“And he will swallow up on this mountain the covering that is cast over all peoples, the veil that is spread over all nations. He will swallow up death forever. . .”
(Isaiah 25:7-8a)
When we contemplate the resurrection of Jesus we praise God for His glory. We are filled with emotion and awe as we contemplate His mercy, grace and power as well as all the great works He has performed and is performing as He establishes His Kingdom on earth.
In this week’s Old Testament reading we find Isaiah filled with such awe and emotion as he describes the Kingdom of God in terms of a great feast in which all the redeemed take part. There will be rejoicing at this feast for in the Kingdom of God there will be no hunger or thirst, no shame or guilt. This banquet celebrates the comfort, peace, and freedom from pain, strife, anxiety and worry that the Lord has bestowed on us. And as we see in the resurrection of Jesus, He has even conquered death and taken away that fear.
The banquet of the Lord is a victory celebration. As with every victory there is a winner and a loser. The losers are those who are not redeemed. They rejected the Lord in favor of gorging themselves without limit in this life and so will miss out on the eternal feasting and rejoicing.
With Isaiah we can rejoice in the glory of God and the wonders with which He blesses His beloved children, but while here we will still mourn for the lost for many of them will be those we love and admire. Thus we must make every effort to ensure that our loved ones will not miss that heavenly feast. We must preach the gospel of salvation in Jesus alone not just in words but in deeds that demonstrate His saving power and love. We must do this in spite of the opposition and ostracism which we will face.