Reading I
Ez 37:21-28
Thus says the Lord GOD:
I will take the children of Israel from among the nations
to which they have come,
and gather them from all sides to bring them back to their land.
I will make them one nation upon the land,
in the mountains of Israel,
and there shall be one prince for them all.
Never again shall they be two nations,
and never again shall they be divided into two kingdoms.
No longer shall they defile themselves with their idols,
their abominations, and all their transgressions.
I will deliver them from all their sins of apostasy,
and cleanse them so that they may be my people
and I may be their God.
My servant David shall be prince over them,
and there shall be one shepherd for them all;
they shall live by my statutes and carefully observe my decrees.
They shall live on the land that I gave to my servant Jacob,
the land where their fathers lived;
they shall live on it forever,
they, and their children, and their children’s children,
with my servant David their prince forever.
I will make with them a covenant of peace;
it shall be an everlasting covenant with them,
and I will multiply them, and put my sanctuary among them forever.
My dwelling shall be with them;
I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
Thus the nations shall know that it is I, the LORD,
who make Israel holy,
when my sanctuary shall be set up among them forever.
Gospel
Jn 11:45-56
Many of the Jews who had come to Mary
and seen what Jesus had done began to believe in him.
But some of them went to the Pharisees
and told them what Jesus had done.
So the chief priests and the Pharisees
convened the Sanhedrin and said,
“What are we going to do?
This man is performing many signs.
If we leave him alone, all will believe in him,
and the Romans will come
and take away both our land and our nation.”
But one of them, Caiaphas,
who was high priest that year, said to them,
“You know nothing,
nor do you consider that it is better for you
that one man should die instead of the people,
so that the whole nation may not perish.”
He did not say this on his own,
but since he was high priest for that year,
he prophesied that Jesus was going to die for the nation,
and not only for the nation,
but also to gather into one the dispersed children of God.
So from that day on they planned to kill him.
So Jesus no longer walked about in public among the Jews,
but he left for the region near the desert,
to a town called Ephraim,
and there he remained with his disciples.
Now the Passover of the Jews was near,
and many went up from the country to Jerusalem
before Passover to purify themselves.
They looked for Jesus and said to one another
as they were in the temple area, “What do you think?
That he will not come to the feast?”
Meditation: Ezekiel 37: 21-28
It has become common to think of a “prophet” as a person who can foretell the future, one who perhaps lives a rather odd life.
A prophet, however, is simply someone who hears from the Lord and is able to speak to others what God has said to him or her. Ezekiel was given one clear word, which he announced over and over: Yahweh is the Lord. Not the rulers in the lands to which the Israelites were exiled. Not the gods of these rulers. Only Yahweh. He alone has the authority and power and desire to restore his people.
This message from Ezekiel had a special sense of urgency about it because of the state of the people to whom God had sent him. Israel was in exile, banished from the familiar sights, sounds, and smells of the land God had promised them. That’s exile: living in unfamiliar territory or a land that belongs to someone else. But despite their exile, Yahweh—the one true God—promised to bring them home. No longer would they be divided or defiled. No longer would they be isolated or abandoned. No, God was going to deliver them and make them his people again. He wanted to shepherd them, establish peace with them, and live with them forever.
Few of us are exiled literally, but all of us have at times lived as exiles from the kingdom of God. These “lands” each have their own idols. They all have their own particular sins and, honestly, fairly dense populations. It might be an exile to the domain of drug and alcohol abuse or the realm of bitterness, anger, and resentment. Perhaps it’s the land of lying, cheating, or stealing, or the nation of competition, acquisition, and pride.
It may seem dark in our land of exile, but Ezekiel has a word for us: God wants to bring us home! He is the one true God, the only one powerful enough to rescue us and plant us firmly in his kingdom. No matter how deep our hurt, how strong our hurt, or how stubborn our hearts, our God is greater. His eye is upon us. His hand is stretched out toward us. So let’s reach out to him!
“Father, you are my Lord and my God. Come into my heart today, and establish your kingdom within me!”
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