Fifth Sunday in Lent, 21 March 2026: Ezekiel 37:1-14; Romans 8:6-11; John 11:1-45; Psalm 130
The Lord says to Ezekiel, “Mortal, can these bones live?” The answer is, of course, yes. The Lord causes the bones to be knit together, and eventually to breathe. And then the Lord has Ezekiel tell the people of Israel, “I am going to open your graves, and bring you up from your graves“. This is done by the Lord. We read the Hebrew scriptures account of the Valley of the Dry Bones this week because it reminds us of the Lord’s power.
The Dry Bones also pairs neatly with today’s gospel, the raising of Lazarus. It’s a long story, and all the parts are important. Jesus postpones going to see Lazarus–“he whom you love“– when he hears he is ill. He spends two more days where he is, then, to his disciples’ surprise, he heads off to Judea. Lazarus is dead he tells them, and he is glad he was not there. The disciples, fearing that Jesus will be attacked, go with him.
When Jesus arrives in Bethany, he confronts Lazarus’ two sisters in sequence. Martha tells Jesus that Lazarus would not have died had he been there, but also affirms that she knows he is the Messiah. Mary also tells Jesus that Lazarus would not have died had he been there, but she is weeping. And Jesus was “greatly disturbed in spirit and deeply moved“. And, we are told, “Jesus began to weep.”
We have a glimpse of Jesus not as a teacher, but as a man with friends he loved. He wept at Lazarus’ death. This is a reminder that the Gospels only tell us part of Jesus’ life, and there is a part that is, as it were, off camera. Lazarus, Mary and Martha are clearly much closer to Jesus than we might otherwise know.
When Jesus is brought to the tomb, and orders that the stone is removed, they resist: after four days, the body will smell. But Jesus insists, so they do. He makes a long prayer, part way through reminding God that he knows this is all just to convince those who are watching, and then says, “Lazarus, come out“. And Lazarus does. Jesus has raised Lazarus, just as the Lord promised to raise the Israelites.
As we move towards Holy Week, it is good to remember that when the dead are raised, they are raised by someone. Jesus does not raise himself from the dead, he is raised from the dead. God is active. The promise to us is that we too shall be raised. We won’t raise ourselves. Like Martha and Mary, we need to trust in the Lord’s power.
The Lord said to Ezekiel, “Mortal, can these bones live?” I answered, “O Lord God, you know.” The Lord will make it happen. As he brought the dry bones to life, and restored Lazarus to life, so he will with us. May we remember and believe.
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