“What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one which is lost until he finds it?  And when he had found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!’” (Luke 15:4-6).

In Luke 15 three related parables are set forth by Jesus: The Lost Sheep (some are lost due to neglect or detraction; they wandered away); The Lost Coin (some are lost in ignorance); and The Lost Son (some are lost in rebellion).  Since this series of lessons concern animals, we will limit our study to The Lost Sheep.

A sheep could become lost for many different reasons.  It may become separated from the flock by falling in a pit or being caught in a thicket.  It may have become injured and not kept up with the flock.  It may have become distracted and wandered off.  It may have been spooked and ran.  The animal here seems to have simply strayed, wandered away from the shepherd (cf. Matthew 18:12-14).  Regardless of how it became lost, it was lost. 

Imagine this was your sheep.  Would you miss it?  Would you feel the loss?  Would you value it enough to make effort to find it?  Of course, you would.  And if you were able to find it and bring it home, wouldn’t this bring you joy?  You know that it would.

Why did Jesus tell this parable (and the other two in this chapter)?  The Pharisees and Scribes did not understand why Jesus spent time with “tax collectors and sinners” (Luke 15:1-2).  The point of the parable(s) is that Jesus and heaven value the lost, and rejoice when they repent (Luke 15:7, 10, 32).  Moreover, Jesus wanted the Pharisees and Scribes, and he wants us, to so value people as well (Luke 15:6, 9, 22-32).

More than once, Jesus reasoned from the care of animals to the care of people (Luke 12:6-7; 13:15-16; 14:1-5; 15:1-7).  It is perverted priorities which value animals more than people.  Let’s value people.  Let’s desire their well-being, and especially, their salvation.  Let’s rejoice in their salvation. Think for the words of the song There Were Ninety and Nine by Elizebeth Cecilia Clephane written in 1868. “‘Lord, Thou hast here ninety and nine; are they not enough for Thee?’ But the Shepherd made answer: ‘This of mine has wandered away from me; and though the road be rough and steep, I go to the desert to find my sheep, I go to the desert to find my sheep.’ … And all through the mountains, thunder-riven, and up from the rocky steep, there arose a glad cry to the gate of heaven, ‘Rejoice! I have found my sheep!’ And the angels echoed around the throne, ‘Rejoice, for the Lord brings back His own, Rejoice, for the Lord brings back His own!'”