Grace Evangelical-Lutheran: Ezekiel 37,1-14. Pentecost. Pfingstsonntag. Whitsunday

Ezekiel 37,1-14 3324

Pfingstsonntag. Whitsunday 44

Pudentiana, Virgin at Rome, Martyred at 16, 2^nd c.

Gerhard Rost, Bishop of the selk. ✠ 2003

19. Mai 2024

1. ℣ For the Spirit of Yahweh fills the world:

℟ Hallelujah! (Wisdom of Solomon 1,7 vul).

O Spirit of Grace, who from eternity proceeds from the Father and the Son, You were visibly poured out on the apostles after the triumph and Ascension of our Jesus. … We pray that You would enter also into our souls, that they may become a temple of the Living God, prepared by You and fit to obtain that eternal life for which we were created and purchased by our Redeemer. Amen. (Pieper 184; English transl. 100).

2. »The hand of Yahweh was upon me, and He brought me out in the Spirit of Yahweh and set me down in the middle of the valley; it was full of bones. And He led me around among them, and behold, there were very many on the surface of the valley, and behold, they were very dry. And He said to me: „Son of man, can these bones live?“ And I answered: „O Lord Yahweh, You know.“ Then He said to me: „Prophesy over these bones, and say to them: O dry bones, hear the word of Yahweh. Thus says the Lord Yahweh to these bones: Behold, I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. And I will lay sinews upon you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live, and you shall know that I am Yahweh.“ So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I prophesied, there was a sound, and behold, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone. And I looked, and behold, there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them. But there was no breath in them. Then He said to me: „Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live.“ So I prophesied as He commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army. 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 indeed cut off.’ Therefore prophesy, and say to them: Thus says the Lord Yahweh: 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. And you shall know that I am Yahweh, when I open your graves, and raise you from your graves, O My people. And 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 Yahweh; I have spoken, and I will do it, declares Yahweh.“«

3. Apart from God, a person is spiritually akin to a lifeless corpse. Just as Judah was in exile for their idolatry, so too is the individual in spiritual exile due to sin. To be apart from God is to be hopeless and perishing. The Apostle Paul gives us our diagnosis: »None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one« (Romans 3,10-12). That is bad news whether you are 6^th century bc Judah or a 21^st century Gentile; it is a death sentence. With the Psalmist we lament: »How long, O Yahweh? Will You forget me forever? How long will You hide Your face from me? … Why do You hide Your face? Why do You forget our affliction and oppression? For our soul is bowed down to the dust« (Psalm 13,1; 44,24-25a).

4. The apostles and disciples had a similar concern they expressed to Jesus minutes before His Ascension: »Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?« (Acts 1,6). Jesus’ answer is that He will send them the Holy Spirit: »You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth« (Acts 1,8; cf. John 16,7).

5. The restoration of Judah from Exile in 538 bc was not the ultimate fulfillment of God’s plan but the first stage in a grander fulfillment. Judah’s restoration from dry bones to a living body occurred at Pentecost when the Holy Spirit is sent and 3000 believe and are baptized in the Triune Name of God.

6. 50 days after Passover/Easter is Pentecost (πενήντα : 50), and that’s an important covenantal number: 7 weeks of weeks; Pentecost is a harvest feast celebrated with a grain offering to Yahweh (Num 28,26). The harvest and grain offering in Acts 2 are the 3000 Jews who hear the gospel and believe on Jesus (Acts 2,41(. The Holy Spirit is responsible for this harvest of souls, for at His sending upon the apostles He converted thousands through the preached Word.

7. The Spirit of Yahweh, that is the Holy Spirit, asked Ezekiel: Can these bones live? The Holy Spirit on Pentecost proclaimed: Yes, these bones can live, and they do live and they believe in Jesus!

8. ⁵¹But this is the meaning and substance of this addition: I believe that there is upon earth a little holy group and congregation of pure saints, under one head, even Christ, called together by the Holy Spirit in one faith, one mind, and understanding, with manifold gifts, yet agreeing in love, without sects or schisms. ⁵²I am also a part and member of the same, a sharer and joint owner of all the goods she possesses, brought to her and incorporated into her by the Holy Spirit by having heard and continuing to hear the Word of God, which is the beginning of entering her. For formerly, before we had attained to this, we were altogether of the Devil, knowing nothing of God and of Christ. ⁵³Thus, until the last day, the Holy Spirit abides with the holy congregation or Christendom, by means of which He fetches us to Christ and which He employs to teach and preach to us the Word, whereby He works and promotes sanctification, causing her [this community] daily to grow and become strong in the faith and its fruits which He produces. ⁵⁴We further believe that in this Christian Church we have forgiveness of sin, which is wrought through the holy Sacraments and Absolution, moreover, through all manner of consolatory promises of the entire Gospel. Therefore, whatever is to be preached concerning the Sacraments belongs here, and, in short, the whole Gospel and all the offices of Christianity, which also must be preached and taught without ceasing. For although the grace of God is secured through Christ, and sanctification is wrought by the Holy Spirit through the Word of God in the unity of the Christian Church, yet on account of our flesh which we bear about with us we are never without sin (Large Catechism § 51-54).

9. Christus in humanam miseriam et nequitiam intravit et sic eam redemit (Christus Victor); Spiritus Sanctus ingreditur Ecclesiae dona Sua donans. Christ entered into human misery and wickedness and thus redeemed it (Christ the Victor); the Holy Spirit entered to give the Church His gifts.

10. To You, the Counselor, we cry,

To You, the Gift of God Most High,

The Fount of Life, the Fire of Love,

The soul’s anointing from above. (Come, Holy Ghost, Creator Blest lsb 498,2 2006 Rabanus Maurus 776-856)

This is most certainly true.

11. Et pax Dei, quæ exuperat omnem sensum, custodiat corda vestra, et intelligentias vestras in Christo Jesu. The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4,7). Amen.

12. Let us pray. O Eternal God, who hast taught us by Thy holy Word that our bodies are temples of Thy Spirit, keep us, we most humbly beseech Thee, temperate and holy in thought, word and deed so that we with all the pure in heart may see Thee and be made like unto Thee in Thy heavenly kingdom caused the light of eternal life to shine upon the world, we beseech Thee that our hearts may be so kindled with heavenly desires, and Thy love so shed abroad in us by Thy Holy Spirit, that we may continually seek the things which are above and, abiding in purity of heart and mind, may at length attain unto Thine everlasting kingdom, there to dwell in the glorious light of Thy presence, world without end. Amen. (Pentecost, Vespers Collect 3. The Daily Office.)

To God alone be the Glory

Gode ealdore sy se cyneþrymm

✠

All Scriptural quotations are translations done by The Rev. Peter A. Bauernfeind using the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia, 4. Edition © 1990 Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart, Septuaginta, Vol. I and II 2. Revised Edition © 2006 Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart and the Novum Testamentum Graece, Nestle-Aland 28. Revised Edition © 2012 Deutsch Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart.

Grace Evangelical-Lutheran

Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church

Sunday, May 19, 2024

Ezekiel 37,1-14. Pentecost. Pfingstsonntag. Whitsunday

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