Luke 15:1 says, “Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear him.” “Tax collectors” were the most despised men in Jesus’ day. Conspiring with Roman authorities, they sold out their God, families, and nation for ill-gotten gain. “Sinners” may refer to the notoriously immoral. Or the term may refer to irreligious people who did not live in strict adherence to the religious traditions. The cast of ragamuffins gathered to hear Jesus. Luke says it was “all” of them. 

Luke 14:35 says, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” These social outcasts and spiritual outsiders took Jesus up on this invitation. They did not come to see a miracle or receive a blessing. They drew near to hear the words that fell from Jesus’ lips. 

The famous Chicago evangelist, D.L. Moody, launched and led a Sunday school for inner-city children. One boy walked several miles to attend. Someone asked him, “Why don’t you go to a Sunday school closer to home?” He answered, “Because they love a feller over there.” That was the sentiment of the tax collectors and sinners who drew near to hear Jesus. Unfortunately, not everyone shared their sentiment. 

Verse 2 says, “And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, ‘This man receives sinners and eats with them.’” Pharisees and scribes ranked the highest in Israel’s opinion polls. These representatives of the religious establishment did not associate with tax collectors and sinners. Yet they were present when the ungodly and unrighteousdrew near to her Jesus. 

Picture the scene. Religious outsiders and insiders converge on the same place at the same time. Jesus was caught in the crossfire. In fact, it would be more appropriate to say that Jesus chose sides. His scandalous actions caused the religious leaders to grumble against him. Angrily murmuring under their breath, they charged Jesus with two indictments. Jesus receives sinners, welcoming them in rather than casting them away. Worse, he eats with them. In biblical times, sharing a meal was more about friendship than food. 

Catch the irony. The religious leaders grumbled that Jesus received sinners and ate with them. Their complaint was a compliment. Jesus is a friend of sinners!

Luke 15:3-32 records Jesus’ response to the complaints and criticisms of the religious establishment. Jesus tells three parables. 

• Verses 4-7 record the parable of the lost sheep. 
• Verses 8-10 record the parable of lost silver. 
• Verses 11-32 record the parable of the lost son. 

The three parables make one point: Lost people matter to God. In verses 4-7, Jesus makes this point by asking how a shepherd would respond if he lost one of his sheep. With slight variation, this parable is also recorded in Matthew 18:12-14. How does God feel about lost people? Luke 14:4-7 gives three proofs of God’s love for the lost. 

The Lost Sheep 

This little parable is about the shepherd, not the sheep. Yet the point Jesus makes about the loving shepherd can only be seen by looking at what he says about the lost sheep. So let’s begin with two details about this lost sheep. 

The Nature of the Sheep. Throughout scripture, God’s people are called sheep. It is not a compliment. Sheep are dumb animals. They do not look up or around. They constantly look down for their next nibble. Their preoccupation with pasture makes it easy for them to stray away from the flock and fold. Most animals have survival instincts, defense mechanisms, or an attack mode. The survival of the fittest dooms sheep. The existence of sheep is the best argument against evolution.

When I was a boy, I had a Great Dane I named “Marmaduke,” who would pin me to the ground. After rescuing me from Marmaduke one day, my dad put him in the car, drove him to the park several miles away, and left him there. The next morning, Marmaduke was sitting at the front door. Lost sheep cannot find their way home. He can only get himself into more danger. This is also the nature of sinners. Our only hope is that God’s rescuing grace would save us. That is what God has done for us in Christ. Isaiah 53:6 says, “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned – every one – to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.”

The Number of the Sheep. The parables of Luke 15 each have a different proportional value. 

• The lost sheep is one of a hundred. 
• The lost silver is one of ten. 
• The lost son is one of two. 

It would be easiest for the shepherd to cut his losses. Think about it. A coach who only loses one percent of his games would be considered the greatest of all time. A student who only gets one percent wrong gets straight A’s. A politician who only loses one percent of the vote would consider it a landslide victory. To think of a flock that way is to be a hireling, not a shepherd. The one sheep matters to the true shepherd. Every lost person matters to God.

We live in an impersonal world in which you are just a number – A phone number, area code number, zip code number, ID number, driver’s license number, social security number, credit card number, membership number, PIN number. To the Lord, you are a name, not a number. He knows you personally, intimately, and distinctively. God loves you so much that He would leave the ninety-nine to find you. John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”

The Searching Shepherd 

The man addressed or described in this parable is not called a “shepherd.” But he acts like one in three ways. 

The Shepherd’s Decision. Verse 4 asks, “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?” Jesus asked his hearers to put themselves in a scenario in which they had a hundred sheep but lost one. How would you respond to losing something so valuable to you? The assumed answer is that you would go after the lost one. But the point is more emphatic. Jesus asks if you would leave the ninety-nine in the open country to go after the one who is lost. The “open country” is literally the wilderness. Bible commentators twist themselves in knots trying to explain this (or explain it away). But it’s best to take the text at face value. The searching shepherd leaves the ninety-nine sheep in the open country where they are vulnerable to wolves,rustlers, or their own feral desire to bolt free. 

Robert Farar Capon wrote, “This parable can hardly be interpreted as a helpful hint for running a sheep-ranching business. The most likely result of going off in pursuit of one lost sheep will only be ninety-nine more lost sheep.” 

This shepherd goes temporarily insane when he loses one of his sheep. Can you feel God’s pulse in the crazy decision of the searching shepherd? To the shepherd, losing one would be like losing the whole flock. His flock is a hundred, not ninety-nine. So he does not play the percentages. He leaves the ninety-nine in the wilderness to find the one that is lost. 

The Shepherd’s Determination. The last phrase of verse 4 says the shepherd goes after the one that is lost “until he finds it.” He does not search halfheartedly, superficially, or temporarily. It’s an all-out search. He will not rest until he has found his lost little lamb. This is a glimpse of the furious love of God. He relentlessly pursues. He is the hound of heaven. He keeps looking and looking. 

A man welcomed a troubled teenager into his home. He embraced her as his own and decided to adopt her. Right before the adoption was finalized, she stole some things, made a mess in his home, and ran away. His family and friends told him that he should not take her back. “Remember, they advised, she is not really your child anyway.” “I know,” he replied. “But I told her she was!” 

  The Lord will not give up on you. You can be…

• A drunk like Noah. 
• A liar like Abraham. 
• A cheat like Jacob. 
• A prostitute like Rahab. 
• A murderer like Moses. 
• A covenant-breaker like Samson
• A curser like Job. 
• An adulterer like David.
• A bigamist like Solomon. 
• A rebel like Jonah. 
• A crook like Matthew. 
• A denier like Peter. 
• A traitor like Judas 
• A doubter like Thomas. 
• A blasphemer like Paul. 

God won’t give up on you. Romans 8:39-39 says, “For I am sure that neither death nor life nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” 

The Shepherd’s Discovery. After a long and tiring search, the shepherd finally finds his missing sheep. How does the shepherd respond? The shepherd does not get angry. He does not scold the lamb. He is not upset about wasting so much time looking for the sheep. He does not fuss as the sheep for straying away. He does not complain about how much time it took to find it. Verse 5 says, “And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing.” 

The Statuette of the Good Shepherdpictures Christ as a shepherd with a sheep draped around his shoulders. It was originally a part of a fourth-century sarcophagus discovered in the Catacomb of Callixtus. As early Christians worshiped in underground tombs, they found hope in the thought that the Lord joyfully carries his sheep on his shoulders. This is how the Lord cares for weak and weary sheep. Psalm 28:9 says, “Oh, save your people and bless your heritage! Be their shepherd and carry them forever.”  

A patient shepherd had a stubborn sheep that kept straying away. Each time the shepherd would search until he found it. At some point, when the shepherd found the wandering sheep, he would break its leg. After carrying it home, he would set it in a cast and continue to carry it until it was healed. When the sheep was healed, it no longer strayed away. It was so used to being in the shepherd’s arms that it no longer strayed away. Sometimes the Lord has to break things in our lives to teach us to stay close to him. 

The Joyful Celebration 

• The shepherd searched for his lost sheep with tears in his eyes. 
• The shepherd carried the found sheep home with great rejoicing. 

 There is a celebration at home and in heaven. 

A Celebration at Home. Verse 6 says, “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.’” Note how the parable grows more and more dramatic. The shepherd leaves the ninety-nine sheep in the wilderness to find the one that was lost. When he finds his missing sheep, he carries it all the way home on his shoulders, rejoicing all the way. Once he and the sheep arrive home safely, the shepherd becomes a party planner. He invites his friends and neighbors to rejoice with him. He gives a personal reason for this public celebration: “I have found my sheep that was lost.” He calls the lost sheep “my sheep.”

A boy made a boat and tried it out in a lake. He was heartbroken when the wind blew it away. One day, he saw his boat in the window of a store. When he demanded the boat, the store owner insisted he pay for it. The boy saved his money until he was able to buy the boat. Walking home with it, he celebrated, “You are my boat twice!” he said. “You’re mine because I made you, and mine because I bought you!”

 The shepherd rejoices over his lost sheep that was found. The question is whether his friends and neighbors rejoice with him. Those who do not rejoice with the shepherd are not his friends and neighbors.  

• The opposite of a friend is an enemy. 
• The opposite of a neighbor is a stranger. 

Your attitude toward lost people reveals your relationship to God. The joyful celebration is the punchline of the parable. The religious leaders ask, “If Jesus knows God, why is he partying with sinners?” Jesus replied, “If you know God, why haven’t you joined the party! That’s the message of Luke 15: Join the party! 

A Celebration in Heaven. This parable is about the joy of finding. Celebration is central to the story. There’s rejoicing all the way around. The shepherd rejoices. His friends and neighbors rejoice. The party does not end there. Verse 7 says, “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.” Worldly-minded people think that heaven will be a bore and hell will be a blast. Hell is a terrible place of unquenchable fire where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth. There is joy in heaven! There are levels of joy! There will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance. 

Whose your one? Ask God to use you to reach one lost person for Jesus. Pray for that person daily. Look for opportunities to have gospel conversations with them. Invite them to church with you to hear more about Christ. Seek to invoke more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents. “Heaven” here is a circumlocution for God. God himself rejoices when a sinner repents. If you are a sinner, you can make heaven happy today. Repent of your sins and run to the cross! 

A tourist visited a town with a church building that had a sheep rather than a steeple on top. The guide explained that the construction worker fell as he placed the steeple on the roof. As he fell, a shepherd was leading his flock by the building below. One of the sheep broke his fall. And the community decided to place a memorial on the building to the sheep that died so that the fallen may live.  

Just as I am, without one plea, 
But that Thy blood was shed for me, 
And that Thou bidd'st me to come to Thee, 
O Lamb of God, I come, I come.