Gone Astray -- Isaiah 53; Part 6

"I have gone astray like a lost sheep; seek
 Thy servant; for I do not forget Thy Commandments."

The simile of a scattered flock paints an arrant picture:
The universality of  transgression; the solitude of sin;
Its divisive impact and its distinctive rejection of control.
All have wandered along paths of their own choosing;
Becoming separated, and isolated in small grazing groups,
Or individually exposed, entangled in the high brambles:
Some are unwilling, but all are unable to return to the fold;
For there is none recognized to collect; to defend; and to guide.

"I am the good shepherd, and know My sheep,
And am known of mine."

Iniquity and its penalty were caused to light on Him;
Not merely a sin offering; He became sin for all:
The vicarious embodiment of the aggregate sin of all mankind;
Not sins in the plural, for the sin of the world is one.
Thus, the chosen are not simply renewed and made righteous;
We are reborn! Crafted into the very righteousness of God.
In ourselves, scattered; In Him, gathered together;
By nature, we wander; In Him, a Way is provided;
In Him is our recovery procured; and woe averted.

"I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth
His life for the sheep."