Second Sunday of Easter Rev Mark W Duer
Ezekiel 37:1-14/ “Can These Bones Live?” April 27, 2025
Ezekiel 37:1-3 “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. 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.”
“Son of man, can these bones live?” The answer is, if it is the Lord’s will, they will live. It all depends on the Lord. But today’s Old Testament text from Ezekiel 37 is about the promise of God to rescue His people in spite of what they may believe is overwhelming odds against them.
The Children of Israel were facing the reality of their situation—they were conquered and taken into exile. They believed that their situation was hopeless. They were facing the fact that they had no power, and no hope in and of themselves to be set free. Because they had been favored by God, and now they were crushed and exiled, they were also despairing.
The Lord brought Ezekiel to the valley of the dry bones in the spirit and asked him if those bones, long dead and dry could live.
Ezekiel knew that he was in a vision and waited for the Word of the Lord. Then the Lord commanded him to speak, and told him exactly what to say. “Prophesy to these bones,”
Ordinarily, we would say that speaking to the lifeless is futile. But Ezekiel prophesied as he had been commanded. He spoke the words which the Lord had given him to speak, the effect was immediate and powerful. The bones grew sinews and muscles and flesh.
It wasn’t Ezekiel’s power, but it was the power of God’s Word, spoken by the prophet Ezekiel. He showed Him in a vision not just what could happen, but what He was going to do.
He promised the people through Ezekiel that there would be a remnant of the people that would return from exile, and that they would have good days again, as a nation. However, those who received the promise were not going to see those days themselves.
God promised resurrection from the dead. He promised to raise them from their graves! This was the future promise of the resurrection which would begin on Easter Sunday!
Verse 11, “Then 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 clean cut off.”
The Israelites had just endured military defeat. They had watched their neighbors killed and enslaved and forcibly resettled in another country. Their problem was that many no longer trusted in God. When they could not see how things were going to work out the way they wanted them to work out, they thought there was no hope.
They were wrong, and God showed them that His Word could accomplish much more than they dared imagine, and then promised them the unexpected—and nearly unbelievable!
Can Grace Lutheran Church live in Willow Springs live? It is in the hands of God. This is His church, and it will continue to serve His purpose.
The vision of Ezekiel reminds us that life is possible with God where it is unimaginable to us. We are the dry bones of the vision. Can we live? Of course, if it is the will of God.
And the power that will work life and health and strength here at our church is the same as in the valley of the dry bones—the Holy Word of God—proclaimed by the Called and ordained pastor God has called and instructed to proclaim it.
If we think it is dependent on us, and what we do, we are mistaken. God wants to use us, but whatever good we may do, and how we prosper as a congregation is in the hands of God and our hope is in trusting Him and doing what He sets before us to do.
He calls us first to be faithful hearers if the Word, and through the work of the Holy Spirit, we will become doers of the Word, which in turn will bear much fruit.
God gives us his Word of Law to show us our sins, His Word of repentance for us to confess our sins which are many, and the Word of the gospel to cling to (His suffering, death, and resurrection) which is forgiveness, life and salvation.
And His Word to us is just the same as it was to ancient Israel! It is the promise of forgiveness, life, and salvation and of the resurrection from the dead.
Colossians 3:12-17 “Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, 13bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. 14And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. 15And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. 16Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. 17And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
We have faithful people and God’s inerrant Word is proclaimed here, and it would be a blessing to have more members in the community to be a part of our congregation.
Usually, the closer to the truth and to Christ we stand, the more troubles and persecution we can expect. Jesus said this would be the case.
Our mission as a church is to faithfully proclaim God’s Word, be faithful in administering the Sacraments, and make disciples through teaching and baptism.
He has chosen us for salvation. We shall rise from our graves and shall enter the promised land of heaven, and shall live in God’s presence forever.
And it won’t be because we have a beautiful church building, or because we were such great people, it will be because of Jesus, and because God chose us in His grace, called us by the Gospel, baptized us into His family, and then kept us faithful until he calls us to heaven.
Colossians 3:12-17 “Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, 13bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. 14And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. 15And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. 16Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. 17And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
Our hope is not dead, or dried up. We are not going to fall apart, fold up, or blow away. We are going to live by the grace and power of God, through His Word, and we are going to rise from our graves to everlasting life in glory. And it will all be God’s doing. Here and now, and then.
Listen to how it works, in the words of our text, verses 12-14: 12 “Therefore 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.”
Can these bones live? “O Lord God, You know.” Our well-being as individuals, and our success as a congregation is through God’s grace and mercy, and our hope for resurrection, and everlasting life and salvation all rest in the hands of the Lord.
Easter reminds us that Jesus’ crucified hands are a pretty good place to leave our hopes, our aspirations, and our future. If it is the will of God, these bones will not just live, they will thrive!
In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.