Scripture Notes: One Lost Sheep (Matthew 18)

In Matthew 18:12, Jesus asks a question that would have startled His listeners: “What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray?” For most people in the audience that day, the answer would have been “Of course not! Why risk ninety-nine sheep for the sake of one? Let it go!”

Let’s think about that one lost sheep for a moment. Perhaps it simply got distracted by something that looked interesting and wandered off. Or maybe it got angry at another sheep or at the shepherd and left deliberately. Maybe it was even feeling sorry for itself when something didn’t go right, and it went off to pout. Or perhaps it is simply a stubborn, stupid sheep that doesn’t know how good it has things with the shepherd. Can you tell that we’re talking much more about human beings than sheep here?  In any case, that straying sheep is now lost, alone, and very, very vulnerable.

Jesus doesn’t agree with His hearers. He looks at the situation from God’s perspective (because, of course, He is God), and to Him, every single sheep has value. He loves every single stupid, stubborn sheep (and human being, too). And He never stops searching for them.

Of course, here’s where the analogy breaks down a bit. Jesus knows exactly where we are at every moment, physically, emotionally, spiritually, etc. He doesn’t have to search for us in that way. The problem is that we silly, lost, little people lose sight of Him. We lose ourselves in the things of this world and in our anger and emotional upheavals and stubbornness and sin. But Jesus keeps “finding” us, holding out His hand to us, drawing us back to Him. He never gives up on us. He keeps chasing down every little sheep.