Easter
Isaiah 25:6–9
6On this mountain the LORD of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wine, of rich food full of marrow, of aged wine well refined. 7And he will swallow up on this mountain the covering that is cast over all peoples, the veil that is spread over all nations. 8He will swallow up death forever; and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from all faces, and the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth, for the LORD has spoken. 9It will be said on that day, "Behold, this is our God; we have waited for him, that he might save us. This is the LORD; we have waited for him; let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation." (Isa 25:6 ESV)
The Lord is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!
Most people never get to eat at the finest restaurants in the world. You know, those places where the chefs don't make dinner, they make masterpieces. Can you imagine, just for a moment, being invited to a seven-course dinner at the finest restaurant in the world? Then imagine what that would be like if you'd been without food for a few days. Imagine what that dinner would taste like. Imagine how you would savor every morsel, every little bite.
The prophet Isaiah calls us to that vision in our personal lives with the Lord of heaven and earth. Into a world starving and parched because of its sin, into a world emaciated by its spiritually empty food and drink, God prepares a feast of victory, a feast of the finest blessings in all the world, and offers them through his Gospel and Sacraments as an undeserved gift to everyone.
Come to the Feast at Zion,
the Feast of Easter Victory!
Come to the feast! Because his feast of victory is enduring. All other feasts last only for a time. In a world where eating and feasting is a priority, we think we know all about it. Food is a central element of our lives, and we are the world's greatest food experts. Restaurants, diners, bistros, fast food, carry outs, home delivery, we have it all. Chinese, Italian, Mexican, and Tai, we are on a continual eating binge. Eat, drink and be merry is our philosophy. It will go on and on. Maybe for years. We convince ourselves that we'll go on forever, but eventually, "tomorrow we die." All our feasts are "shrouded in sin and death." They are mixed with pain and sorrow. No matter how much we enjoy and make merry, all our feasts will give way to tears. Their rejoicing is temporary. Even before our own last days, we see vacant places at our family tables—and we weep.
All our feasts, no matter how merry, are shrouded in sin and death. As Isaiah tells us, there is a covering that is cast over all people, a veil that is spread over all nations. It is the veil of tears. It is the veil of the law. It is the veil of death. It is a veil that covers our eyes so that we cannot know God. It keeps our eyes from seeing our own sin. It conceals sin and death, guilt and shame. It prevents us from repenting of sin because it makes us think we have no sin. It makes our deeds and thoughts appear as works of light causing us to be filled with pride and self-righteousness. It hides the reality of God's judgment and eternal punishment from us so we are lulled into a false sense of security, oblivious to the perils of life and soul that surround us. It is the deepest spiritual blindness.
But the feast of victory for our God is the testimony that the shroud and veil and the tears are removed for those who trust in him. By YHWH's work the veil is removed. The covering that hides our sins and death. The spiritual blindness that does not allow us to see our true self and convinces us that we are safe and secure just as we are. God has removed this blindness and opens our eyes to see the empty tomb. His tomb is empty and so is yours! By Word and Sacrament, the Holy Spirit swallows up the covering that is cast over all peoples; the veil that is spread over all nations.
The feast of God's victory is a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wine that lasts forever. It is not like the merry feasts of ours that last for a time and end in indigestion. God's feast is enduring.
Come to the feast! Because the feast of God's victory is a feast that truly sustains us. All other feasts bring what only sinners can bring: food that doesn't last. We labor to put food on our tables but too many of our families share their meals in discord, ingratitude and indifference. Too many families don't even share their meals together. Too many others don't have enough food to eat at all, or they lack jobs, or they are without homes.
But God's feast brings the finest things of God, food that sustains us forever. God's feast brings forgiveness, peace, and life. God's feast brings the family together, where all the children of God sit and dine at the table in an eternal communion. God's feast brings the richest food. It is a feast of well-aged wine well refined. In God's victory feast he gives us his very best—he gives us himself. He gives himself to live, to die on the cross, and to rise again for us that our sins might be paid for and totally forgiven. He continues to give himself to us in his true body and blood, in order to live in us. In this feast of his own body and blood, He repairs our broken hearts and relationships by forgiving us. He heals our wounds. Strengthens the weak. Comforts our souls. In this feast he enables us to forgive others as well. He gives us his love so that we can love others. He picks up our burdens and sorrows so that we can pick up the burdens and sorrows of the others sitting at the table with us.
His feast offers that succulent, empowering food to all who would receive it by grace through faith. It is the feast of victory, it is the feast that transforms us, it is the feast that empowers us to love one another. His gifts sustain us eternally. His is the gift that keeps on giving, even after this life of ours has ended. Even after this world has ended. After all other food has been consumed. Still, the feast of God's victory goes on and on. God's gifts are eternal.
Come to the feast! Because his feast of victory is for all people. As Isaiah says, "he will swallow up the covering that is cast over all peoples, the veil that is spread over all nations." God's feast removes Israel's disgrace. God's own people are given grace. But his feast also removes the cover of the whole world's darkness. All sinners are called to the banquet. The veil spread over all nations is swallowed up. Imagine the rich diversity of faces we will see around the table! From all tribes, and tongues, and nations, and peoples; all drawn to Christ into one family of God. One temple built together with living stones that moves and breathes and lives in Christ. One body of many parts and Christ is the head.
His feast bonds all believers to himself, making us one again in Christ. In Christ, as forgiven sinners, there can be a real "family" feast again. In the feast the communion of saints is created. The family is solidified around the dinner table; unity is created in the fellowship of a meal. The family dinner is the glue that bonds the family. In the feast of God's very own body and blood, we become one body, one with each other, a true communion of saints made up of all peoples of all places and all times. Forgiven sinners are we all!
The world thinks it knows about "feasting." Our commercials invite us to dine at the ritziest restaurants and taste the most succulent foods of our own creation. But such feasting ends. All our wisdom, all our technology, all the finest food and drink we can muster merely satisfies our appetites for the moment.
Easter morning is a morning of eternal victory and never-ending celebration. Jesus has defeated sin, death, and Satan himself, making salvation and life with God ours. What better picture of this life than the enduring feast of victory with God, who blesses us with his finest as a gift! With the veil removed and the covering swallowed, let the feasting begin and never end in him! Amen.