed as deep water, which represented chaos. In Isaiah 51.10, Yahweh is praised as the personal God that rescued his people from Pharaoh and dried up ‘the waters of the great deep’. Whenever Israel finds itself again in deep waters (see Psalm 69.14), though it can be a time of penitence and lament, there is hope in the God of the waters who is ever merciful and faithful to his covenant (Psalm 130.7).
New Testament Romans 8.6-11
Jews in Paul’s time generally believed in two phases of time. The present ‘age’ was an evil one marked by sin and trials. Jews hoped in the appearance of the age to come (the oft-referred to ‘latter days’) when God’s Spirit would be among his people and sin and affliction would be a thing of the past. However, Paul came to realise that he was living in the ‘overlapping of the ages’ and you had to choose whether to live in sync with the ‘present evil age’ (Galatians 1.4) or in step with God’s eschatological Spirit that was at work in those who believe in Christ.
In this part of Romans, Paul has been demonstrating that the Mosaic law was necessary to preserve God’s people for a time, but now they have the Spirit. To go back to the law would be to remain stuck in the present age. Paul’s continual appeal to living in ‘the flesh’ was not just a criticism of hedonism, but also of an obsession with keeping the Mosaic law and clinging to circumcision as a demonstration of fidelity to God. Instead, Paul points out that the Spirit is the real indicator.
Gospel John 11.1-45
The story of the raising of Lazarus by Jesus is the last of the ‘signs’ that he performs in John’s Gospel and the most important and powerful one. The close relationship Jesus has with Lazarus is underscored by the description of him as the one Jesus loved (11.3). It is all the more striking, then, that he waited two days before setting out to the village where Lazarus was. Why would Jesus delay his journey to mourn there over his friend? He states explicitly to his disciples that this illness came upon him to show God’s glory. Evidently, Jesus wanted Lazarus to be dead long enough that the miraculous sign of his resurrection would not be mistaken for a natural remedy.
We learn that Jesus finally reaches Bethany four days after hearing of the death. Some rabbinic sources attest that the soul hovered over a dead body for three days. One need not look too far for evidence that Lazarus was really dead – his corpse carried the stench of decay (11.39). Nevertheless, Jesus bids him to come out and the scene foreshadows Jesus’ own resurrection. However, while Lazarus walks out bound and goes on to live as a normal human again, Jesus apparently removes his own grave clothes and lives, not just after death, but in victory over it.