Ezekiel 37:1–14

The text itself is the sermon that God is speaking to us...so we will read the text throughout the sermon.

¹The hand of the LORD was upon me, and he brought me out in the Spirit of the LORD and set me down in the middle of the valley; it was full of bones. ²And he led me around among them, and behold, there were very many on the surface of the valley, and behold, they were very dry. ³And he said to me, "Son of man, can these bones live?" And I answered, "O Lord GOD, you know." ⁴Then he said to me, "Prophesy over these bones, and say to them, O dry bones, hear the word of the LORD. ⁵Thus says the Lord GOD to these bones: Behold, I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. ⁶And I will lay sinews upon 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." ⁷So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I prophesied, there was a sound, and behold, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone. ⁸And I looked, and behold, there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them. But there was no breath in them. ⁹Then he said to me, "Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, Thus says the Lord GOD: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live." ¹⁰So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army. ¹¹Then he said to me, "Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Behold, they say, 'Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are indeed cut off.' ¹²Therefore prophesy, and say to them, Thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I will open your graves and raise you from your graves, O my people. And I will bring you into the land of Israel. ¹³And you shall know that I am the LORD, when I open your graves, and raise you from your graves, O my people. ¹⁴And 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, declares the LORD."

"The hand of the LORD was upon me, and he brought me out in the Spirit of the LORD and set me down in the middle of the valley; it was full of bones. ² And he led me around among them, and behold, there were very many on the surface of the valley, and behold, they were very dry."

"I," says the prophet, "have been called by the Lord to preach a funeral sermon for the army who now lies dead on the desert floor in the valley. It is a huge mass grave. Bones scattered everywhere. Old bones. Bleached by the desert sun, scorched by the desert heat. Dry, lifeless bones. Like the earth at the creation when God separated the waters from the dry land. The land was dry, lifeless, without breath, incapable of bearing fruit or reproduction. Dry and dead. Nothing but death as far as they eye can see. A mass grave.

"Your grave. Born dead in sin, separated from God, enemies of God. By nature children of wrath. The law cannot save you. Obeying the law will not make you righteous. The law of God can only condemn you, because you live according to the flesh. Those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh. To set the mind on the flesh is death. The mind set on the flesh is hostile to God, it does not submit to God's law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. You are dead in trespasses and sins and are by nature children of wrath. You are a valley full of dry, dead bones."

"And the Lord said to me, the prophet, 'Son of man, can these bones live?' And I answered, 'O Lord God, you know.' For I cannot presume to know the mind or the will of the Lord. But if these dead bones cannot live, then you are all dead men without any hope. Death is the end of you. Life is nothing. It is futile. It is worthless. Your end is at hand. There is nothing ahead for you, only the darkness of the grave. Soon you will be gone and there will be nothing left. Why even live at all? What is the purpose of life? There is no purpose, no reason. All your love, sacrifice, toil, suffering, work is for nothing. Life is nothing more than a sick joke. Standing here gazing out on a valley of dead bones is to gaze upon meaninglessness, futility, vanity. As you get older and start to feel old age creep into your bones, you have reason to despair. When you are laid in a bed in a nursing home with only four walls to stare at for the rest of your life, the end is near and you have a reason to be depressed. When your family members and friends begin to die one-by-one, then there is reason to mourn. What can the prophet say? What comfort can the funeral preacher offer?

"Then the Lord said to me, 'Prophesy over these bones and say to them, "O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord."'

"But, Dry bones cannot hear. They cannot reply. They cannot respond. Not any more than the bones of Lazarus could hear the voice of Jesus after being dead for four days.

"But at the Lord's command I prophesied and said, 'O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. Thus says the Lord God to you dry bones, "Behold, I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. And I will lay sinews upon 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."'

"And as I prophesied, there was a sound, and behold, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone. And I looked, and behold, there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them. But there was no breath in them. As when God created Adam, he formed his body out of shapeless soil. The physical body was together, bones, flesh. It was all together, the organs, the brain, the heart, eyes, ears, hands, feet, but no life until God breathed life into him and he lived. Life does not come from the physical parts. The material matter does not contain life, nor does life come from the dead matter, but from God himself. Life is not just a mere chemical reaction or biological processes.

"Then he said to me, 'Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, "Thus says the Lord God: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live."' So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army.

"The Spirit of God gives life, just as God breathed into Adam. The God who gave life to the dry ground and brought forth living plants and trees and fruit trees; the God who breathed life into Adam, gives life to these dry bones. He gives life to your dry bones when they are in the grave. Just as Jesus spoke to Lazarus and he came out of the tomb, just as I speak to these dry bones and they stood up, God's word and command goes into the ears of the dead just as they go into the ears of the living. Even the dead obey the command of God. For God's word has power to give life, it has power to raise the dead, it is the power of salvation to all who love God and are called according to his purpose. God is the God of life, not of death. He is the God of the living. No one who is in Christ is dead, but he is alive.

"For the Son of Man died on a cross on account of your sins. And by his death his bones were the laid in the tomb. For you were dead in your trespasses and sins, but the Son of Man took your place in death and it was his bones that were laid in the tomb in your place. And your sins were forgiven by his death on the cross. His blood was poured out for you to wash you from your sin. The blood that he spilled on the cross is poured out onto you in baptism and is drunk by you in Holy Communion. And in the blood is the life of the animal. Life, his life is given to you in his blood. For by the command of God the Spirit gave life to his dead bones and raised him from the dead. And because he rose from the dead the dead shall live. On account of his resurrection there is now no condemnation for you who are in Christ Jesus. Christ has done what the law cannot do; he gives you life. If Christ is in you, although your body is dead on account of sin, the spirit is life because of righteousness. He has declared you righteous on account of faith. The spirit gives life and peace. If the mind set on the flesh is death, the mind that is set on the spirit is life and peace. Those in the flesh cannot please God, but in the spirit you are righteous to God.

"Can your dead bones live? Yes, they shall live. For Christ is the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Jesus shall not die, and if he dies, he shall live. He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you. Your bones shall live. Death is not the end. Death has no power. Death has no sting. For the sting of death is sin and sin has been forgiven on the cross. Your life now has meaning and purpose. It is not temporal and meaningless. It is not coming to an end as you get older, are infirm, confined to a bed in the nursing home. You are on the way to resurrection and life. You can scoff and jeer at death for it has lost its power over you. It no longer is to be feared for it has been overcome.

"Then the Lord said to me, 'Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Behold, you say, "Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are indeed cut off." Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will open your graves and raise you from your graves, O my people. And I will put my spirit within you and you shall live. I am the Lord; I have spoken, and I will do it, declares the Lord.'

"On account of Christ, God will open your graves and raise you from your graves. Death is not final, it no longer has the victory. It has been conquered. You can laugh at it and scorn it, for it has no more power over you. Though you will all die, you will be raised. Death cannot hold on to you. On the last day he will raise you from the dead just as he raised Christ Jesus. He will give life to your mortal bodies through his spirit who dwells in you. And he will place you in your own land, an eternal land, a land in heaven where you shall dwell with the Lord forevermore." "I am the Lord; I have spoken it, and I will do it." Amen.