“All we like sheep have gone astray;
we have turned-every one-to his own way;
and the LORD has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.” -Isaiah 53.6
As we gather around the manger, who does not want to be there worshiping the “newborn king”? We gladly announce “the first Noel” and talk about that “silent night.”
Yet all of us “like sheep have gone astray.” We may be influenced by the docile nature of a sweet little baby, or by the memories of Christmas’ past, but once the season moves on how much regard do we have for the one born there?
We have “turned . . . to [our] own way.” Even at Christmas we turn to spending however much money it takes to make us happy. Or like myself, we stress about buying the perfect gifts, that the recipient would not have an enjoyable Christmas otherwise. This is our sin, our indulgence. Our behavior over Christ’s birth makes the reason he was born, to have “the iniquity of us all” “laid on him,” all the more necessary.
