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Matthew 18:10-14
The Parable of the Lost Sheep
10 “See that you do not look down on one of these little ones. For I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven.
12 “What do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off? 13 And if he finds it, I tell you the truth, he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that did not wander off. 14 In the same way your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should perish.
Today’s reading from the Gospel of Matthew is one that’s especially worthy of our attention. It’s only a few verses long, but it makes a point that’s central to our understanding of our relationship with God in Jesus. And what’s more, I think it casts a helpful light on the actual intended meaning of the most beloved of all the psalms.
The parable Jesus tells in this passage is a familiar one, one that appears in Luke, as well. That version appears in the fifteenth chapter of Luke’s gospel, where it’s the first of three parables about things that are lost, and then found with great joy. (The other two parables are the Lost Coin and the Prodigal Son.) In Luke, we’re told that Jesus told them in response to criticism by the religious leadership that he was welcoming and befriending people they considered especially sinful.
So here’s why this parable of the lost sheep is intended to help us come to a better understand of our relationship with God:
Let’s start with this. The metaphor Jesus uses in the parable was widely used in Hebrew tradition to represent the leadership of God’s people – it’s the metaphor of a shepherd. That metaphor, of course, is the one at the heart of the beloved twenty-third Psalm. And it’s still both familiar and beloved. A veteran hospital chaplain once told me that when he was present with a Christian patient who was in a coma, he would often recite the 23rd Psalm aloud. He said that in a surprising number of cases, he would see the patient’s lips move. That’s how deeply ingrained this psalm is in our hearts and minds. Just about everybody who participates in the Christian faith in any way – and even some people who haven’t been to church in years – can recite the opening sentence of the Twenty-third Psalm: “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.”
But there’s an interesting wrinkle to the 23rd Psalm that has to do with the nature of the Hebrew language. In that language, quite a few of the words and phrases have more than one meaning – they can be translated in more than one way. And in addition to its familiar form, the opening sentence of the 23rd Psalm can also be translated, “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall never be allowed to get lost.”
Those who worship with me regularly might remember hearing me say that I suspect that’s what the psalmist really had in mind when he wrote the 23rd Psalm. I say that because when you think about it, that might be a better way to think about our relationship to God – as a God who never loses track of us. Which brings us back to our reading for today. When Jesus talked about the Good Shepherd, he seemed to be saying that the most important trait of a good shepherd was that he would never stop looking for a sheep that got lost. A good shepherd would go after it, and keep on searching until he found it. And then he would joyfully celebrate the return of that lost sheep.
It strikes me that’s one of the reasons this metaphor of God as our shepherd has traditionally had such resonance with believers – because we realize somehow that it does kind of illustrate our relationship with God. Sheep are cute and huggable, especially when they’re little. But they’re also kind of clueless about self-preservation. Sheep are easily frightened, and they tend to wander off. And when you think of it, you could say all those things about us. Spiritually, we can be dumb, we get spooked easily, and we tend to wander away from the path God sets out for us.
But with this parable, Jesus makes the point that God is determined not to lose any of us. So determined, in fact, that he took human form and came down into this dirty and dangerous world to rescue us. He never stops looking for us when we wander off, and one by one, he leads us back home. Then he celebrates our return. That’s a pretty moving illustration of God’s desire to be reconciled to us, don’t you think?
It seems to me this parable also raises a couple of other ideas that are important for followers of Jesus to keep in mind.
First of all, if it’s God’s work – and Jesus’ work – to search tirelessly for lost sheep and lead them back to the fold, then it’s our work, too. Every person we know who is alienated from God is a lost sheep that Jesus died for. So helping people learn that God loves them and is looking for them seems like the heart of being a follower of Jesus.
Of course, this parable suggests that finding and leading home the lost will involve some risk. And sacrifice. And work. Don’t forget that the shepherd leaves the comfort and safety of the flock and forges off into the unknown in the search of the lost sheep.
But the story also holds up the promise of sharing in the great joy of our God when we join him in the work of finding the lost. Because if we are faithful helpers in that process, helping to lead those who are lost back to the Good Shepherd who loves them, then we are contributing to the celebration God will have on their return.
Let’s pray. Lord, we thank you that you have searched tirelessly for each of us in the times we have wandered away from your flock, and that you have celebrated our safe return. By your Spirit, move us to join eagerly in the work of helping you find those who are still lost, and make your love known to them. Amen.
Blessings,
Henry
(The listed readings for today are Psalms 95 and 96; Joel 3:1-2 and 9-17; I Peter 1:1-12; and Matthew 19:1-12. Our readings come from the NIV Bible, as posted on Biblica.com, the website of the International Bible Society.)
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