Shared on 2/1/2009
Context of the story
This story is taking place when Jesus was eating with the tax collectors and sinners. Jesus welcomed them and ate with them. The Pharisees and the teachers of the law criticized Jesus for associating with 'bad' people.
They muttered, "This man welcomes sinners and eats with them. His behavior is unthinkable."
They muttered, "This man welcomes sinners and eats with them. His behavior is unthinkable."
So Jesus told this parable. Please note that this parable is addressed to the Pharisees and the teachers of the law as well as to the tax collectors and sinners, both to the religious and irreligious and both to the morally upright and morally degenerate.
The story (4-6)
Look at verses 4-7.
"Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Does he not leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? 5And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders 6and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, 'Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.'
The story is very simple on the surface. A man had one hundred sheep. One got lost and he went out and found the lost. When he found the lost, he could not contain his joy. He was so happy that he shared his joy with everyone.
Today, I want to discuss three things in this parable.
- The character of God.
- Our lostness
- The character of God's kingdom.
Let's ask God to open our eyes and see the meaning of this parable.
The character of God
This story tells us about God's character.
First, Jesus is the shepherd. God is almighty. He is the creator of the heavens and the earth. He has many names but this time he wants to be identified with one who had a hundred sheep. These sheep represent humanity. Jesus is the shepherd of all. Jesus knows them one by one. When one is lost, he knows who is missing.
The shepherd knows that a sheep without a shepherd is like a baby without a mother. When a baby is separated from his parents, his death is certain. It is a matter of time. The good shepherd knows this as well . The sheep going out of his shepherd's protection will die soon. He can be devoured by a wolf or he will die of starvation and dehydration.
We need someone to rescue us when we are lost. For example, the movie, Guardian depicts Ben Randall (played by Kevin Costner) who was the Coast Guard's best rescuer. He was coping with one tragic event. He was the only survivor after his helicopter was forced down and crashed into the water during a rescue mission at sea.
One person asked him why he was the best. He responded like this: "When I go out and rescue someone, I hold on to him and do not let him go. If I let go, he dies. So I just hold on to him."
Jesus is better than Ben. Jesus had no issues like Ben. His motivation was not from his tragic event that drove him to rescue the lost. Jesus' main motivation was from his love for his sheep. Jesus cares for the one lost sheep. This one sheep is the whole world to him. Jesus could have said, "I have 99 left. One is not that important." No. He does not say that.
He goes out and does not rest until he finds it. Look at the phrase, "until he finds it."
What does it mean that he searches until he finds it? He goes out and searches for his lost one until he finds it. He does not rest nor take a break. He does not give up. He is determined to find the lost one. For example, I read one woman's crusade to find her missing daughter. This woman was a single mother who raised one 7 year old girl. This girl was the whole world to her. One day her daughter did not come home after school. Her daughter was missing. The whole town searched for her. They searched and searched for a year or so. Then they called off the search. But this woman did not give up on her daughter. She searched for her missing daughter for over 15 years She did not give up on her. Our Lord is like that. He goes after the lost until he finds it.
This man did not curse the sheep when he found him, saying "You dumb sheep. Why you are so heavy!" No. His joy was overflowing so he called out his neighbors and said, "Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep."
Our lostness
This story is about the man who goes after his lost sheep. My question is: Who is the lost?
First, we can be lost because of our nature. Basically we are sheep, Sheep are by nature dumb and stubborn. When we do not know that we are sheep and God is our shepherd, we think that we do not need God. We do not want to live under Jesus' care. This is our lostness.
First, we can be lost because of our nature. Basically we are sheep, Sheep are by nature dumb and stubborn. When we do not know that we are sheep and God is our shepherd, we think that we do not need God. We do not want to live under Jesus' care. This is our lostness.
Second, we are lost by our self righteousness. One sheep tells another sheep, "I have one less worm than you have and my hair is not as messy as yours."
All of us can easily be lost. We can see how much we are lost. How much we do not value Jesus our good shepherd. We are completely lost when we do not see the value of our Lord Jesus.
All of us can easily be lost. We can see how much we are lost. How much we do not value Jesus our good shepherd. We are completely lost when we do not see the value of our Lord Jesus.
Without Jesus coming to us we are absolutely finished. We are like sheep in the middle of the desert without the guidance of the shepherd. Who can lead us to the streams of water? It is a matter of time before we starve to death. Praise to Jesus who came to us when we are completely lost in our self righteousness and in our dumbness.
As I mentioned, we have two groups of people. The first group gathered around Jesus and the second group did not gather around Jesus but criticized Jesus who welcomed the sinners and ate with them.
Let's look at this from two perspectives.
First, the sinners perspective. They liked this story because, to God's eyes, we are all his precious sheep. Jesus coming to them and eating with them, Jesus is finding them and bringing them back to God.
Here Jesus is saying that we are his precious sheep. Don't you like Jesus' description of us. We are sheep. Among the sheep, we think we are better than others. But when Jesus looks at us, we are his sheep. We are all equal to God. We are all precious to him.
The story does not tell us why this one sheep is lost. Because he is a sheep, he gets lost from time to time. It is easy to be lost when you are a male sheep. He knows that he has to be on I-72E but somehow he ends up on I-57S.
It is always comforting to know that this shepherd values one lost sheep. He goes after the lost one until he finds it. Until he finds it. Not until he is tired but until he finds it. The shepherd never gives up on his sheep.
Not only that when he found the lost one he was so happy and rejoiced. They were happy to hear that God welcomes them and eats with them.
Second, the Pharisee's perspective. Jesus is saying that the Pharisees and the teachers of the law also belong to God's flock. They are God's flock. They are Jesus' sheep. They are as dirty as one lost sheep. They, too, can be easily lost. they refused to come to Jesus. In doing so, they are also lost in their self righteousness. For example, one dirty sheep can not tell other dirty sheep to clean up his acts. They too need God's care. They need the shepherd care. This story tells us that we have nothing to be proud of. We need God's help desperately. Otherwise, we can be lost, too. To God the Pharisees and the tax collectors are about the same. Both of them are just stubborn sheep who need his care.
If one of them is lost, the man will go after and do the same thing. God goes after any lost sheep. That's why Jesus told this parable.
How do you view yourself? We have a tendency to be generous to ourselves and very critical to others. Is this a valid assumption? NO.
How does God look at us? We are God's precious sheep. Jesus is our good shepherd. The good shepherd goes out for the lost one.
The character of God's kingdom
Look at verse 7. "I tell you that in the same way there will be rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent."
So let's look at verse 2 again. Jesus was eating with the tax collectors. This eating tells us that Jesus' kingdom is characterized by joy.
Why was Jesus so joyful eating with the tax collectors and sinners? Because he found his lost sheep. He could not contain his joy so he ate with them. The kingdom of God is made up of those who are lost and found by Jesus. By Jesus' coming to us and living among us and ultimately dying for us and rising from the dead can we come to his joyful kingdom.
Why was Jesus so joyful eating with the tax collectors and sinners? Because he found his lost sheep. He could not contain his joy so he ate with them. The kingdom of God is made up of those who are lost and found by Jesus. By Jesus' coming to us and living among us and ultimately dying for us and rising from the dead can we come to his joyful kingdom.
What does it mean that there is much joy when one sinner repents?
We think that our repentance has to do with our will or our effort. Our will or our decision to renounce our sins and clean up our behaviors. That's not true. As we know only a few, one in a million who keeps his new year's resolution. Everyone wants to lose weight. Oprah's weight has been up and down for two decades. One year she is down 50. One year she is up by 50 pounds. Our human will has limits. Dr. Phil's advice cannot help Oprah. This does not mean that we are hopeless. What I am saying is that it is by God's grace. It is our Lord's grace for us. He found us when we were lost. So we could come back to him by his help, not by our own will. This is our repentance.
Prof. Jerram Barrs said that we have this romantic picture in our mind when we read this passage. We see one nice looking man, with very neatly combed hair and dressed in a white robe carrying a cute, small puppy size sheep on his shoulders. But this is not what the story tells us. This man almost got multiple heart attacks. He panicked and went out for the lost sheep. He searched desperately. This man went out and went through a lot, both emotionally and physically. This man had to climb the mountain and sleep outside. This man was dirty and tired and completely exhausted. Perhaps he was bloody. We can only guess his situation.
But when he found his lost sheep, the man was not irritable. He was happy. When he found the dehydrated sheep, he put this heavy sheep on his shoulders and carried it all the way to his sheep pen. He forgot about himself and put it on his shoulders and carried it. He is like a mother who carries a baby on her back. The sheep is not so small or cute like baby Gloria. You see the tired man. But we also see a joyful man who carries his sheep on his shoulders.
But when you look at the story, the repentance is our realization that you are lost and Jesus found us. It is our realization that we are utterly helpless without Jesus. It is better to live with Jesus than apart from him. It is not our own effort but by Jesus' searching for us and finding us.
But when he found his lost sheep, the man was not irritable. He was happy. When he found the dehydrated sheep, he put this heavy sheep on his shoulders and carried it all the way to his sheep pen. He forgot about himself and put it on his shoulders and carried it. He is like a mother who carries a baby on her back. The sheep is not so small or cute like baby Gloria. You see the tired man. But we also see a joyful man who carries his sheep on his shoulders.
But when you look at the story, the repentance is our realization that you are lost and Jesus found us. It is our realization that we are utterly helpless without Jesus. It is better to live with Jesus than apart from him. It is not our own effort but by Jesus' searching for us and finding us.
Our repentance is that knowing our Lord Jesus who welcomes us and his kingdom is characterized by joy. The kingdom of God is full of people who are found by our Lord Jesus. We thank Jesus for going after us and finding us and bringing us to his sheep pen where we are joyful because he is joyful to see us. We are happy to see how much he cares for us.
Summary
How do you view God? How do you view yourself?
Let's reflect on verse 7. "I tell you that in the same way there will be rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent."
Let's reflect on verse 7. "I tell you that in the same way there will be rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent."
Do you see God's joy of being with you? Let me ask you, "Who is the lost? I want to say that as long as we do not gather around our shepherd Jesus, we are all lost. Jesus is our shepherd and we are his precious sheep.
May God help us open our eyes to see that we are God's precious sheep. Let's see Jesus' joy of finding us. Let's see his love for us that goes after us until he finds us.
Let's thank Jesus who finds us and wants to share of his joy of being with us. Let's find who we are before God. Let's thank God for sending us our good shepherd Jesus.
i like the point made about the character of God, "until he finds it" And that his searching is not guilt driven but out of love and compassion
in the second point of the lost, i like how we can conclude that we are all lost sheep who needs God's mercy, although i did get confused a bit by the lost by nature and lost by our self-righteousness, both are valid but it seems self-righteousness is overlapped by our nature which is vanity to reject God's sovereignty. It is the sheep's nature to be self-righteous.
In the last point, i like how u reference jerram because it shows Jesus' pain to seek us and his joy to find us.
i am sorry for the late response, may God bless your message -paul
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