Fifth Sunday in Lent

1Verse 1. The hand of the LORD was upon me, and He brought me out by His Spirit and set me down in the middle of the valley, and it was full of bones. 2Verse 2. He led me all around among them, and I saw a great many bones on the floor of the valley, and indeed, they were very dry. 3Verse 3. Then He asked me, “Son of man, can these bones come to life?” “O Lord GOD,” I replied, “only You know.” 4Verse 4. And He said to me, “Prophesy concerning these bones and tell them, ‘Dry bones, hear the word of the LORD! 5Verse 5. This is what the Lord GOD says to these bones: I will cause breath to enter you, and you will come to life. 6Verse 6. I will attach tendons to you and make flesh grow upon you and cover you with skin. I will put breath within you so that you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the LORD.’” 7Verse 7. So I prophesied as I had been commanded. And as I prophesied, there was suddenly a noise, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to bone. 8Verse 8. As I looked on, tendons appeared on them, flesh grew, and skin covered them; but there was no breath in them. 9Verse 9. Then He said to me, “Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and tell the breath that this is what the Lord GOD says: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe into these slain, so that they may live!” 10Verse 10. So I prophesied as He had commanded me, and the breath entered them, and they came to life and stood on their feet — a vast army. 11Verse 11. Then He said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Look, they are saying, ‘Our bones are dried up, and our hope has perished; we are cut off.’ 12Verse 12. Therefore prophesy and tell them that this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘O My people, I will open your graves and bring you up from them, and I will bring you back to the land of Israel. 13Verse 13. Then you, My people, will know that I am the LORD, when I open your graves and bring you up from them. 14Verse 14. I will put My Spirit in you and you will live, and I will settle you in your own land. Then you will know that I, the LORD, have spoken, and I will do it, declares the LORD.’”

6Verse 6. The mind of the flesh is death, but the mind of the Spirit is life and peace, 7Verse 7. because the mind of the flesh is hostile to God: It does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. 8Verse 8. Those controlled by the flesh cannot please God. 9Verse 9. You, however, are controlled not by the flesh, but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ. 10Verse 10. But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness. 11Verse 11. And if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit, who lives in you.

1Verse 1. At this time a man named Lazarus was sick. He lived in Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. 2Verse 2. (Mary, whose brother Lazarus was sick, was to anoint the Lord with perfume and wipe His feet with her hair.) 3Verse 3. So the sisters sent word to Jesus, “Lord, the one You love is sick.” 4Verse 4. When Jesus heard this, He said, “This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.” 5Verse 5. Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. 6Verse 6. So on hearing that Lazarus was sick, He stayed where He was for two days, 7Verse 7. and then He said to the disciples, “Let us go back to Judea.” 8Verse 8. “Rabbi,” they replied, “the Jews just tried to stone You, and You are going back there?” 9Verse 9. Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours of daylight? If anyone walks in the daytime, he will not stumble, because he sees by the light of this world. 10Verse 10. But if anyone walks at night, he will stumble, because he has no light.” 11Verse 11. After He had said this, He told them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I am going there to wake him up.” 12Verse 12. His disciples replied, “Lord, if he is sleeping, he will get better.” 13Verse 13. They thought that Jesus was talking about actual sleep, but He was speaking about the death of Lazarus. 14Verse 14. So Jesus told them plainly, “Lazarus is dead, 15Verse 15. and for your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.” 16Verse 16. Then Thomas called Didymus said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, so that we may die with Him.” 17Verse 17. When Jesus arrived, He found that Lazarus had already spent four days in the tomb. 18Verse 18. Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, a little less than two miles away, 19Verse 19. and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them in the loss of their brother. 20Verse 20. So when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet Him, but Mary stayed at home. 21Verse 21. Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died. 22Verse 22. But even now I know that God will give You whatever You ask of Him.” 23Verse 23. “Your brother will rise again,” Jesus told her. 24Verse 24. Martha replied, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.” 25Verse 25. Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in Me will live, even though he dies. 26Verse 26. And everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?” 27Verse 27. “Yes, Lord,” she answered, “I believe that You are the Christ, the Son of God, who was to come into the world.” 28Verse 28. After Martha had said this, she went back and called her sister Mary aside to tell her, “The Teacher is here and is asking for you.” 29Verse 29. And when Mary heard this, she got up quickly and went to Him. 30Verse 30. Now Jesus had not yet entered the village, but was still at the place where Martha had met Him. 31Verse 31. When the Jews who were in the house consoling Mary saw how quickly she got up and went out, they followed her, supposing she was going to the tomb to mourn there. 32Verse 32. When Mary came to Jesus and saw Him, she fell at His feet and said, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.” 33Verse 33. When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, He was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. 34Verse 34. “Where have you put him?” He asked. “Come and see, Lord,” they answered. 35Verse 35. Jesus wept. 36Verse 36. Then the Jews said, “See how He loved him!” 37Verse 37. But some of them asked, “Could not this man who opened the eyes of the blind also have kept Lazarus from dying?” 38Verse 38. Jesus, once again deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance. 39Verse 39. “Take away the stone,” Jesus said. “Lord, by now he stinks,” said Martha, the sister of the dead man. “It has already been four days.” 40Verse 40. Jesus replied, “Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?” 41Verse 41. So they took away the stone. Then Jesus lifted His eyes upward and said, “Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. 42Verse 42. I knew that You always hear Me, but I say this for the benefit of the people standing here, so they may believe that You sent Me.” 43Verse 43. After Jesus had said this, He called out in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” 44Verse 44. The man who had been dead came out with his hands and feet bound in strips of linen, and his face wrapped in a cloth. “Unwrap him and let him go,” Jesus told them. 45Verse 45. Therefore many of the Jews who had come to Mary, and had seen what Jesus did, believed in Him.