Over 500 years before the birth of Christ, in the midst of exile and within living memory of their nation’s destruction and dispersion, The LORD raised up the priest-prophet Ezekiel to help the people find hope in God’s promises; particularly, hope in Christ and the resurrection. (Ezek 37.1-14) When Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead (Jn 11.1-45) He foreshadowed His own resurrection. Ezekiel, Mary, and Martha’s faith in Christ was not a “crutch” or “wishful thinking,” but the “mind of the Spirit,” a resurrection hope in the midst of earthly trial, a hope that is realized only in Christ. (Rom 8.1-11).