Daily Readings - Fri Aug 21 2020
Ezekiel
1The hand of the LORD was upon me, and carried me out in the spirit of the LORD, and set me down in the midst of the valley which was full of bones,2And caused me to pass by them round about: and, behold, there were very many in the open valley; and, lo, they were very dry.3And he said unto me, Son of man, can these bones live? And I answered, O Lord GOD, thou knowest.4Again he said unto me, Prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the LORD.5Thus saith the Lord GOD unto these bones; Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live:6And I will lay sinews upon you, and will bring up flesh upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and ye shall live; and ye shall know that I am the LORD.7So I prophesied as I was commanded: and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold a shaking, and the bones came together, bone to his bone.8And when I beheld, lo, the sinews and the flesh came up upon them, and the skin covered them above: but there was no breath in them.9Then said he unto me, Prophesy unto the wind, prophesy, son of man, and say to the wind, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live.10So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army.11Then he said unto me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel: behold, they say, Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost: we are cut off for our parts.12Therefore prophesy and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel.13And ye shall know that I am the LORD, when I have opened your graves, O my people, and brought you up out of your graves,14And shall put my spirit in you, and ye shall live, and I shall place you in your own land: then shall ye know that I the LORD have spoken it, and performed it, saith the LORD.
Matthew
34But when the Pharisees had heard that he had put the Sadducees to silence, they were gathered together.35Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, and saying,36Master, which is the great commandment in the law?37Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.38This is the first and great commandment.39And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.40On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.
Sermon
In today’s readings, we encounter powerful visions of renewal and love. Ezekiel’s prophetic vision of the dry bones reminds us of God’s promise to restore life and hope to His people. The bones, once dry and lifeless, are transformed by the Spirit of God, rising as a vast army—a testament to God’s power to revive even in the darkest of times. This vision was directed to the exiled Israelites, who felt hopeless and disconnected from God, their bones “dried out” and their spirits crushed. Ezekiel’s prophecy reassures them that God will not abandon them; He will open their tombs and bring them back to life, placing His Spirit within them.
In the Gospel, Jesus teaches us about the heart of God’s law. When asked about the greatest commandment, Jesus responds by emphasizing love—love for God with our entire being and love for our neighbor as ourselves. These two commandments, He says, are the foundation of all the law and the prophets. This teaching cuts through the complexities of religious debates and gets to the core of what it means to follow God. Just as Ezekiel’s vision shows God’s Spirit bringing life to dry bones, Jesus shows us that love is the Spirit that animates all of life and faith.
These readings remind us that our faith is rooted in hope and love. Just as God promised to breathe new life into the exiles, He promises to breathe new life into us when we feel dry and hopeless. And just as Jesus taught, this new life is expressed in love—love for God and love for one another. Let us ask ourselves: Where in our lives do we feel like dry bones, devoid of hope or vitality? How can we allow God’s Spirit to revive us? And how can we live out the commandment to love, not just in grand gestures, but in the everyday moments where we encounter our neighbors? May we trust in God’s promise to bring life out of death and may we strive to love as He has loved us.