Transforming (phase 4) - Jesus appears to the disciples on the road to Emmaus (step 30) - session 3

Is 53

Along with the last three verses of chapter 52, this forms the first reading for the Good Friday service of The Passion of the Lord. I can't do it justice, and I'm not going to try. Just soak in it for a while, slowly. And if you wish to return when you have done so, I have just one thought to share that struck me on reading it today:

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. - (6)

I believe I have never heard or noticed this verse in the present participle before, but always the past participle as in the official reading for Good Friday.  I don't believe it's because the Church is afraid that we might take the ensuing reading of the St. John's Passion too poorly if we were to hear this reading from Isaiah express this way, as there seems to be a mixture of treatments among different translations.

But I think it is good for us to be reminded that our straying is not just a thing from our past, but a tendency to which we remain prone. It is good for us to examine regularly how we have been straying, not for the purpose of heaping guilt upon ourselves but so that we might hear our loving shepherd call us back to himself.

Of course, I am full of Good Shepherd imagery today because of today's readings, and Is 53 is not so much about that image of Jesus. Still, this was a nice intersection for me today!