Wandering sheep…and a lamb led to slaughter

All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet He opened not His mouth; He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, And as a sheep before its shearers is silent, So He opened not His mouth.

(Isa 53:6-7)

‘All of us, every one of us, are like sheep which have wandered astray. We have all, every one of us, turned to go our own way.’

That certainly describes the world doesn’t it? It is man’s nature. When there was no king in Israel what did man do? ‘Every man did that which was right in his own eyes.’ What a mess man is. When Jesus looked over Jerusalem He wept for the multitudes of people because they were like sheep without a shepherd.

So what happened? What was the result of the wandering? Was and is there any hope for a world wandering aimlessly?

Praise God that there is. ‘The Lord laid on Him the iniquity of us all.’

I can’t get my head around that. Here is a world wandering without hope because of their own sin and the Lord laid the sin on the shoulders of Messiah, Jesus Christ.

What was the result? He, not me was oppressed and afflicted. He, not me, was lead like a lamb to the slaughter.

And what did the King of Kings and Lord of Lords do in response? He could have wiped them all out with a single breath, but what did He do?

He was silent. He let Himself be led like a lamb to the slaughter.

The One, the only One, who did it right bore the price for the all who do it wrong.

As we approach this Christmas season and remember the wonderful coming of our Saviour to earth as a Babe in a manger, let us also remember Him as the Lamb who was led to the slaughter for our wanderings.