“He will swallow up death forever; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces, and the reproach of His people He will take away from all the earth, for the Lord has spoken” (Isaiah 25:8).

Jesus Christ came into this world to do battle with all the forces of evil, everything that might deprive us of the life which God intends for His people. And the way He did it was by laying down His life in order that we might live. It’s the very thing we observe so thankfully on Memorial Day. Like those who gave their lives in the service of our country and for us—so Jesus Christ paid the ultimate price: He died that we might live!

Because He did so, the emphasis of Memorial Day need not be limited to remembering that people died, but in giving thanks for the life which the Lord has laid up for all who trust in Him. Our Lord Jesus Christ did more than simply share the death which is the fate of all of us—He overcame it! He rose again and gained the victory, victory over death itself.

So, even as we remember those who have died, we celebrate the fact that death has been defeated. Christ is the victor and shares His victory with us!

--thoughts from next Sunday’s sermon, submitted by the Rev. Ken Johnson, Pastor of Zion and Our Savior’s Lutheran Churches of Avon and Springfield, South Dakota