Sunday Meditation: The Lost Sheep

In today’s Gospel reading (Lk15:1-32), Jesus tells three parables, a shepherd finding the lost sheep, an old woman finding a lost coin, and the prodigal son, which can be read as the lost found son.  In each case the one who loses is rejoiced in the finding.  It’s quite a lengthy passage and there is an option to only read the first two.  I think we read the Prodigal Son parable by itself on some other Sunday.  I want to focus on the lost sheep.

 

Tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to listen to Jesus,

but the Pharisees and scribes began to complain, saying,

“This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.”

So to them he addressed this parable.

“What man among you having a hundred sheep and losing one of them

would not leave the ninety-nine in the desert

and go after the lost one until he finds it?

And when he does find it,

he sets it on his shoulders with great joy

and, upon his arrival home,

he calls together his friends and neighbors and says to them,

‘Rejoice with me because I have found my lost sheep.’

I tell you, in just the same way

there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents

than over ninety-nine righteous people

who have no need of repentance.

        Lk 15:1-7

 

I’m fascinated by the setting occasion and the conclusion to this parable.  Jesus doesn’t always explain His parables, but in this case He does.  There will be more joy for one repentant sinner than for a whole bunch of people who have no need to repent.  And the occasion that prompts Jesus to preach these parables is because of the talk going around that He hangs out with some pretty bad sinners.  Actually I believe in ancient Judaism (perhaps even in contemporary Judaism) contact with unholy people makes you unholy.  Jesus is clearly violating the Jewish law here.

I am also reminded that I once heard someone expound on the lost sheep parable that no shepherd would actually do this.  No shepherd would leave alone a flock of ninety-nine sheep to find one.  The one would be considered lost and you would stay behind to protect the flock.  So when Christ asks, “What man among you having a hundred sheep and losing one of them would not leave the ninety-nine in the desert and go after the lost one until he finds it?”  The answer is none!  None of them if they knew how to shepherd would do that.  But that is the point!  Only Christ will go after every single sheep until He finds it.  He will not abandon you, even defying logic and convention.

As always, Dr. Brant Pitre does a superb job explaining the parable.

 

But, I don’t want to leave it just with intellectual explanation.  There is a covenant at the heart of this parable, a covenant I think dramatized in this clip.

 

Can you picture yourself being carried home on Jesus’s shoulders?