The Feast of Life

The sermon from Easter Sunday, April 5, 2015. The text is Isaiah 25:6-9:

On 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.
7 And he will swallow up on this mountain
    the covering that is cast over all peoples,
    the veil that is spread over all nations.
8     He 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.
9 It 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.”



Grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.

Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia! Today those words ring out the beginning of the Easter feast across the whole globe. Today we gather around the blessings of food, friends and family for a feast to rejoice and celebrate the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. And it's very fitting that we celebrate today with eating, considering that this whole mess started with eating.

Yes, it all started when someone ate what they shouldn't have eaten. It all started when Adam & Eve gave in to the temptation to become god themselves, when they tried to usurp God's power and authority and ate the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden.


Ever since then, a heavy shroud fallen upon all humanity. In Adam sin has passed throughout the whole human race. “Therefore," the Bible says, "just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned” (Rom 5:12) That covering and that veil hides life from our eyes. All humanity is fallen into sin and now, the veil covers us with death.

So now we feast on death. In order for your life to be sustained death must take place. In order for your life to continue something has to die so that you can eat it and take its life into you. Do you know what that means? That means that each and every one of you have your own personal morgue in your house, in fact some of you even have two or three. Do you know where it is? It's your fridge. Your fridge is where you put all your food in order to hold off the rot, which is a sign that the life has completely left food.

That means that ever since Adam & Eve, we've been engaged in a feast of death. The food of world never lasts, it dies, it rots, we eat it, we a live little longer. But eventually that food loses it's ability to give life, and then we die, we rot, we become food for the worms.

We feast on death. We're covered by it, and though we might try to ignore it we see all its signs around us. It can't be ignored: we suffer and mourn tragedies like the slaughter at the university in Kenya, we mourn at the news of the plane that was crashed in the French Alps by  the suicidal co-pilot, or suffering of thousands in wars in Middle East. We suffer the pain of losing loved ones. We get sick. We suffer aches and pains in our body, and watch our bodies slowly decay from childhood into seniority. We might try to ignore it but the signs of death are everywhere. And all those signs say that one day, sooner or later, it's going to be your turn. The veil of death covers all of us. You can't ignore it. You can't hide from it, no matter how much you might try.

But you do deserve it. Each of us have said in our hearts and in our actions “I’ll choose when to put God first and honour and worship His name. I’ll be the authority in my life and choose how to relate to my neighbour as best suits me.” “Therefore a curse devours the earth, and its inhabitants suffer for their guilt; therefore the inhabitants of the earth are scorched, and few men are left.” (Isa 24:6)

The feast of death just won't do for your God. He says “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” (v. 7-8)

While you feast on death beneath this veil, Yahweh places Himself under that veil right beside you, and He begins eat. But doesn't eat the food that you eat. No, He eats the veil. With each whip that tore His skin, with each thorn that dug into His brow, with each nail that hung Him upon the cross Jesus gulped down death for you, taking it into Himself, eating the shroud that you deserved, devouring your sin into Himself, gulping it down forever, and then resting in your grave in your place, dying for you and for the sin of world.

That veil, that shroud, that covering wasn't strong enough. It couldn't hold on to Christ. He rose from dead! He rose victorious over sin, victorious over death! He rose to promise you that it's all been done. The feast of death has died in Him! Now He lives! Death has been undone! Your sin is paid for! You’re forgiven! Your salvation from sin and death has been won.

Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia! So begins a new feast, the feast of life. “On 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.” (v. 6) In Jesus' resurrection God unwraps His grave cloths and uses it as the tablecloth for His table and sets upon it His feast.

And it is a rich feast. A feast full of life-full fatness & marrow, served with the best wine. This is the feast of the new kingdom, prepared for you by Jesus’ death and resurrection. It is a feast that you eat now through faith created in you by Holy Spirit through His Word. This is the food that never rots, that never decays. This food comes from Christ, so the life will never leave it. Jesus rose from the dead, never to die again so that you who feed on His flesh through faith may receive eternal life. As He Himself said: “As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever feeds on Me, He also will live because of Me.” (John 6:57)

This feast is given to you here, now, in His Word, and here at His Table. Here Jesus serves you with the choicest of food, His very own body & blood. Even in the midst of the veil of death, here you feast on His life given for you. This meal nourishes your body now with the body of Christ who died for you so that you may receive His life into you. This meal also points you to the future. It points you to that time when the whole communion of saints will come to be seated at the table of the Lord in heaven, and Jesus Himself will take His seat as our host and dine with us anew.

Dear saints, the feast is ready. All has been prepared, Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia! “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” (v. 9) Here is the feast of victory for our God, here the veil is lifted. Let us rejoice and be glad in it.

Jesus is God raised from dead. His resurrection proves it. He’s swallowed up death in victory. He's feasted on death for you and now He bring you to the feast of life. He gives you Himself so that you also might live with Him forever, even though die. Dear saints in Christ, let us rejoice and be glad in His salvation. Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.