Matthew 18 and Luke 15 contains Jesus’ parable about a shepherd who leaves 99 sheep of his flock to go in search of one that had wandered away. Jesus gave this illustration in response to the Pharisees who were not happy with Jesus being in the company of sinners (see Luke 15:2).
In response to the Pharisees, Jesus told them this:
“What do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off? And if he finds it, truly I tell you, he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that did not wander off. In the same way your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should perish” (Matthew 18:12-14)
Think of it another way, in a house fire with the closest fire station being far away, if the father of five children liberates his wife and four children but comes to find out the fifth child is still stuck in the burning building, won’t the father run back in to rescue his child from peril?
In this same way, God is the perfect father. He knows everything about His children’s hearts and lives. He rejoices that some are safe in Christ, secure in eternity and brought close to Him. But some are missing. The Father sent Jesus to rescue the ones who are lost (see Luke 19:10). When He leaves the ninety-nine, it is not that God abandons them. They are already safely in His kingdom, attended by His angels, and guided by His Holy Spirit (refer to Romans 8:14, Hebrews 13:5). But His heart aches for those not yet gathered as His people. Thus, the Good Shepherd sets out for The Cross to bring His flock home. But this also applies to those of us who are part of the fold but are in seasons of spiritual dryness. The Good Shepherd pursues us with His irresistible grace and we surrender to a deeper awareness of His sovereignty and subsequently His presence in our lives and give up our demands to go about our days apart from Him. We finally submit to our Shepherd, who carries us back to the fold (see Luke 15:5).
Questions to ask yourself:
- Do you remember a time when Jesus brought you back into the fold? What did you learn from that time? How much have you grown since then?
- What are some areas you’d like to grow?
Prayer Prompt:
(free prayer)