Then Jesus told them this parable: ‘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? And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbours together and says, “Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.” 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 people who do not need to repent.
Luke 15:3-7 NIVUK
I don’t live in the countryside, but I live close to it. About thirty minutes walk from our house is a farm that has a field of sheep. It’s quite a tremendous view in the spring, during lambing season.
However, walking past a field of sheep makes you quickly aware of the fact that they are not the most intelligent species in the world. It’s a good thing that the farmer has fences up to contain them. Otherwise they would definitely wander into the road or stumble down ravines.
The prophet Isaiah spoke these wonderful words:
We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
Isaiah 53:6 NIVUK
He wasn’t trying to be insulting to us, but he was stating a firm truth. Often the bad decisions we make that cause us to be lost are not the result of ill-intentions or the desire to rebel, but more because of ignorance – of not at all realising the negative consequences of our actions.
However we got lost – and whoever we’d like to blame it on – these verses contain wonderful truths for us.
Firstly, I want you to see that the shepherd knows.
The shepherd knows that one of his sheep is missing.
I am not an expert on sheep, but they mostly look pretty similar, don’t they? Apart from the breeds that are differently coloured, most sheep look like woolly clouds with legs and a head. I’m not a sheep farmer, so it’s hard for me to tell them apart.
But not a Middle Eastern shepherd. Look at how closely Jesus says the Good Shepherd (Jesus) knows His sheep:
The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognise a stranger’s voice.’
John 10:3-5 NIVUK
‘I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me – just as the Father knows me and I know the Father – and I lay down my life for the sheep.
John 10:14-15 NIVUK
Jesus teaches us that even the very hairs of our head are numbered (Matthew 10:30; Luke 12:7). So we can rest assured of this: even if other people don’t know we have strayed, even if we ourselves don’t realise how far we have stayed, Jesus knows. Jesus notices.
And Jesus cares.
Prayer
Lord Jesus, thank you for noticing me. Thank you for knowing when I rise and when I sit, when I stay and when I go. You know what is in my heart today. You know when and where I strayed. Bring me back to you today. I’ve had enough of being lost. Amen.
Questions
1. Have you always decided to stray from Jesus and get lost, or has it been a series of small decisions you weren’t even aware you had taken?
2. How does the fact that Jesus knows you’ve got lost make you feel?
3. What would it take for you to find your way back to Jesus today?
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