The Lost Sheep

Matthew 18: 12 “What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them goes astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine and go to the mountains to seek the one that is straying?

Jesus Christ: His Life and Teaching, Vol.4 - The Parables of Jesus, Metropolitan Hilarion Alfeyev

A short parable, but a prologue and epilogue that act as interpretation.  In the prologue, the disciples ask Jesus who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.  Jesus then called a little child to Him:

3 “Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. 4 Therefore whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. 5 Whoever receives one little child like this in My name receives Me.”

But woe to him who causes one of these little ones who believes in Jesus to sin; better a millstone hung around his neck, and drowned in the sea.  Then He offered: the Son of Man has come to save that which was lost.  And, from here, He told the parable – one of one hundred sheep is lost: should not the shepherd go out to find the lost sheep?

13 And if he should find it, assuredly, I say to you, he rejoices more over that sheep than over the ninety-nine that did not go astray. 14 Even so it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.

There is a version of this parable in Luke.  In Luke, the lost sheep represents a lost sinner.  Here, in Matthew, the lost sheep is likened to a little one – a child.  Metropolitan Hilarion offers an interesting interpretation of this difference: why, in this case in Matthew, a child – one who is small, insignificant, barely noticed?

…these words more likely refer to people who are invisible, humble, humiliated, and marginalized, that is, those who occupy the lowest steps of the social hierarchy.

Metropolitan Hilarion offers another aspect: in the Old Testament, God was concerned with a nation: Israel.  An entire flock.  One guilty of serious sin was removed from the flock in order to save the greater part of the whole.  In the New Testament, the sinner (or child) is seen as lost – the one to be recovered.

Sin, in this parable, is interpreted as a deviation from the proper path.  Man sins because he has lost his way, has strayed from the flock, has become lost.  He should not be condemned, but pitied.  God does not forget man, even if man forgets God.  He continues to remember him and does not simply wait for him to return, but goes out to find him.

In Luke’s account, the language is a little different, and that difference is meaningful:

Luke 15: 7 Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.

The context: Jesus is speaking to Pharisees and scribes who are grumbling because tax collectors and sinners were drawing near to Him.  So, he said these words to these self-righteous men.  In other words, the context was a polemic between Jesus and the Pharisees.  There is no one so righteous that he has no need of repentance. 

The word “righteous” is used here in the same negative sense that Jesus used when speaking of the purported righteousness of the Pharisees and scribes in the Sermon on the Mount.

It was an external righteousness, hypocritical, worthless in the sight of God.  Using this view to examine the parable, God will leave behind this entire group of self-righteous men, in order to find the one who knows he is unworthy. 

Conclusion

God’s relationship with the sinner is the central theme of this parable. In this parable…we find a reflection of the entire history of God’s relationship with the human race…

God sent His only begotten Son to find this one lost sheep.  When the lost sheep is found, we are told of the shepherd’s joy.