On this mountain the LORD Almighty will prepare a feast of rich food for all peoples, a banquet of aged wine—the best of meats and the finest of wines.
Isaiah 25:6
Easter is a season of fasting but Christmas is a season of feasting! I definitely prefer the latter. We bake more than we need. We cook dishes we only make once a year. We set tables with our best dishes and invite people to eat until they’re satisfied. There’s something lavish, even excessive, about Christmas meals—and that’s exactly the point.
The feast is a foretaste of the kingdom of God. When we gather around tables at Christmas, we’re rehearsing for the great banquet that Jesus promised, the wedding supper of the Lamb where all God’s children will sit together in abundance. No one will be turned away. No one will leave hungry. There will be more than enough.
In a world of scarcity—where we hoard resources, where some have too much while others have too little, where we’re taught to protect what’s ours—the Christmas feast is an act of opulence. It says: God’s kingdom is not a kingdom of scarcity but of abundance. There is enough. There is more than enough. And everyone belongs at the table.
Jesus began his ministry at a wedding feast, turning water into wine—not just any wine, but the best wine, in extravagant quantity. He fed five thousand with a boy’s small lunch. He promised that in his Father’s house, there are many rooms—space for everyone. And at the Last Supper, he took bread and wine and said, “This is my body, this is my blood, given for you.”
Every Christmas feast is an echo of that greater feast to come. When we gather and eat together, we’re not just satisfying hunger—we’re declaring that we belong to each other, that there’s a place for everyone, that God’s love is abundant beyond measure.
Amen.
