โOur bones are dried up, and our hope lost; we are clean cut offโฆThus says the Lord God: Behold, I will open your graves and raise you from your graves, O my peopleโฆ 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 itโ (Ezekiel 37: 11-14).
It may be recalled that within the last two weeks of Lent which climaxed with the events of Holy Week the readings of the liturgy focused more on Jesus as the source of life with power to bring even the dead back to life. The theme of resurrection and restoration predominated the liturgy. For example, the readings of the 5th Sunday of Lent spoke about the restoration of the exiled people of Israel to their homeland with a promise of new life and new beginning (cf. Ez. 37: 1-14), St. Paulโs theological application of restoration to resurrection (cf. Rom. 8: 8-11), and the restoration to life of Lazarus (cf. Jn. 11: 1-45).
The prophet Ezekiel spoke specifically about moral and political restoration of Israel. To bring the people back to life, God gathered the bones of the dead in the valley of death, put sinews, muscles, flesh, and skin on them, infused his life-giving-spirit and brought them back to life thus enabling them to live once again.
The prophet Ezekiel himself was among the deportees to Babylon. During the exile, day in, day out, he saw the gradual waning of the hope of liberation of Israel among the exiles. They had become like bodies without heads, like corpses in the tombs. They had indeed become hopeless and at the point of despair. However, through the instrumentality of the prophet God restored their hope not only of liberation but also and even more so, of a new life, a new beginning. The captives and deportees will return to their native land of Israel and start a new lease of life.
It is worthy of note that a combination of factors such as the pervasive infidelity of Israel to the covenant, bad leadership (both political and religious) and bad followership led to the captivity and exile of Israel.
Dear brothers and sisters, it goes without saying that dead is the country where citizens ignore God and his ordinances; ignore each other, betray each other and commit all kinds of crimes including killing each other to access political power and all that goes with it. Dead is the country where the vast majority of its future leaders the youths are either under or unemployed, many on hard drugs and most have lost confidence and trust in the government and its institutions. Dead indeed is the country where corruption, nepotism, ethnicity, religious bigotry are institutionalized; where non-state actors like insurgents, militants, separatists, kidnappers, bandits, armed robbers, cattle rustlers, cultists, fraudsters and 419ners have a field day and operate with impunity. Sadly, this seem to be the reality in our country today.
However, bleak and daunting as the situation is, it is not irredeemable nor insurmountable. This is because we have a God who died for us and through that became the source of life for us. Our faith in this God who died and rose for us gives us hope and a promise of a new life and a new beginning.
As believers in the resurrection we know that the spirit of God that raised Jesus from the dead can give back life to the dry bones of our country, recreate and renew it. It happened to the Jews during their Babylonian captivity when all seemed lost. It also happened to the first disciples of Jesus after their horrifying experience of the Holy Week events that culminated on Calvary on Good Friday when they saw their Master in whom they had placed all their hope of salvation for Israel tortured, crucified, dead and was buried thus dashing their hope. But that was not the end of the story. Their hope was restored with the resurrection especially after their personal encounters with the risen Lord. They experienced recreation and regeneration.
The liturgy of the Easter season unfolds for us how the hopeless disciples were changed and transformed to walk in the newness of the life of the resurrection. It is worth remembering that Jesus does not only have the power to give us eternal life but also the power to give us new life here and now: โI have comeโ, he said, โthat they may have life and have in abundanceโ (Jn. 10:10).
There is no doubt that many Nigerians have lost not only hope but a sense of purpose and direction because of the situation in the country. The assurance is that all is not lost. The risen Lord is able to pull us back from the edge of the precipice that we now stand on and give us a new sense of purpose and direction. As Jesus called Lazarus out from the tomb of darkness into the freedom of light so does he invite us from our dark tomb of political tension, bitterness, anger, hatred, ethnic and religious divisions and separation from one another to a renewed life of grace.
True, the resurrection may not make our many problems, difficulties and challenges varnished suddenly, nonetheless, with trust and open hearts we will find strength and courage to work through them because Christโs resurrection has brought a new principle of life into the world for those who accept his offer of faith and his gift of the spirit (cf. Jn. 11: 25f).
The miracles of the restoration of life to dry bones, of Lazarus coming back to life and the Resurrection of Jesus from the dead are a promise of new life which Jesus came to bring. Through his resurrection Jesus gives us a new kind of life that conquers any kind of death.
In spite of the political tension and sharp divisions in the polity caused by the outcome of the just concluded general elections, this day, Easter Sunday, remains for us Christians, a day of light, a new dawn and the ground for our hope (cf. 1 Cor. 15:12ff). Yes, it is the day of the empty tomb, the day the chains of sin and death were broken. It is the day of new creation, and indeed the first day of the week and a day on which all are invited to reach out to the light. On this day therefore we are all challenged to make a leap of faith and move forward with courage and determination to face our fears and uncertainties in order to experience the new life won for us by Christ.
Like I once said, โEaster is spring time and spring time brings hope and new life. It is a time that points to a recreated and renewed world…The resurrection was a new beginning for Christ himself. His new life in the resurrected body was no longer constrained by the former limitation of space, matter and time. It was a new beginning for the apostles as well. Their lives were different after the resurrection most especially after they received the Holy Spirit. And as it was for Jesus and his disciple, the resurrection can also be a source of new beginning for us in our seeming present political limbo but only if we have the mindset of Christ to guide and direct our daily lives.โ
The experience of the resurrection of Jesus meant that the disciples had to change and that things would not be the same again because it demanded a new way of responding to the Risen Lord. The disciples had to learn how to relate to the risen Lord in a new way.
In the same vein, the new life of the resurrection promised us demands that we be ready and willing to change and look at things differently. In other words, faced with our present challenging situation we all need new attitudes and mentalities to become authentic agents of reconciliation and peace that is very much needed in our state in particular and the country at large because of the tensions and divisions generated by the results of the last general elections in the country. And for this to happen we must endeavour in spite of our political, ethnic, religious and social differences to see others as our brothers and sisters rather than just as opponents and enemies, because, as St. Pope John Paul II has said, โwhen we see others as brothers and sisters, it becomes possible to begin the process of healing the divisions within society and between us. This is the reconciliation which is the path of true peace and authentic progress for us. This reconciliation is not weakness or cowardice. On the contrary, it demands courage and sometimes even heroism. It is victory over self rather than others. It should never be seen as dishonour. For in reality it is the patient, wise art of peace.โ
The central Easter message of transformation from death to life, from sin to wholeness, from slavery to freedom needs to be felt in our country through us who believe in the Risen Lord. If we have been transformed through the resurrection its impact needs to be felt by those around us. To live out courageously the Easter message of reconciliation in our present situation is our Easter challenge, because; โif we fail to accept one another in love, or as a common journey to our lofty destiny, if we realize that other people are our brothers and sisters…Either we learn to walk together in peace and harmony, or we drift apart and ruin ourselves and othersโ (St. Pope John Paul II in the Concluding address at Assisi, 1986). In other words, we can only ignore each other at our own peril.
That Jesus rose from the tomb means that we too by the grace of his resurrection will rise from the tomb of the current political divisions, tensions, anger, bitterness, hatred caused by the process that produced the outcome of the last elections perceived by some citizens as flawed.
Today we are a nation in tension and divisions. Nonetheless, life must go on. The hope of a new life and a new beginning offered by the resurrection of Jesus should help us forge ahead no matter the difficulties and challenges. When lifeโs events shake our personal world as it is the case with us today, we should look to the Cross of Christ in faith and hope because he has assured us that when he is lifted up from the earth he will draw all people to himself (cf. John12:32). Let us, during this Easter season endeavour to draw closer to the Risen Lord that he may draw us closer to each other.
The sacrificial death of Jesus on the cross for the salvation of humankind calls for a spirit of sacrifice, courage and determination from all citizens but in a special way from all in leadership position. It teaches us that there comes a time when leaders must take hard and painful decisions even when such are clearly at their personal risk and expense for the common good.
Given the prevailing situation in the country of insecurity, cash crunch, fuel scarcity etc. that have brought about high cost of living, it is hoped that incoming leaders of governments at all levels in our country will feel challenged and even compelled to muster whatever political courage and will they can gather to tackle these monsters starring us in the face by taking courageous steps to save the country from chaos and total collapse especially by decisively tackling the hydra-headed monster called corruption, the root cause of most of the challenges and difficulties we face.
Democracy we all know is a process and elections are only a part of the whole process which requires the participation all citizens at the various stages and levels. With the election process now almost over the attention of all citizens should now be turned to the elected to provide the promised dividends of democracy through good governance which gives all citizens a sense of belonging regardless of party affiliation mindful of the fact that whoever wins a certain constituency becomes the leader of all in that constituency. Ideally, partisanship for the elected should end with the swearing-in ceremony which also should mark the beginning of the provision of the dividends of democracy through good governance.
The prophecy of the dry bones assures us that God will breathe new life in our country and make us live together as a united nation. He will put flesh on our dry bones and make them glow with new life, for, God himself has promised to open our graves and raise us up as he raised his son. He will revive and resettle the scattered sons and daughters of our country. Let us therefore rise to the occasion and grasp this offer of new life.
The Easter message challenges us to look beyond our present challenges and difficulties and remind us that God always has a way of leading his people through difficult and trying moments. Consequently, the transformation of Jesus from death to life through the resurrection should encourage us in our effort to overcome our present difficulties and challenges. The Resurrection of Jesus assures us that no situation in human life is beyond redemption; that even the worst of situations of suffering and near despair being experienced in our country today are redeemable.
God used angels to rollaway the stone that covered the entrance to Jesusโ tomb. He will in his own good time use his angels to rollaway the seeming insurmountable obstacles that face our country today especially the nagging issues of insecurity, fuel scarcity, cash crunch, high cost of living and unemployment especially among the youth. It is our sincere hope and prayer that the emerging leaders from the last general elections soon to be sworn in will be the angels that God will use to roll away the stone blocking the progress and development of our country.
As we commence the Easter season it is worth remembering that the resurrection is not a personal mystery of faith to be celebrated and rejoiced in alone but one to be shared. The great mission of the church is to share the good news of the risen Christ with everyone โ believers and nonbelievers alike. The angel told the women who were the first witnesses of the resurrection: โYou must now go and tell his disciples and Peterโ (Mark 16:7) what you have seen and experienced.โ Go now and tell others about your experience of the Risen Lord.
Leave feedback about this