By Rachael Flanagan, Fiat Ventures
Fifth Sunday of Lent
Do you like shows and movies about zombies? I don’t – I’m way too squeamish. In fact, I watched the first episode of “The Walking Dead” and promptly had nightmares. So perhaps it is ironic that this Sunday’s readings (for Masses with RCIA candidates preparing for the Sacraments at Easter) are among my absolute favorite passages in scripture – and they all have to do with the dead walking again. Not zombies of course, but something much more amazing.
To quote one of my favorite poets and masters of figurative language (Shrek), “Ogres have layers. Onions have layers. You get it? We both have layers.” Well, scripture can be like that too. The books of the prophets and the Psalms, for example, can be considered in 3 layers – with original audience and historical context in mind, with Jesus in mind as the fulfillment of the passages, and with you and me in mind.
The first reading this Sunday is from the Prophet Ezekiel, part of his larger “Vision of Dry Bones,” where God has Ezekiel gaze out at a field covered in human bones and asks him if he thinks these bones can come back to life. Ezekiel responds, “Lord God…You alone know that.” God tells Ezekiel to prophesy over the bones, and sure enough, they begin to rattle and move – reassembling. Flesh grows over them, and then they breath in new life and becoming a living army again. Then…they chase Ezekiel and try to eat his brain!! Wait – no! Not that part. What happens is – God says, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel! They are saying, ‘Our bones are dried up, our hope is lost, and we are cut off.’” All of this leads up to what we hear in the first reading: “When I open your graves and have you rise from them, O my people! I will put my spirit in you that you may live, and I will settle you upon your land; thus you shall know that I am the LORD. I have promised, and I will do it, says the LORD” (Ez 37:12-14).
Onion Layer #1: Original Audience
What was historically going on at the time of this prophecy? Ezekiel was writing during the Babylonian Exile – the Israelites had been scattered and taken into captivity. Ezekiel was in exile himself, and it seemed a very dismal situation for the Israelites. It definitely seemed like the end of God’s so-called “chosen people.” But through this vision, God speaks words of HOPE through Ezekiel that God will “resurrect” them as a unified people of God. He proclaims that the Israelites who have been faithful and receptive to His word – will be brought back from captivity. And sure enough, this does happen within 70 years. I wonder if Ezekiel thought this was the only layer to this vision, or if he had a sense about the others…
Onion Layer #2: Jesus
Now let’s consider how Ezekiel’s prophecy spoke about what was to happen through the Messiah hundreds of years later. “When I open your graves and have you rise from them…” We see in the Gospel today that Jesus literally opens a tomb and makes a dead man rise and come alive. Now Jesus had resurrected the dead before – but this time with Lazarus was particularly astonishing because it’s not like his heart just stopped beating a minute ago and Jesus revived him. Lazarus had been dead for 4 days. He was really, really dead. Nobody saw it coming that Jesus was going to reverse death in this situation, but Jesus does the impossible and brings hope when it seems the most desolate.
Onion Layer #3: YOU and ME
The third layer to look at this is asking God, what are you saying to me about myself through this passage? You can ask yourself, what aspect of me is “dead”? What do I need to be resurrected from? Comparison, jealousy, anxiety, depression, addiction? Perhaps there is a relationship that is “dead” and seems impossible to restore, or a despairing experience of worthlessness or lack of purpose. Nothing is too dismal for Jesus – remember Lazarus. When you consider the big complicated and violent things happening in the world – know that nothing is too big for Jesus either. Remember the dry bones!
Today’s readings, are not about zombies – but about unimaginable HOPE! God promises to put His spirit in us and to give us new life, so that we may be able to experience our lives to the fullest – through every complicated, onion-like layer!