THE REFORMED WITNESS HOUR
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prca.orgDear radio friends,
We are sheep. So we learn in many different passages of the
Bible. In fact, if we were to take
special note of Scripture in this regard, we would find that it uses this
figure quite often. It does so in order
to describe many things about us as individuals, as Christ’s church, and even
in order to make clear something about Christ Himself. The Bible speaks of the church as the flock
of God. It speaks of the sheep as well
as the lambs. It speaks of Christ as the
Good Shepherd, and also of the under-shepherds that He appoints to care for His
flock. The Bible teaches us of the green
pastures that we are led to by our Shepherd.
But it also speaks of how often we go astray. Christ Himself teaches us of the comfort His
sheep can have because it is He who preserves them unto everlasting life.
All these aspects
of our sin and salvation are depicted in Scripture in several different places
using the figure of the sheep. It does
so also in this passage that we are going to consider today:
Isaiah 53:6
.
Notice: “All we like sheep have
gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us
all.”
It must be well
understood that the prophet Isaiah is not addressing everyone in this world
when he speaks regarding the “we” in our text.
In other words, when Isaiah says in our text: “all we like sheep have gone astray; we
have turned every one to his own way,” and so on, he is not speaking there
of every person in this world. It is
true that every one in this world has strayed away deeply into sin and
unbelief. But Isaiah does not address
everyone in the world. He is speaking
here in particular to the nation of
Now, it is true
that when Isaiah speaks of us as sheep he limits this comparison to what sheep
are apt to do as sheep, that is, stray from the shepherd. But there is more to this figure than what
first, perhaps, meets the eye. God’s people
are spoken of here as sheep. The questions is: Why
this particular figure of sheep? Why are
we known here, and really in all of Scripture, as
sheep? The answer is: Because of the perfect analogy there is
between the
The Psalms testify
beautifully to the truth that God’s people are, indeed, the sheep of God’s pasture. We read of that in
Psalm 100:3
and
Psalm 95:7
.
And let us not forget
the well known 23rd Psalm, which begins: “The Lord is my Shepherd.” Scripture refers to the church as a whole,
organically, as the flock of God.
Together we make up the sheep of God.
And not only does Scripture refer to the Old Testament church in this
way, but to the New Testament church as well.
You know, some men create a division between the Old Testament people of
God and the church of the New Testament.
Scripture does not do this. The
church of the Old and New Testaments alike make up the one flock of God. The people of God of all ages are God’s
sheep.
This figure,
therefore, is used throughout Scripture to show the unique relationship that
exists between God and His people. And
that is why, too, we say that the sheep in the verse we consider today do not
include every person in this world.
God’s people are His sheep. Jesus says of those sheep in
John 10
:
“I know
my sheep; and I am known of mine. My
sheep hear my voice and I give unto them eternal life.” That is very exclusive. God as the Shepherd stands before His
sheep. He has chosen them to be His
own. And He therefore loves them. In fact, God has loved and chosen His sheep
from all eternity. He has called them by
name. He has, by His grace, placed those
sheep into His flock. In this life He
leads them and protects them and preserves them as His own. Just as a shepherd guides his flock, He calls
to those sheep. And we, the sheep,
follow Him, just as a flock of sheep hear the voice of their master and follow
him. He loves them and they love
him. There is no one they love more or
trust more than their own good shepherd.
And this is true of us, just as really as it is true of a flock of
sheep. So it is not strange that
Scripture uses this figure to describe us as God’s people.
Now, as we
mentioned, it is not this relationship that stands on the foreground in this
verse. Isaiah speaks of us as sheep in
order to illustrate a flaw in us, a particular sin problem that we have
in our lives. And that sin problem is
the fact that we are so apt to stray from God and His Word and
commandments. You see, sheep are not
very smart creatures. In fact, sheep are
downright foolish. They have it very
good within the confines of the flock, under the watchful care of the
shepherd. The shepherd protects the
sheep from wild animals and from thieves who would steal them away. The shepherd sees to it that the sheep are
properly fed and nourished. He leads
them into green pastures and beside still waters so that they can graze and
drink in safety. Within the confines of
the flock is found peace, happiness, and security. If a sheep had any kind of understanding, he
would know that in the flock is contained everything he needs for a good
life.
But sheep are
stupid. They are. They are foolish. They lack contentment, it seems. And every opportunity they find, they
stray. It seems to be in the very nature
of a sheep to stray. Where? Who knows!
Just so he can get out of the flock and strike out on his own. And he chafes when the shepherd, with his
staff, prods him back into the fold. He
kicks against the pricks. Once
admonished and back in the flock, he knows he is the happiest there. But it is not long and that sheep loses his
contentment and starts to wander again.
He strays. So naïve is that sheep
that he takes no note of where he wanders.
He does not look to see the way he wandered so that he can find the
flock back again in some way. He just
meanders away until he finds himself totally lost. The only way he will get back to the flock is
if the good shepherd makes a point of going out and seeking him.
Not only that, but
where he wanders often leads him into dangerous places. Do not forget, the
bear and the wolf are around, always waiting to devour the helpless sheep. And the sheep, totally oblivious to this
danger, will often wander right into the clutches of these wild beasts. They are foolish. It is in their very nature. It is ingrained in them.
Now, Isaiah tells
us to take a hard look at the example, and then, as believers, to take a hard
look at ourselves. You are those sheep,
God tells us in this verse. The same nature
that is in the sheep is in us. Ingrained
in our natures, in our sinful flesh, is this tendency to stray. All we like sheep have gone astray.
The nation of
Such is what, so
often, characterizes the
But we are foolish
sheep. And that foolishness is rooted in
the principle of depravity or sin that is still found in our flesh. The upshot of our foolishness is that we
stray. We so often stray. Where?
Who knows! There are so many and
varied possibilities of straying in this world.
Who can begin to know where we go?
The sinfulness of this present world appeals to our natures. It lures us away from God and the sheepfold
and into the wilds of unbelief. You
know, the strange part of it is, we know the danger that lurks out there. We know it is out there, and yet we just need
to taste of it for ourselves.
All we like sheep
have gone astray. Oh, how we stray! If only we could sit back and evaluate
ourselves to see what we look like in God’s sight! I mean, when we evaluate the sheep, we could
almost laugh at the sheep when they simply wander off from the flock and into
the wilds. How foolish of them. Cannot they see what they are doing? How foolish are we, oh sheep of God’s
pasture? How foolish you and I can
be.
What really strikes
me about this passage is this: How
pointed it is when describing you and me.
Isaiah tells us that “we have turned every one to his own way.” What a vivid description of us as far as our sinful
flesh is concerned. Every time we sin,
we deliberately turn away from the mark of God’s law and word and aim our lives
in another direction. God’s Word is so,
so clear! It tells us how we are to
live. It tells us what is right doctrine. It
is a sheep’s goad. But
when we hear that word, then our flesh kicks against the pricks. And, for some absurd reason, we think our own
way is better than God’s. We turn away
from His ways that are righteous and true, and we think that our way is
better. When we stray, it is only
because we would rather do what is right in our own eyes than what is right in
God’s eyes. We can do that as
individuals so often in our lives.
We can even do that
as a flock, as churches. We fail to see
what God’s Word clearly teaches us and we turn away from it and we seek the lie
rather than the truth.
You see how much
like sheep we are? God tells us what we
must do. And we say, “No, God, I think
that if I do it this way it is better for me.”
So we get ourselves into a bind in doing it our way. Then, you would think that we would turn back
to God again, but we find that we are lost.
And we, in hardness, refuse to turn back. For that reason, too, we think that we know
best how to get ourselves out of the trouble and heartache we have gotten
ourselves into. The only way that we
return to the pasture, the only way that we come back into the sheepfold of
God, is when, by God’s grace He goes out and gets us and brings us back. That is our sin. That is our sinfulness.
In fact, in this
passage of God’s Word that we are considering, that sin is called
“iniquity.” That word refers to the
depravity of our natures. We have in our
nature, in our flesh, the horrible depravity and the sinfulness of
unbelief. We must see that concerning
ourselves. We are filled, in our flesh,
with iniquity. That is how we are
described. It is that iniquity that we
must be warned against, so that we are aware of the tendency in us to
stray.
When we are aware
of that iniquity in us, then we also are constant in seeking God’s care and
strength to keep us from straying. You
see, because of that iniquity, guilt lies upon us. And because of that guilt, punishment falls
on us too. In other words, what this
passage teaches us is that, not only are we sinful and
corrupt, but because of that sinfulness we also become guilty before God. And that, too, we must be
fully aware of. Sin makes us
guilty before God and therefore worthy of punishment. We deserve, you and I as sheep, to be left
out there in the wilds and to be destroyed, because of our hardness of hearts,
because of that sinful flesh in us that enjoys straying from God. We deserve to perish everlastingly in
hell. In and of ourselves we deserve
that, because such guilt makes us deserving of eternal death.
All we like sheep
have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and this iniquity
has made us guilty before the righteous God of heaven and earth. But hear the Word of God, and let each one of
us humbly approach our God in sorrow and in repentance rather than remaining
foolish in our pride and rebellion—because then, you see, we hear the comfort
that the Word of God in this passage gives to you and me in the very last part
of the verse: “The Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us
all.” That cannot refer to any other
person than Jesus Christ Himself.
Isaiah 53
is Messianic in character. It speaks
of Christ. The Lord has laid on Christ
the iniquity of us all.
Do you hear
that? God has laid on Christ the
depravity and the sin and the guilt of us all.
All of us?
Yes, sheep of God, all of us.
That is where we make our boast—in God.
He is the Lord, or
Jehovah, the faithful covenant God, the God who remembers His oath that he sware to our fathers, the God who is merciful and
gracious. Jehovah has taken our
iniquity, not merely our individual sins, mind you, but our very sinfulness
itself, and laid it upon Jesus Christ.
He who knew no sin became sin for us.
He who Himself had no guilt, since He was perfectly righteous and holy,
was given our guilt. God substituted Him
in our place.
So it is that all
that sin that was ours prior to our regeneration, but also that sin that we
continue to commit in our lives, is cast, by God, on the shoulders of Jesus
Christ. And in that we see the wonder of
God’s grace, because we know that Christ bore the burden of our sin and guilt
and punishment. In doing so, He paid the
price for our iniquities and our guilt.
Though, even now, our sins are as scarlet, they are washed in the precious
blood of Jesus Christ, our Good Shepherd.
And the penalty of our sin has been taken away.
What a gracious
God! How good it is that we are the
sheep of God’s pasture! He loves us and
He cares for us. He loves His sheep so
much that He sent His only begotten Son into this world to save them. Amazing grace! It is a grace that has saved and goes on
saving us to the very end. What a Good
Shepherd we serve!
Let us pray
together.
O Lord our God, our
Good Shepherd, we come unto Thee in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ because
we see in Him Thy faithfulness to us Thy sheep.
How often, Father, do we stray away from Thee. How often we sin. How often we are allured to the ways of the
wicked world around us. If it were not
for Thy grace and Thy mercy towards us, we would perish in our sin. But Thou art a God who is gracious and Thou
hast taken our sin and its guilt, and Thou hast laid it upon the shoulders of
our Shepherd, Jesus Christ, and He has borne away our iniquities and
guilt. We belong to Thee and we are
thankful for that great gift of salvation.
Bless us by the Word that we have heard today that it might lead and
guide us in the way everlasting. For Thy
name’s sake we pray, Amen.
Last modified: 14-aug-07