A Taste of Heaven

“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.  On this mountain he will destroy the shroud that enfolds all peoples, the sheet that covers all nations; he will swallow up death forever. The Sovereign Lord will wipe away the tears from all faces; he will remove the disgrace of his people from all the earth…”Isaiah 25:6-8

There is no mistaking.  This is a real banquet.  In heaven, after death is swallowed up, and the Lord wipes away the tears from all faces, a banquet will be served.  It will be “the best of meats” and “aged wine… the finest of wines.”  But wait.  Suppose you are a vegetarian and you can’t stand wine?  What then?  Come to think of it, what animal will have to die to give up his top round roast?  I thought there was no more death in heaven?  And will someone be back in the kitchen shuffling pots and pans?  Will Arabs eat with their fingers?  Asians use chopsticks?  Will people in hell do cleanup duty?

Wait.  Stop.  We’re making the mistake of pursuing the meaning of heaven with the Lincoln Logs of our logic.  If we were able to scale heaven’s walls with the grappling irons of human understanding, then our faith wouldn’t mean very much.  Trying to grasp heaven is like trying to admire the outside of a huge cathedral with grand windows.  Standing outside, the building is striking, but has no real glory; yet if you go inside the cathedral — which is a little like looking at heaven through eyes of faith — you are breathless as you stand washed in glorious colors from the light that streams through the window. (Hawthorne)

Questions aside, the point is that the passage is real.  As strange as it seems, today’s verse underscores that the whole scene in heaven is very real.  There’s nothing wispy or vaporous about wine and meat.  And there’s no doubt it’ll taste great.