“I WILL BE THEIR GOD AND THEY SHALL BE MY PEOPLE…” (Ezek 37:27-28).
⏰Saturday of the Fifth Week of Lent (24 March 2018)
đź“•Ezek 37:21-28; Jer 31:10, 11-12ab, 13 (R.v.10d); John 11:45-57
Imagine these chief priests and the Pharisees! While many Jews were glorifying God because of the marvels Jesus performed at Bethany and having faith in Jesus (cf. John 11:1-44), see the evil that came out of their meeting, “What are we going to do? This man is performing many signs. If we leave him alone, all will believe in him, and the Romans will come and take away both our land and our nation” (John 11:47-48).
If you read through the entire pericope, you will understand that their major concern is on security of their political history and the Temple, their pride (cf. John 11:48). They were obviously not interested in the salvation of the nation.
By the way, did Ezekiel not prophesy that God himself is going to protect the people, even politically (cf. Ezek 37:21-28)? Even if they did remember, they obviously picked out the portion on the protection of David’s dynasty (Ezek 37:24) without understanding that the summation of all those promises is on this, “I will be their God and they shall be my people…” (Ezek 37:27-28).
God of course keeps his promise and a manifestation of that is that it was while we were still sinners that Christ died for us (cf. Rom 5:8). But the question before us is on whether we are equally his people. We are his people when we believe in him and are faithful to him.
I pray that God may help you do these. Amen.
Have a nice weekend well spent as a member of God’s people. Peace be with you.
