On this mountain, Isaiah promises, God will prepare a feast of rich food for all peoples, and He will swallow up death forever and wipe away the tears from all faces.

The Bible's boldest sentence about death is not in the Gospels. It is here, seven centuries early, spoken over a banquet table with every nation invited. Come hungry.

Death is described as a shroud enfolding all nations, the one garment every people wears. Isaiah watched God pull it off the whole earth at once and set a table where it lay. Swallow up death forever: the grave becomes the swallowed, not the swallower.

Galatians tells you the price of the seat: Christ became the curse so the blessing could reach you. Perfect peace, then, is not a temperament. It is a steadfast mind resting on finished work. Keep your mind there this week, and taste the feast early.