The Parable Of The Lost Sheep Series

Dr. Bradford Reaves

CrossWay Christian Fellowship

Hagerstown, MD

www.mycrossway.org

Happy Resurrection Sunday, everyone! What a glorious crossroads in history when the God of the Universe took upon Himself our sins to save us from damnation by going to the Cross and defeating death by being raised after three days in the grave! For those of you who are new to us, we just started a few weeks ago a sermon series on the Parables of Jesus. Parables are stories Jesus told his disciples and listeners to teach them a spiritual truth about the Kingdom of Heaven.

The first parable we covered was the Parable of the Soils, followed by the Parable of the Wheat Among Tares. Tim covered the Parable of the Persistent Widow, and Jeff brought us the Parable of the Prodigal Son. Last week, I talked about Mustard Seed Faith, and today, we’re talking about an endearing parable: the Parable of the Lost Sheep.

One of the most amazing elements of the gospel of Jesus Christ and the glory of God is the character and nature in the heart of our Lord. He is, by his very nature, compassionate, tender-hearted, merciful, gracious, loving, and most of all, a savior. He does this without reluctance. It is the true reflection of God's character towards his people. Never has this been more prevalent than in Jesus' parable of the lost sheep.

In this parable, we find the heart of the Father. The work of our Good Shepherd, the condition of our souls, and the hope we have through Him. You can't question the character of God as a Savior. Nor can you question if there is any reluctance in God to save the whosoever.

I've been asked many times by people, “If God is a god of love, then why does He allow disasters, killings, and the evil of this world to continue? Why doesn't he stop it?” But that's not really the question. Death for every person, especially in a fallen world, is inevitable. The real question we must ask ourselves is, “Why does God save sinners?”

Which brings me to the parable on this Resurrection Sunday of 2024. We find it in both Matthew 18 and Luke 15. I’m going to read it from Luke:

Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear him. 2 And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.” 3 So he told them this parable: 4 “What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open country, and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it? 5 And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. 6 And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.’ 7 Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance. (Luke 15:1–7)

The Context

Sinners were coming to Jesus, and Jesus was going to sinners. The reason was that Jesus came to seek out sinners. He gave them eternal life and hope, and this outraged the ‘church police.’ Their self-righteous hatred toward sinners became clear here before the parable.

You see, Jesus was not only seeking out the sinners, he was EATING with them. I think Jesus connected with people in a way that connected with their hearts. He wasn’t concerned with ideologies or the opinions of the ‘church police.’ He was concerned with the condition of man's eternity. In other words, God loves sinners.

He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” (Matthew 15:24)

“My people have been lost sheep. Their shepherds have led them astray, turning them away on the mountains. From mountain to hill, they have gone. They have forgotten their fold. (Jeremiah 50:6)

And I will set up over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he shall feed them: he shall feed them and be their shepherd. 24 And I, the Lord, will be their God, and my servant David shall be prince among them. I am the Lord; I have spoken. (Ezekiel 34:23–24)

Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, (Hebrews 13:20)

He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world. (1 John 2:2)

The Parable

So now Jesus gave the Scribes and the Pharisees a parable to show them the condition of their hearts versus the condition of the hearts of those he came to save. The parable is about how the owner of a flock, or a shepherd, would intentionally go to find a single lost sheep. In Jesus's day, most families had several sheep, as many as 15. So what would happen is a village would consolidate all of its sheep into a single herd and hire someone to watch over the herd. And so Jesus gives us an image: I'll be a flock of 100 sheep. But there is something wrong; one of the sheep is lost. For a shepherd, losing even a single sheep was a big deal. You are one of those sheep.