2026-03-22 Fifth Sunday of Lent
2026-03-22 Fifth Sunday of Lent
Ezekiel 37:12-14
The Valley of Dry Bones is perhaps the best-known text from the book of Ezekiel. The Lord commands Ezekiel to prophesy to the bones, and they respond; bones come together, tendons and flesh appear on them, and skin covers them (Ezekiel 37:4–8a). But still “there was no breath [or spirit] in them” (verse 8b). So the Lord commands the prophet to prophesy to the breath (or spirit), and he does. “I prophesied as he commanded me, and breath entered [the slain]; and they lived and stood on their feet, a vast multitude” (verse 10a).
The very final verse of the Dry Bones passage presents the threefold sequence: “I will put my spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you on your own soil” (37:14).
The very final verse of the Dry Bones passage presents the threefold sequence: “I will put my spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you on your own soil” (37:14).
Psalm 130
In Psalm 130, the writer calls out to God from the depths of human suffering, with every confidence that God will hear and respond to his cry of pain because mercy is who God is.
Grief, depression, illness, poverty, abuse—any of these experiences, and so many more, can plunge us into a darkness so deep that it can feel almost like death. But the careful structure of Psalm 130, indicates that our pleas should come not from a sense of abandonment but rather from a certainty that God will hear
St Augustine, in his exposition on Psalm 130, likened the abyss to the belly of the whale in which Jonah was trapped: Jonah’s abyss was deep in the water, in the cavernous center of the whale’s body, tangled in the very “entrails of the beast - yet he was delivered and set free according to God's plan
Grief, depression, illness, poverty, abuse—any of these experiences, and so many more, can plunge us into a darkness so deep that it can feel almost like death. But the careful structure of Psalm 130, indicates that our pleas should come not from a sense of abandonment but rather from a certainty that God will hear
St Augustine, in his exposition on Psalm 130, likened the abyss to the belly of the whale in which Jonah was trapped: Jonah’s abyss was deep in the water, in the cavernous center of the whale’s body, tangled in the very “entrails of the beast - yet he was delivered and set free according to God's plan
Romans 8:8-11
Romans 8 begins with strong references to the flesh and the spirit. Paul compares the flesh without the spirit to creation without the Creator
In the Christian context, Paul’s mention of flesh implies pleasures of the flesh, sexual sin, lust, or generally giving in to “negative influences in the world.” The term “flesh” refers to the physical part of our bodies, not only passions and emotions, but also the seemingly insatiable desire for material possessions and the inclination to subscribe to the societal norms that are at the very core of our being leading to moral corruption and spiritual decline
Romans 8:9 states that believers dwell not “in the flesh” but “in the Spirit,” specifically the Spirit of Christ, which imparts life even when the body is rendered mortal due to sin.
In the Christian context, Paul’s mention of flesh implies pleasures of the flesh, sexual sin, lust, or generally giving in to “negative influences in the world.” The term “flesh” refers to the physical part of our bodies, not only passions and emotions, but also the seemingly insatiable desire for material possessions and the inclination to subscribe to the societal norms that are at the very core of our being leading to moral corruption and spiritual decline
Romans 8:9 states that believers dwell not “in the flesh” but “in the Spirit,” specifically the Spirit of Christ, which imparts life even when the body is rendered mortal due to sin.
John 11:1-45
In the Gospel of John, Jesus delays coming to the aid of Lazarus not because he does not care (11:5) but because Lazarus’s resurrection will reveal the glory of God (11:4) exposing the hard heartedness of the Sanhedrin and therefore leading directly to Jesus’s own death (11:45–53).
As Jesus initiates this journey with his disciples (11:7), Thomas tells the others that they should go with him, “that we may die with him” (11:16) - this shows his deep faith in Jesus, something that would be tested when he was sent the farthest from Jerusalem to preach the Gospel in India.
Martha does not wait at home when she hears that Jesus is coming; she goes to meet him (11:20), and she does not tell him what to do; she only tell him what she knows that her brother has been dead four days. And then she waits. Her testimony that she believed in Jesus the Messiah even before her brother was resurrected is startling
John’s narrative introduced Mary at the beginning of the account of this family: “Mary was the one who anointed the Lord with perfume and wiped his feet with her hair” (11:2). Even though that story is yet to come in John’s Gospel (12:1–8), Mary’s posture is the same in both stories: She is at Jesus’s feet. Mary’s faithfulness is characterized not by what she says but by what she does. She kneels at Jesus’s feet, and she weeps publicly for her brother (11:33).
Lazarus demonstrates his faithfulness to Jesus by emerging from the tomb when Jesus calls him (11:43–44), because a sheep hears the voice of the shepherd (10:4).
As Jesus initiates this journey with his disciples (11:7), Thomas tells the others that they should go with him, “that we may die with him” (11:16) - this shows his deep faith in Jesus, something that would be tested when he was sent the farthest from Jerusalem to preach the Gospel in India.
Martha does not wait at home when she hears that Jesus is coming; she goes to meet him (11:20), and she does not tell him what to do; she only tell him what she knows that her brother has been dead four days. And then she waits. Her testimony that she believed in Jesus the Messiah even before her brother was resurrected is startling
John’s narrative introduced Mary at the beginning of the account of this family: “Mary was the one who anointed the Lord with perfume and wiped his feet with her hair” (11:2). Even though that story is yet to come in John’s Gospel (12:1–8), Mary’s posture is the same in both stories: She is at Jesus’s feet. Mary’s faithfulness is characterized not by what she says but by what she does. She kneels at Jesus’s feet, and she weeps publicly for her brother (11:33).
Lazarus demonstrates his faithfulness to Jesus by emerging from the tomb when Jesus calls him (11:43–44), because a sheep hears the voice of the shepherd (10:4).
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