October 18, 2015
Sunday

“Surely he has borne our infirmities and carried our diseases; yet we accounted him stricken, struck down by God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the punishment that made us whole, and by his bruises we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have all turned to our own way, and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth. By a perversion of justice he was taken away. Who could have imagined his future? For he was cut off from the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people.” Isaiah 53:4-8

“All we, like sheep, have gone astray – This is the penitent confession of those for whom he suffered. It is an acknowledgment that they were going astray from God; and the reason why the Redeemer suffered was, that the race had wandered away, and that Yahweh had laid on him the iniquity of all. Calvin says, ‘In order that he might more deeply impress on the minds of people the benefits derived from the death of Christ, he shows how necessary was that healing of which he had just made mention. There is here an elegant antithesis. For in ourselves we were scattered; in Christ we are collected together; by nature we wander, and are driven headlong toward destruction; in Christ we find the way by which we are led to the gate of life.’ The condition of the race without a Redeemer is here elegantly compared to a flock without a shepherd, which wanders where it chooses, and which is exposed to all dangers.” (Barnes’ Notes on the Bible, Isaiah 53:6, BibleHub website)

There are a lot of interesting shows on television today — and the shows that are on DisneyXD are particularly interesting. For example, one of the shows that my daughter and I watch is called “Wander over Yonder”. It is a strange little show about a horse named Sylvia and a little grinch-like creature named Wander who travel to different worlds and galaxies meeting strange new people and having crazy adventures. Most of the time they are being chased by an evil character named “Hater” who is the worst person in the galaxy. They often find themselves in terrible situations, and yet find some way out.

I find the show a metaphor for life, for we are always trying to find our way through life, wandering this way and that, trying to stay one step ahead of evil. And no matter how bad things get, or how lost we become, we too have a way out — and it is Christ who leads us out of destruction and into the way of everlasting life. All we like sheep have gone astray, but this does not mean that we are lost — we simply need to allow Christ to lead us, and we will see all is not completely lost.

Pastor Dave