The Lost Sheep

English Standard Version Chapter 15

The Parable of the Lost Sheep

15 Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear him. 2 And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.”

3 So he told them this parable: 4 “What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open country, and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it? 5 And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. 6 And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.’ 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.

Context

Jesus is spending time and eating with both tax-collectors and sinners, both notoriously unpopular with the religious sects of the day.

The Pharisees and scribes were extremely unhappy to see Jesus spending time with these kind of people. Therefore, Jesus took it upon himself to share three parables, all with a similar focus, that God is ke

Jesus shares three parables with the religious scribes and Pharisee’s, The Lost Sheep, The Lost Coin and The Lost Sons.

Jesus told this parable in response to the pharisees grumbling about Him spending time with sinners.

A shepard had 100 sheep, but 1 got lost.

The shepard left the 99 to search for the 1.

When he found it, him and his friends rejoiced.

Jesus compared their rejoicing to the rejoicing that goes on in heaven when one sinner repents.

THIS WHOLE PARABLE IS ABOUT GOD’S LOVE FOR SINNERS. HOWEVER, I WANT TO PULL OUT A FEW THINGS TODAY THAT WE MAY OVERLOOK, THAT ARE IMPORTANT FOR US TO GRASP.

GOD CALLS US TO SIT WITH SINNERS

In verse 15, we see that the tax collectors and sinners were drawn to Jesus, and this offended the scribes and Pharisee’s…

The Pharisee’s were unwilling to receive any who were living lives of open sin. They saw them as dirty and too far gone, and anyone who entertained a sinner’s company was to be just as disdained.

The Pharisee’s didn’t realise that Jesus’ whole purpose of coming to earth was to seek and to save sinners. Luke 19:10 - I have come to seek and to save those who are lost.

Question. Without even realising it, could we be the Pharisee’s in this story? Have we forgotten how much God loves sinners and how he desires to seek and save them?

If we’re not careful, we can come to Church, fellowship and worship God, yet look with disdain upon a broken, hurting world. We forget how much God loves sinners, and instead, subconsciously, we see them as the enemy (Mike reminds us that the battle is not against flesh or blood). Don’t fall into the trap of looking down on others outside the Church (and their behaviour), forgetting that you were once in their position.

Romans 5:8 ESV

8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

John 3:16 ESV

16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

1 John 2:2 ESV

2 He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.

2 Peter 3:9 ESV

9 The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.

In fact, we must with a humble and contrite heart recognise our constant need for Jesus. You see, in this story parable, the lost sheep represents the tax collectors and sinners, however the Pharisee’s were blind to the fact that they needed Jesus just as much as the sinners. They were just as unrighteous, and no amount of good works and self-righteounsess could save them from their sin. Paul makes this clear in Romans 2. Just as much as the Gentiles were guilty for their sin without the law, the Jews, were just as guilty for their sin despite their knowledge of the law. Never come to a place where you are trusting in your own self-righteousness and forgetting you are only saved by the blood of Jesus.

It’s amazing to me that notorious sinners were attracted to Jesus. I have a thought as to why… It’s because they’d tried everything else, and ‘everything else’ hadn’t worked. So when they tasted of Jesus, the living water, their thirst began to be quenched. They realised He was what their soul was longing for.

Like Jesus, we are called to go after lost sinners; those who are lost, those who are from God. We are called to recognise their value and deeply desire to see them found in Christ. I’m not saying everyone will be attracted to you, but many who are lost should see Christ’s qualities in and through your life and desire what they see.

GOD LOVES AND VALUES THE LOST.

English Standard Version Chapter 15

4 “What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open country, and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it?

This parable indicates God’s love for the lost. The lost sheep are those who are spiritually lost and those who have wandered from God.

GOD DOES NOT LOVE THE LOST AT THE DETRIMENT OF THE 99.

GOD, NOT MAN IS OUR GREAT SHEPARD

(talk here about how we ultimately should follow God, not others… Jesus said feed MY sheep, not feed YOUR sheep. So often we can be led astray by idolising a man of THE man Jesus Christ. God has placed inviduals in place to lead the sheep, however they themselves are to follow the good shepard, not their own thinking… Sheep leaders - in Turkey, 1500 fell of a cliff. Don’t follow a leader blindly but weigh everything up against the word of God.