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No Longer Cut Off
ALLELUIA! CHRIST IS
RISEN! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!
Our bones are dry. Our hope is lost.
This pandemic seems to be going on forever, and it’s hard to imagine the future
after the emergency ends. For many of us, it has been over a month since we
have received the body and blood of Jesus. We’re down to our last spiritual
straw, reading our Bibles at home and watching videos on Facebook of a pastor
who doesn’t like to hear the sound of his own voice. How can we continue
on? Our bones are dry. Our hope is lost.
We ourselves are cut off. How can faith persevere?
Thomas dares to voice our rebellion: “I will not believe.” He does not say to Peter: “I do not believe you.
I think you are lying or delusional or playing some cruel joke.” He says: “I will not believe.” He will not allow
himself to be vulnerable. He will not take the risk and be disappointed once
again. He is done playing the fool for God. In his self-absorbed pessimism he
issues a dangerous ultimatum: “Unless I see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger
into the print of the nails, and put my hand into His side”—unless God
jumps through my hoops—“I will not
believe.” Thomas seems
hell-bent on denying the truth…all the way to hell.
But Ezekiel cries out after us. “O dry bones! Hear the Word of the Lord: 'Surely I will cause breath to
enter into you and you shall live. I will put sinews on you and bring flesh
upon you, cover you with skin and put breath in you; and you shall live. Then
you shall know that I am the Lord.'” Ezekiel prophesied in a valley of dry
bones. The Word of God in flesh came to that awful place. He suffered our
betrayal, stretched out His arms, and died. And then, with a rattling, the
graves in Jerusalem
let out the dead.
Ezekiel foresaw this. Bone came to bone, sinew and flesh came
upon them, and skin covered them. But despite what he had said, there was still
no breath in them—dry bones no more, but still lifeless corpses lying in the
valley. So Ezekiel prophesied again: “Thus
saith the Lord: 'Come from the four winds, O Breath, and breathe on these
slain, that they may live.'” Breath came into them and they lived. Three
days after the soldier plunged His spear into the side of God, God in flesh
lived again. The upper room had a valley of dry bones in the grief and fear of
the disciples. He breathed on them to bring His peace to them.
The pride and doubt of Thomas is not as great as the love of God
in Christ. Jesus says to Thomas: “Reach your finger here, and look at My hands; and reach your hand here, and put it into My side.” Look at My
hands. See where they drove the nails that held Me to the cross. Reach your
unblemished hand and put it here into My side. Feel the hole from which water
and blood flowed. Eat and drink of the true Passover Lamb. The atonement is
full. I bring you life and peace. “Do not be unbelieving,
but believing.” The breath
Jesus breathed on the disciples now came to Thomas, and he lived. Death died in
him. Doubt was gone. He was reborn. His faith burned once again and he
confessed: “My Lord and my God!”
The dry bones now have flesh and breath. Thomas has faith and
a confession. So Jesus turns His gaze to you and says: “Behold, O My people! I will open your graves and cause you to come up
from your graves and bring you into the land of Israel.
Then you shall know that I am the Lord, when I have opened your graves, O My
people, and brought you up from your graves. I will put My Spirit in you, and
you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that
I, the Lord, have spoken it and performed it.” That Holy Breath from Jesus
was breathed into you in the Sacrament of Holy Baptism. He called you by name
out of death. He made you His people. He has given you faith and bestows His
peace on you. He will not give up on you. He loves you. That Holy Breath is
breathed out again by His ministers to forgive your sins and join you forever
to His death and resurrection.
In the midst of all the world’s fear and panic, you may be
tempted to say, “Our bones are dry. Our
hope is lost. We ourselves are cut off.” But your bones have been given
life in the waters of Holy Baptism. You see the crucified and risen Lord of
Life in His Word and in His body and the blood. Do not be afraid, for the Lord
has given you His peace. ALLELUIA!
CHRIST IS RISEN! He is risen indeed! Alleluia! In the name of the Father
and of the Son (+) and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
The peace of God which passes all
understanding will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus always. Amen.
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