We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
each of us has turned to our own way;
and the Lord has laid on him
the iniquity of us all. (NIV)
Isaiah 53:6
Today’s Reading: Isaiah 53:4-6 and John 10:1-18
For a moment, the focus changes. We have been entirely focused on the Suffering Servant to this point. Now the subject changes to all of us. As a reminder, the speaker is the redeemed remnant of Jews in the last days looking back on Jesus’ time on earth. They are confessing that all of them (and us) have gone astray. There are no exceptions.
Like sheep are prone to wander and stray off, we have all done the same. Except that sheep are dumb animals so it’s to be expected when they wander away. We wander out of choice. We choose to not submit our lives to Jesus which brings down the judgment of God on us. We have chosen sin over God which leaves us guilty.
Jesus thought the same:
“Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd” (Matt 9:35-36).
As did the Psalmist:
“I have strayed like a lost sheep.
Seek your servant,
for I have not forgotten your commands” (Ps 119:176).
The Hebrew word for “gone astray” is tāʽâ which conveys the idea of leaving the right path or to travel about without any specific goal. In the figurative sense, it paints a picture of spiritually leaving the godly path. God gives a prophecy in Ezekiel that Israel will no longer go astray:
“Then the people of Israel will no longer stray from me, nor will they defile themselves anymore with all their sins. They will be my people, and I will be their God, declares the Sovereign Lord” (Ez 14:11).
Jesus told the Parable of the Good Shepherd and His Sheep. I have no doubt that Jesus was either actively or passively pointing to this very verse in Isaiah when he told that story to the crowds that day:
“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep… I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me— just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep” (John 10:11, 14-15).
This is just too obvious to miss but yet the Jews missed it:
“The Jews who heard these words were again divided” (John 10:19).
They couldn’t accept that Jesus was who he said he was. He is the Good Shepherd of Isaiah 53. The One who redeems his sheep. But we are so fortunate to have God’s favor shine down on us that we can clearly see Jesus is the Good Shepherd. We are not blinded by expectations. Peter picks up this theme as well:
“When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly. ‘He himself bore our sins’ in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; ‘by his wounds you have been healed.’ For ‘you were like sheep going astray,’ but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls” (1 Pet 2:23-25).
By his wounds we have been healed because we were like sheep that have gone astray but now we have returned to our Shepherd. Jesus said of those who return:
“My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand” (John 10:27-29).
Jesus has us in his hands as long as we listen for his voice and follow him. He is the only one who gives eternal life. And because no one is greater, our eternity is secure in his hands.
Christ in the Old Testament 
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