Luke 15:1-7 New International Version
The Parable
of the Lost Sheep
15 Now the tax collectors and sinners were all gathering around to hear Jesus.
2 But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered,
“This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.”
3 Then Jesus told them this parable:
4 “Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it?
5 And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders
6 and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’
7 I tell you that in the same way
there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine
righteous persons who do not need to repent.
The God Who Leaves the Ninety-Nine
Luke 15:1-7
Most people are
familiar with the passage of the shepherd who leaves his flock to find one lost
sheep. Although people may know the passage, they do not fully understand the love
of God.
People are too
calculating and look at benefits and losses rather than doing what is right and
pleasing to God. We look at people in terms of their usefulness and how we can benefit
from them or what it will cost us to have a relationship with them.
The Pharisees
hated tax collectors and saw them as traitors and useless to their country of Israel.
Yet, they did not understand the character of God.
Jesus presents
that the useless and lost are the ones that God puts his energy to rescue and not
the ones who are already safe.
Luke 15:4 ESV
[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?
God loves all
of His creation. You cannot put a value on people you love. We have a value that
cannot be calculated because God has created us. In God's eyes, you are precious
and carry value.
This value not
only applies to you but also to others. It is our neighbors, friends, family and
enemies. It includes the people who are marginalized or do not have others who care
and love about them.
When we come to
believe and understand how much God loves us and others, we will make decisions
that glorify and please God.
Our children have
values that no parent can calculate. Children should not be treated or viewed as
burdens but have value. The birth rate has fallen because too many people have tried
to count the costs of raising children and not the value which God has put on the
child.
Our lives have
meaning that we cannot comprehend
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