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?
Luke 15:3-4 NIVUK
We also see that as well as knowing, the shepherd seeks.
And this should be really startling to us:
‘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?
Luke 15:4 NIVUK
The actions of the shepherd here are radical.
Not only does He notice that He has one sheep missing, it seems that He neglects the ninety-nine sheep to find the one. After all, He leaves the ninety-nine in the open country – and the Greek for this expression indicates a desolate, lonely place – while He looks for the one.
Surely that would leave them as open prey for robbers or wild animals? Surely there are greater opportunities for one of them to stray?
Yet I believe there is a profound, and beautiful, logic to this. Wild animals don’t tend to attack a flock or herd. They are too much work. They tend to go after solo animals, the stragglers, the ‘left behind’.
Let this painful reality sink in: they target the lost.
Perhaps the shepherd’s logic is that the lone, lost sheep is in far greater danger than the flock of ninety-nine. And the fact that he doesn’t first lead the ninety-nine into one of the mountainside sheep-pens that were scattered over the Middle Eastern countryside indicates that this danger wasn’t just real, it was imminent.
The lost sheep’s situation is urgent.
Not only is the shepherd willing to risk the ninety-nine, but He is also willing to risk himself.
Grazing land, particularly outside of spring time, was often in rugged, mountainous terrain, far from villages and towns. Shepherds could be away from home for days at a time. To have lost a sheep in such a place meant that the shepherd would have to risk personal harm to himself to rescue one wayward sheep.
There is a very serious message here for all of us. Maybe you got lost because the life of those who say they are found – of Christians – seems so utterly boring, and the lives of the lost seem much more interesting, as if life is a fairground, the Christian life is like the teacups on a carousel and the lost life is a death-defying roller coaster.
If we have made the Christian life look boring then that’s on us – that's our fault.
But let me tell you, having spent a lot of time with people living the lost life on the streets of my town, it is not thrilling. It’s actually mind-numbing boredom and senseless self-harm, punctuated with the odd moment of tragedy.
It’s no life at all.
If you are lost today then your situation is critical. You are in imminent danger. There are rapacious beasts in human skin who are out to take advantage of you for their own selfish gain. And you might think that you are smart enough to resist them, that they won’t fool you, but it’s really not worth the risk.
I urge you to come to your senses. Be found by Jesus.
He came to seek and save you at incredible personal risk. It cost Him His life.
Be found by Him.
Prayer
Lord Jesus, it is thrilling to see how you come to seek after me when I have strayed and got lost. Come and find me, Lord Jesus. I don’t want to be lost anymore. I want to be with You and follow You. Amen.
Questions
1. Why does the shepherd leave the ninety-nine sheep in the open country to rescue the one that is lost? If we are lost today, what does this tell us about our situation
2. What risks did the shepherd take to look for the lost sheep? What risks did Jesus take to seek us?
3. What risks are we exposed to if we remain lost? What can you do to escape these risks?
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