Never Again Shall They Be Divided

At this particular moment in our country’s history, we’re hearing a lot about migrants and immigration. So many of those who come here report that they did not feel safe or secure in their country of origin. Or they wanted economic opportunities for themselves or their families. Or maybe they wanted a small piece of land or a home that they could call their own that gave them some security. That does not seem like a lot to ask for.

In our first reading from Ezekiel 37. God says, through the prophet, “I will…gather [my children] from all sides to bring them back to their land. Never again shall they be divided. I will deliver them from all their sins…and cleanse them so that they may be my people and I may be their God…they shall live by my statutes and carefully observe my decrees. My dwelling shall be with them; I will be their God, and they shall be my people…my sanctuary shall be set up among them forever.”

God is addressing Israel – promising to heal the fragmentation and fracturing that has happened – through a return to an ancestral homeland. Israel had suffered at the hands of their captors (the Babylonians), and the book of Ezekiel was written during this time of captivity when the people of Israel were dreaming of being united on land that was their own.

They dreamed of being free again. Of being safe.

It is likely that the Jews in the time of Jesus were thinking similar things. They were living in a land occupied by the Romans, and were not a free people. This dynamic of oppression does things to people within a same group. It can create situations where the violence being inflicted upon a group gets taken out on each other. This might be called “lateral violence.”

We see something like this in the gospel reading for today. In John 11, Jesus’ is gaining in popularity, and the religious leaders are wondering what to do about him. On one hand, I am guessing that they were truly impressed with him and maybe even marveled at what he was doing and how he could rouse the people. Jesus was, in many ways, creating a movement that could benefit so many. 

At the same time, however, Jewish people were ever mindful of their occupiers. While the Romans did not mind if you practiced your own religion and maintained some of your customs, they had zero tolerance for anyone who messed with the social order. Thus the religious leaders felt afraid of what Rome might do to them if the Jesus movement got too big and drew more attention than it had already. They feared that the Romans would just come in and strip the Jews of their land and nation.

So the high priest of the time, Caiaphas, says, “You know nothing, nor do you consider that it is better for you that one man should die instead of the people, so that the whole nation may not perish.”

Part of what oppression does is that it puts pressure on people and often gets them to turn against each other rather than turn against the more powerful oppressor. In our gospel, we witness these tensions getting expressed against other Jews versus against the Roman authorities. We see them getting expressed against Jesus.

I am drawn to these readings today because I see these very dynamics happening everywhere around us. For many groups living under various forms of oppression, violence gets worked out laterally and leads to other forms of conflict. In many ways, oppressive systems kind of count on this happening (sometimes called the “divide and conquer” strategy).

Are there ways that you see this going on these days?

But the dream of Ezekiel is the dream of everyone – to live in a place where we and our families can be safe and free. And these dreams for one group do not have to come at the expense of any other group. It’s not as if there is only a limited amount of “human rights” – that if one group gets some then another group can’t have any!

But quite often that is exactly what plays out. One group benefits to the detriment of another. The shadow side to Ezekiel’s dream is that we desire and work for the safety and security of “our own” only.

But God’s vision is much bigger than that, and the scriptural tradition encourages us to “build a longer table, not a bigger wall” so that EVERYONE may benefit. God wants all people to be united and safe and free – not just one group.

These days, we’re living in a time that defines prosperity, safety and security very narrowly and only for certain groups. It is important for us, as people of faith, to keep raising our voices and to push back upon unjust laws and policies that make this so. It is also important that we do not let the forces of oppression pit us against one another as we work to build a better world.

Like the people in Ezekiel’s time, we, too, dream of a day when God’s sanctuary will be set up amongst us and look forward to the day when we will become sanctuary for one another.