Luke 15:1-7

Parable of the Lost Sheep
15 Tax collectors and other notorious sinners often came to listen to Jesus teach. 2 This made the Pharisees and teachers of religious law complain that he was associating with such sinful people—even eating with them!

3 So Jesus told them this story: 4 “If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them gets lost, what will he do? Won’t he leave the ninety-nine others in the wilderness and go to search for the one that is lost until he finds it? 5 And when he has found it, he will joyfully carry it home on his shoulders. 6 When he arrives, he will call together his friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me because I have found my lost sheep.’ 7 In the same way, there is more joy in heaven over one lost sinner who repents and returns to God than over ninety-nine others who are righteous and haven’t strayed away!

Now I would venture to say that many of us who read not only about the lost sheep, but also about the lost coin and finally about the lost son, relate to being lost. We may even feel lost. Now we do need to realize that Jesus was addressing the accusations of his relationship to sinners. Jesus tells these three stories to address why the Father has sent him.

First we should be reminded of what Jesus says later in Luke’s gospel…

Luke 19:10
10 For the Son of Man came to seek and save those who are lost.”

We refer to these parables as the Parable of the LOST sheep, coin and son, but in reality the focus of each story is not the item that was lost but instead is on the shepherd searching for the lost sheep, the woman scouring her home for the lost coin, and finally the loving father.

But let’s take a brief look today at the lost sheep. First and fore most we must remember the purpose of this and the following two parables is twofold:

1. To reveal the heart of our heavenly Father.
2. To reveal the mission of Jesus.

Now, let’s consider the lost sheep. Often times we think of someone being apart from God on purpose. But the story of the lost sheep demonstrates to us that there are times people simply wander off. But very rarely do people wander back…someone must seek them out to help guide them back.

If you have wandered off, let this devotion speak to you to encourage you to get back to where you need to be emotionally, spiritually and even physically. And ultimately, this story encourages us to join Jesus in his mission and helping to bring others back home.