Luk 15:5-7 | KingComments | STEP | The ninety-nine represent the class of Pharisees and scribes. They are left in the open pasture, not in a fenced meadow. They are, as it were, left to themselves. For the shepherd it is about that one sheep that is lost, not the ninety-nine, for they are not lost. The Pharisees and scribes do not see themselves as lost. The shepherd is not committed to them, but to that one sheep that is lost. He’s willing to do anything to find it and he continues searching until he finds it. If he hadn’t gone after it, it would have got lost further and further and finally died. The shepherd goes after the sheep because it has an enormous value for him. This aspect is also seen in the coin and the son. It is about the loss that the owner experiences and his desire to get it back. It is about a God Who, full of grace and mercy, is looking for people who have been estranged from Him by sin in order to make His pleasure known to them and to bring them back to His heart. God finds man at the moment man repents. When the shepherd has found the sheep, he lays it on his shoulders. It is nice to remember that the power and strength of the Lord Jesus in relation to the creation is expressed in the words “and the government shall be upon his shoulder“ ( , Darby Translation), while here it says that He lays the lost and found sheep on His shoulders. One shoulder is enough to rule the world. To bring a lost sheep back to the herd, He uses both His shoulders. He also lays it on His shoulders “rejoicing”. It is a cause of joy for the Shepherd that He has His sheep back. And where does the shepherd bring the sheep? He does not bring it back to the open pasture, to the herd he has left behind, but he takes it to his home, he brings it “home”. The lost sheep has ‘come home’. The shepherd also wants others to share in his joy about the found sheep. He calls his friends and neighbors together to rejoice with him about finding “my” sheep. A man who is happy to find something belonging to him can understand to some extent how God finds His joy in the salvation of the lost. In any case, Christ appeals to this human joy to justify God’s joy. The Lord assures us here that a sinner who repents sets the tone for the joy on high. There is no one who grumbles, everyone rejoices in the shown love. Is that the case with us? Heaven is not rejoicing about all those people who think they are righteous and therefore think they do not need repentance. Real joy is the result of the searching love of the Lord Jesus.

‏ Luke 15:5-7

The Lost Sheep

The ninety-nine represent the class of Pharisees and scribes. They are left in the open pasture, not in a fenced meadow. They are, as it were, left to themselves. For the shepherd it is about that one sheep that is lost, not the ninety-nine, for they are not lost. The Pharisees and scribes do not see themselves as lost. The shepherd is not committed to them, but to that one sheep that is lost. He’s willing to do anything to find it and he continues searching until he finds it. If he hadn’t gone after it, it would have got lost further and further and finally died. The shepherd goes after the sheep because it has an enormous value for him. This aspect is also seen in the coin and the son.

It is about the loss that the owner experiences and his desire to get it back. It is about a God Who, full of grace and mercy, is looking for people who have been estranged from Him by sin in order to make His pleasure known to them and to bring them back to His heart. God finds man at the moment man repents.

When the shepherd has found the sheep, he lays it on his shoulders. It is nice to remember that the power and strength of the Lord Jesus in relation to the creation is expressed in the words “and the government shall be upon his shoulder“ (Isa 9:6, Darby Translation), while here it says that He lays the lost and found sheep on His shoulders. One shoulder is enough to rule the world. To bring a lost sheep back to the herd, He uses both His shoulders. He also lays it on His shoulders “rejoicing”. It is a cause of joy for the Shepherd that He has His sheep back.

And where does the shepherd bring the sheep? He does not bring it back to the open pasture, to the herd he has left behind, but he takes it to his home, he brings it “home”. The lost sheep has ‘come home’. The shepherd also wants others to share in his joy about the found sheep. He calls his friends and neighbors together to rejoice with him about finding “my” sheep. A man who is happy to find something belonging to him can understand to some extent how God finds His joy in the salvation of the lost. In any case, Christ appeals to this human joy to justify God’s joy.

The Lord assures us here that a sinner who repents sets the tone for the joy on high. There is no one who grumbles, everyone rejoices in the shown love. Is that the case with us? Heaven is not rejoicing about all those people who think they are righteous and therefore think they do not need repentance. Real joy is the result of the searching love of the Lord Jesus.