A Christmas Eve table, with grandparents, aunts and uncles seen only once a year, an image almost everyone knows, and one that many people are missing. That scene opens a reflection on Isaiah’s vision of the banquet on Mount Zion (Isaiah 25), announced at a moment when everything pointed toward ruin and exile. The message moves from that promise through the wedding at Cana to the marriage supper of the Lamb in Revelation, showing that our deepest longings are only a faint echo of what God has prepared. Listen, and consider who you might pass the invitation on to.
Discussion questions
For your small group or for personal reflection after the sermon.
- In Isaiah 25 the prophet describes two cities, one destroyed and one built, with a feast on Mount Zion between them. What might this vision have meant to a people facing Babylonian exile?
- The prophet rejoices over the destruction of a mighty city. According to the sermon, why are God's justice and the defeat of evil necessary for true peace rather than just a ceasefire?
- The sermon mentioned a dog owner who said, "He isn't bad, nobody understands him." In what situations do you find it easy to excuse evil instead of calling it what it is?
- According to Isaiah 25:6-8, God invites all nations to a feast, removes the veil, swallows up death and wipes away tears. Which of these promises moves you most today, and why?
- The sermon connects the feast in Isaiah, the miracle at Cana in Galilee, and the wedding of the Lamb in Revelation. What does this one great feast tell you about what God desires for His people?
- The passengers of the St. Louis held documents, yet were not allowed ashore. Who is one person you want to pray for this Advent and to whom you could pass on an invitation to a relationship with Jesus?
