The Parable Of The Lost Sheep Series

All three parts of the parable make the same basic point. In each story something is lost, sought, found, and celebrated.

According to Michael Wilcock, “The plain meaning of the chapter is that just as there is joy when any shepherd or any housewife or any father recovers a loss, so there is joy in heaven when a sinner is reunited with God.”

Philip Ryken expresses it this way, “This three-in-one parable is about the joy of God in finding what is lost – a joy that we will share only if we have the heart that Jesus has for lost and dying sinners.”

So, the first part of the parable is about a lost sheep that the shepherd seeks, finds, and rejoices over its recovery.

Lesson

The analysis of the lost sheep in Luke 15:4-7 teaches us that there is joy in heaven over every sinner who repents.

Let’s use the following outline:

1. The Shepherd’s Search (15:4)

2. The Shepherd’s Success (15:5)

3. The Shepherd’s Celebration (15:6-7)

I. The Shepherd’s Search (15:4)

First, let’s look at the shepherd’s search.

Jesus began the parable by saying in verse 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?”

Kenneth E. Bailey has written extensively about the culture that most likely existed in Jesus’ day. It is necessary to understand the cultural background to interpret the parable correctly. Bailey points out that the context for this part of the parable seems to be a village community. There were perhaps a few hundred people living together in the village and they were deeply connected as a community.

A man having a hundred sheep in that culture was wealthy. He probably hired a family member to take care of the flock. Bailey says,

The extended family owns the sheep. The shepherd is not a “hireling” nor a “stranger.” He is a member of the extended family and naturally feels responsible before the entire family clan; any loss is a loss to all of them. This understanding of the culture clarifies the joy in the community reflected at the center of the parable. In short, the extended family loses if a sheep is lost; the whole clan rejoices if the lost is found.

So, the owner lost one of his sheep. Jesus did not say what caused the sheep to get lost. Lost sheep are easily disoriented when they are lost. They are defenseless against danger. And they do not find their way home by themselves. All they can do is wait for the shepherd to rescue them.

Is this not a picture of our own spiritual condition? Apart from Christ, we are lost. We are defenseless against spiritual danger. And we cannot find our way to God by ourselves. All we can do is to wait for Jesus to rescue us.

Of course, the shepherd goes after the one that is lost, until he finds it. That is a beautiful picture of what Jesus does, isn’t it? Like the shepherd in this parable, Jesus came to earth to seek and to save the lost (Luke 19:10). As Philip Ryken says, “When we are lost, when we have wandered on the far hills of disobedience, when we are alone and afraid, when we are wounded and weak, when we are defenseless against our enemies, when we are unable to save ourselves – it is just then that Jesus comes to rescue us.” And, of course, Jesus seeks and finds every single lost sheep of his.