Ezekiel 37:1-14, Psalm 130, Romans 8:6-11 , John 11:1-45 

During his missionary journeys around the ancient Near East, Paul faced trials and imprisonment for preaching the Gospel of the risen Christ.  As told in Acts of the Apostles, Paul continued preaching and teaching in the capital of the highly militarized Roman Empire during the reign of Emperor Nero.  He was bringing a message of hope to a world that had been governed by corrupt dictators such as Tiberius, Caligula, and Nero.  Because Romans armies had conquered the Mediterranean world, there were many displaced people in the city including Jewish Christians like Prisca and Aquila, fellow workers in Christ who had been exiled then returned.  They are mentioned in Romans 16:3-4. 

One person permanently changed by Paul’s letter to the Romans was St. Augustine of Hippo.  Augustine’s book Confessions tells of his early sinful life and eventual conversion to Christianity.  In the turning point of Confessions, Augustine hears a child’s voice in a garden telling him to “take up and read,” which causes Augustine to flip open a Bible and find this passage in Romans 13:13-14: “Not in revelry and drunkenness, not in debauchery and wantonness, not in strife and jealousy; but put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and as for the flesh, take no thought for its lusts.” 

Likewise, the message of Romans 8:6-11 is that today we live in a fallen world like that fragmented, conquered realm of the Roman Empire during Paul’s time.  The middle of Paul’s letter to the Romans (specifically Romans 8:6-11) is the turning point because it is about the difference between the old and the new.  We can choose to live in the old, lower world of the flesh or turn our hearts and live according to the new Holy Spirit, which reigns in Christ and in each of us.  Paul tells us if we set our mind on the flesh, it ensures only death, but to set our mind on the Spirit is the door to eternal life and peace.  What more could we want than eternal life and peace when we look around?  If we remain stuck in the mud and trapped in the flesh, we are just like those corrupt Roman emperors who did not try to please God.  Paul’s message has transcended the centuries and given life to Augustine and millions of other followers of Christ.  We need have a turning point in our own Lenten journeys towards Christ. 

Jonathan Thorndike, Professor 

English Department, College of Liberal Arts & Social Sciences