Parable 8

Parable 8

The Lost Sheep

Luke 15:3-7 & Matthew 18:12-14

The Value of Sheep.  

Sheep farming  

Those listening to this parable would have instantly understood this imagery.

Sheep were central to their daily life.

Sheep were key to the economy.

Sheep supplied food and clothing needed for survival.

A glimpse at the heart of God

This parable will show the heart of God.

It will show us how God pursues us.

Experiencing God.

Henry Blackaby said this:

“GOD PURSUES A LOVE RELATIONSHIP WITH YOU”

Romans 8:35 CEV

Can anything separate us from the love of Christ? Can trouble, suffering, and hard times, or hunger and nakedness, or danger and death?

Romans 8:38 CEV

I am sure that nothing can separate us from God’s love—not life or death, not angels or spirits, not the present or the future,

You will see this played out in today’s parable.

The world of a first-century shepherd

Shepherds’ Role

In ancient Israel, shepherds lived with their sheep.

They led them to water, watched for predators, and often slept in the open fields as a living shield between their flock and danger.

It was not a glamorous job.

It required courage.

They had to be vigilant

They had to be diligent in their care.

The Sheep’s Nature.

Sheep are prone to wander.

Once the sheep become separated, they often panic.

They can become vulnerable to predators lost in thickets or fall into a gulley or hole.

Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, - prone to leave the God I love; - here’s my heart; O take and seal it; - seal it for thy courts above.

Community Property

In a village, flocks were often communal.

Several shepherds might watch over a combined flock at night.

When one sheep went missing, it was no small matter.

That lost lamb represented real loss, both emotionally and economically.

Shepherd’s Commitment

A good shepherd knew each sheep individually.

He could spot the missing one and would not rest until it was found.

Jesus audience would have nodded in understanding.

They could see the shepherd risking life and limb to rescue that one sheep.

The Heart of the Parable

Set the scene

Luke 15:1 NIV

Now the tax collectors and sinners were all gathering around to hear Jesus.

Luke 15:2 CEV

So the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law of Moses started grumbling, “This man is friendly with sinners. He even eats with them.”

Don’t judge to quickly – you may resemble those pharisees.

A sheep is lost.

Luke 15:4 NIV

“Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it?

Someone may even alert the village. What a stir it would cause.

Luke 15:5 (NIV) — 5 And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders

Luke 15:5 NIV

And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders

Luke 15:6 (NIV) — 6 and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’

Luke 15:6 NIV

and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’

The whole village would have come out to celebrate.

The devastating truth.

Luke 15:7 NIV

I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.

I hope you see the meaning of this parable.

The Lost Sheep Represents the Sinner.

Each of us, like sheep, has gone astray.

Isaiah 53:6 NLT

All of us, like sheep, have strayed away. We have left God’s paths to follow our own.

Sin leads us away from safety, leaving us exposed.

The Shepherd Represents Christ.

Because you have wandered off doesn’t mean God has wrote you off?

Have you ever written someone off?

Instead, He goes after them with relentless love.

What can separate us from his love?

The Joy of Heaven.

Jesus declares that heaven erupts in joy over one sinner who repents. video

Think of it: the angels celebrate what the Pharisees criticized.

To God, no one is disposable.

Truth one: We can all be pharisees.

Truth two: No one can do the job God called you to do.

God’s Willingness

How important is that sheep?

Matthew 18:14 NLT

In the same way, it is not my heavenly Father’s will that even one of these little ones should perish.

Truth three: What’s one sheep?

What if you’re the sheep?

Not even one.

What a wonderful picture.

The Shepherd who seeks.

The Father who restores. (the prodigal son)

A Powerful Lesson.

For the Church.

One time a pastor told me that his church was full of doctors and lawyers.

Big money people.

I pastor a church full of sinners.

They give the best they can.

God gives the rest.

We must resist the Pharisaical spirit that devalues the lost.

It is easy to demonize those that don’t have the same values.

We rejoice when God brings that lost sheep home.

The church must be a place of welcome, not grumbling.

For the Believer

You are not forgotten.

We are a place of second chances.

But God is not going to leave you where you are.

We must forsake godless living.

Should we keep on sinning so that God can show us more and more of his wonderful grace?

Of course not! Since we have died to sin, how can we continue to live in it?

For Evangelism

This parable compels us to see the worth of one soul.

One neighbor, one family member, one co-worker – each is precious to God.

If heaven rejoices over one, so should we.

Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, - prone to leave the God I love; - here’s my heart; O take and seal it; - seal it for thy courts above.