A reflection on Ezekiel 37:11-14 and Luke 19:41-44
Thursday of the Thirty-Third Week in Ordinary Time
©️2023 Gloria M. Chang
In our collective journey to wholeness, may our Prayer for Jerusalem breathe life into dry bones and fulfill God’s promise of restoration.
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 God: 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 the Lord, 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 the Lord; I have spoken, and I will do it, declares the Lord.”
Ezekiel 37:11-14 (ESV)
As Jesus drew near Jerusalem, he saw the city and wept over it, saying, “If this day you only knew what makes for peace–but now it is hidden from your eyes. For the days are coming upon you when your enemies will raise a palisade against you; they will encircle you and hem you in on all sides. They will smash you to the ground and your children within you, and they will not leave one stone upon another within you because you did not recognize the time of your visitation.”
Luke 19:41-44
Dead Bones
In Ezekiel’s vision of the valley of dry bones, God promises physical and spiritual restoration to the Jewish exiles scattered among foreign nations. The heap of dead bones—the house of Israel—shall rise again by the Spirit of God, whose breath enfleshes and revives, resurrecting a new Israel. To his people stripped of their land, king, and temple, Ezekiel prophesies the coming of the Messianic Son of David, who will rule as king and shepherd in an everlasting covenant of peace (37:24-26).
Over six centuries later, Jesus laments that his own people, failing to recognize the coming of their Messiah, will face devastation from foreign powers. Tragically, in A.D. 70, the Romans left not “one stone upon another” in their destruction of Jerusalem.
Living Stones
The image of living stones, built into a “spiritual house” on Christ the cornerstone, appears in Peter’s apostolic letter (1 Peter 2:4-8). Christ, the king and temple of God, leads his Spirit-filled people into the new Jerusalem, the promised land of the kingdom of God.
Prayer for Jerusalem
The poem’s plea arises from the collective voice of humanity yearning for the new Jerusalem—the one sheepfold envisioned by Christ.
David my servant shall be king over them; they shall all have one shepherd… I will be their God, and they will be my people.
Ezekiel 37:24-27
Apart from you, Lord, we are dry bones.
Raise up for Jerusalem, these stones.
Traditional Chinese Translation
《為耶路撒冷禱告》
主啊，離開了你，我們就是枯骨。
為耶路撒冷舉起這些石頭（乾硬。