20th Sunday After Pentecost | October 11, 2026 | Isaiah 25:6–9 | Andrew F. Weisner |

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 wines, of rich food filled with marrow, of well-aged wines strained clear. ⁷And he will destroy on this mountain the shroud that is cast over all peoples, the sheet that is spread over all nations; he will swallow up death forever. ⁸Then the Lord God will wipe away the tears from all faces, and the disgrace of his people he will take away from all the earth, for the Lord has spoken. ⁹It will be said on that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, so that he might save us. This is the Lord for whom we have waited; let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.

Today’s reading from Isaiah chapter 25 declares that God is planning a big banquet! And for that banquet there will be — our text states in translation — a feast of „well-aged wines,“ precisely, in Hebrew, she-ma-Reem, meaning according to one commentator, wine that is „creamier, richer, fuller-bodied, with greater depth and complexity of flavor.“ And to go along with this quality wine, the Lord will provide for this banquet — our translation today states — „a feast of rich food, rich food filled with marrow,“ or in Hebrew, she-ma-Neem (notice that it rhymes with the wine, she-ma-Reem), and it means, precisely, „fat“, or „fattiness“, or „richness like olive oil“.

So, considering that the Lord is providing such fine fare for this banquet, such rich, delicious vittles, what’s this banquet about? What prompts it?

As we look at this Isaiah text before us today, and the verses that immediately precede it (precisely, 25:4), we learn that this is a victory banquet, because (as the prophet says about God),  “For you have been a stronghold to the poor, a refuge for the needy in his distress” (v. 4ab).  The image of God as a „refuge“ is common in the Old Testament (e.g., Psalm 46:1= „God is our refuge and strength,“ from which we get our hymn, „A Mighty Fortress is Our God“; also that God is a refuge is in Ps. 104:18; Proverbs 14:26; Isa. 4:6; 28:15, 17; Jeremiah 17:17; Joel 3:16; et alia.).  The idea conveyed here is simply that God provides protection for those who are unable to protect themselves. In the context of today’s Old Testament reading – and throughout history! – God’s people have experienced injustice and oppression, and God has helped those who cannot help themselves; and so, there is a victory banquet!

But there is also another reason for celebration, another victory of God for his people, that is stated in today’s reading from Isaiah. From vss. 7 and 8: ⁷And [God] will destroy on this mountain [meaning, likely, Zion, the great mountain on which the Temple stood in Jerusalem; „God will destroy on this mountain] the shroud that is cast over all peoples, the sheet that is spread over all nations; he will swallow up death forever. ⁸Then the Lord God will wipe away the tears from all faces…

What is it that „all peoples“, „all nations,“ experience that results in a „shroud“ or „sheet“  being cast or wrapped around them? Death; in some cultures, when someone dies and he is wrapped in a „shroud.“ And the same verse continues: [God] will swallow up death forever. Then the Lord will wipe away the tears from all faces…“ Slightly later than this verse, not in today’s reading, but from Isaiah chapter 26:19, is a reiteration of today’s verse: “Your dead shall live… dead bodies shall arise. Awake and sing, you who dwell in the dust; for … the earth will cast forth the dead” (26:19). There is the other reason for the victory banquet. The banquet celebrates not only God’s taking a stand for the poor and oppressed, but also, God has „swallowed up“ — or, conquered — Death.

You may hear, in echoes circling around us, a familiar song of our liturgy: This is the feast of victory for our God….. for the Lamb who was slain has begun his reign.

Through, in Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God Who takes away the sin of the world; through, in Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified, who God the Father raised up from the dead, (through Him) Death has been destroyed. St. Paul wrote to the Corinthians, Death has been swallowed up by victory! Oh Death, where is thy victory? O Death, where is thy sting?

We, here, in this place, from time-to-time, have a „victory banquet,“ as  promised and prophesied through the  prophet Isaiah, [God] will swallow up death forever. That, probably beyond all things, is worthy of a celebration! And so, we have a celebration; and we sing, This is the feast of victory for our God.  But, there is more…

When evil and Death have done their worst, have exercised to the fullest their horrific means of suffering and death, what would be a sure and certain way of displaying that they have been conquered? That One upon whom their instruments were unleashed, i.e., someone who had been cruelly killed, and was dead, as many as 3 days in the tomb, would suddenly show himself, greeting, walking, talking, and eating and drinking with his friends (!). Victory over Death is displayed when the One who was dead and buried would be present, make himself, his physical presence, available to other people. That, too, dear brothers and sisters, is what we experience — and celebrate — every time we celebrate the Sacrament of the Altar, the Eucharist, Holy Communion. By the term  „holy communion“ we mean that we are experiencing „union“ with a „holy“ presence, that is, the physical manifestation of the resurrected Jesus Christ. And how can we know and describe that this person is physically present? His body is present; actually, „body and blood.“ Church tradition (Pope Leo I, on the Ascension) teaches that the physical body of Jesus, when he ascended (as described in Acts of the Apostles chapter 1), he ascended into bread and wine. With his apostles, the night before he died, he told them that bread and wine would be his body and blood, i.e., his physical presence.

This, in addition to celebrating God’s victory of „swallowing up,“ conquering, death, (this) is what we celebrate every time we celebrate holy communion, the Sacrament of the Altar (as Martin Luther calls it). And when we encounter the Risen Christ, in water and his word, at the font of baptism; in his word of forgiveness when we confess our sin; and in his resurrected presence in Bread and Wine, (when we encounter the Risen Jesus Christ) we encounter forgiveness, healing, promise of his Godly presence with and within us; his promise that — by his grace — all things will work out for good for us, because he has called us for his kingdom’s purpose; and the promise of Life Eternal with him, and to be with those we love who have been separated from us by the once-strong power of death, but strong no longer, because Christ is risen, and present, and in our midst, guiding and strengthening us to love and do good for one another.

„Christ is in our midst : Now and ever shall be. Amen“

Pastor Andrew F. Weisner, Ph.D.
pastorweisner@gmail.com
Pastor, New Covenant Lutheran Church,
Morganton, North Carolina, USA
Faculty, North American Lutheran Seminary, USA