Parable of the Lost Sheep

Text and Content

This parable appears in Luke 15:3-7 and Matthew 18:12-14. A man who has a hundred sheep loses one of them, leaves the ninety-nine, and goes in search of the one. When he finds it, he lays it on his shoulders and rejoices.

The two Gospels place the parable in different settings.

• Luke: When tax collectors and sinners drew near to Jesus, the Pharisees and scribes murmured. Jesus tells this parable in response. The shepherd leaves the ninety-nine "in the wilderness." After finding the sheep, he calls together his friends and neighbors to rejoice with him. The parable closes with the words "joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance" (Luke 15:7). It is followed by the Parable of the Lost Coin and the Parable of the Prodigal Son; all three stories concern the joy of recovering what was lost.
• Matthew: The parable appears in a passage in which Jesus teaches his disciples not to despise "little ones." The shepherd leaves the sheep on the mountains, and the finding is conditional: "if so be that he find it." The conclusion is "it is not the will of your Father which is in heaven, that one of these little ones should perish" (Matthew 18:14).

Background

Shepherding was a common occupation in the region of Palestine, and the sight of a shepherd leading his flock from pasture to pasture was familiar to Jesus' hearers. The "wilderness" mentioned in Luke refers to uninhabited grazing land.

The text does not say who watched over the ninety-nine left behind. The suggestion that they were entrusted to other shepherds or left in a fold is an explanation offered by interpreters.

The Greek wording also differs. Luke describes the sheep with a verb meaning "to lose" or "to perish," while Matthew uses a verb meaning "to go astray" or "to wander."

Significance in Scripture as a Whole

In the Old Testament, God is portrayed as the shepherd of his people. In Ezekiel 34:11-16, God declares that he himself will search for his scattered sheep, seek the lost, and bring back that which was driven away. Isaiah 40:11 likewise presents God as a shepherd.

The New Testament applies this image to Jesus. Examples include the Good Shepherd of John 10:11-15; "For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost" (Luke 19:10); and "For ye were as sheep going astray" (1 Peter 2:25).

Interpretation and Points of Discussion

In the context of Luke, the parable is generally read in two ways: as an expression of God's joy in receiving sinners, and as a rebuttal of the religious leaders who objected to it. Interpreters differ on how to understand the "just persons, which need no repentance." Some take the phrase as ironic, while others read it literally.

In Matthew, the parable is followed by the procedure for dealing with sin within the church (18:15-17). It is therefore read as teaching that the community must care for and restore its weaker members. The passage is sometimes discussed in connection with the basis for church discipline.

In the parable, the sheep does not return on its own; the shepherd finds it. Interpreters in the Reformed tradition tend to point to this detail to emphasize God's initiative in salvation and grace. The Wesleyan tradition tends to emphasize prevenient grace, by which God first seeks out all people, together with the human repentance spoken of in Luke 15:7.

Some details commonly added in sermons are not found in the text. A well-known example is the claim that a shepherd would deliberately break the leg of a sheep that kept wandering from the flock in order to train it. This does not appear in the Bible, and there is no confirmed evidence that it was an actual pastoral practice. Nor does the canonical text say why the sheep strayed or give its size or age. The noncanonical Gospel of Thomas, however, preserves a different version in which the lost sheep is described as "the largest."

In the Korean Church

In the Korean church, this parable is frequently used in sermons on evangelism and on helping new believers settle into church life. Pastoral visitation of members who have long been absent from church is often called "looking for lost sheep." The parable is also frequently cited in discussions of caring for members who have left the church.