The Good Shepherd at Calvary

“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. He was oppressed, and He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth: He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so He openeth not his mouth.” (Isaiah 53:6-7)

Before we leave the in-exhaustive subject of sheep and shepherds we must look at Isaiah 53.  This is the passage the Ethiopian Eunuch was reading when the Spirit sent Philip the evangelist to him in Acts 8. It was upon this reading and Philip’s explanation of it that gave the Eunuch faith to be saved.

The Eunuch no doubt saw himself as one of the sheep who had gone astray, as indeed all of humanity, of whatever race, nationality, creed or religion we may be.  Indeed, Psalm 58:3 says, “The wicked are estranged from the womb: they go astray as soon as they be born, speaking lies.” The Bible says, “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23)

Isaiah, writing more than seven hundred years before Christ, tells how Jesus was brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, or silent, so He opened not His mouth. Without complaint, the Son of God died for us at Calvary.

This, beloved, is a perfect picture in summation of what we have been looking at over the past few days concerning straying sheep and the Good Shepherd.