He finds those lost sheep

I’ve been thinking a lot about Jesus’ parable of the lost sheep from Luke 15 this week. (Those of you who study the Christian Science Weekly Bible Lesson will recognize it from the Responsive Reading – hence the impetus to thinking about this one this week! Anyone who is unfamiliar with the Weekly Bible Lesson can check it out a little bit on eBibleLesson.com. Unfortunately you have to subscribe to read, hear or view all of it, unless you look locally – it may be on TV or radio in your area – or it is certainly available at your nearby Christian Science Reading Room.)

More than anything, what strikes me about this parable is the amazing tenderness of the shepherd for the lost sheep. He cared so much for that one individual (and he would/did for each sheep individually), that he left all the rest to go find it. And then the joy in bringing that lost sheep home! He wanted everyone to celebrate with him, he was so happy for its return!

But what stood out to me as really emphasizing this tenderness was that the shepherd himself went to go find the lost sheep. He didn’t send one of his hired workers. He does the work of bringing back the lost one. But who else really would care as much as the shepherd? Jesus points this out in his conversation with the Jews at the Temple in John 10 – where he describes himself as the Good Shepherd. He says that the hireling flees in the face of problems and danger because he doesn’t care for the sheep, but the Shepherd cares. He cares so much that he lays down his life for the sheep. Wow! That’s love. And it certainly was demonstrated by Jesus.

Another aspect of the shepherd’s tender care for the lost sheep in this parable is the manner in which he brings the sheep back. No dragging, no pushing it along, no lecturing and admonishing – no! He laid it “on his shoulders, rejoicing.” What closeness this precious one is given with the Shepherd, even though he strayed. He doesn’t have to walk back to the fold. He is carried back by someone who loves him dearly. One Bible commentator shares that this intimacy gave the Shepherd time with the lost one to reform the sinner and to heal him. Yes, certainly closeness with our Shepherd brings reform and healing. Love does that.

You might like to check out Wycliffe’s translation of this parable, too. Note what he uses in place of “lost” – “perished.” He goes after them that are perished. Well, desert environment. Certainly if a sheep wandered off, it is quite likely that, without the shepherd’s immediate care and attention, he will perish. The Greek word translated as lost in the KJV is “apollumi” and means, according to Strong’s lexicon “to destroy fully or (reflexively) to perish or lose.” I just thought this was really interesting. It says to me how imperative it is for the Shepherd to find the lost sheep. If he doesn’t’ they perish. But, even if they do, He can and will bring them back.

And this relates to the word “lost” used in Luke 19:10 – “…the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.” (It’s this week’s lesson’s Golden Text.) So the Son of man seeks out those that perished, according to Wycliffe. Okay, the good news – he seeks the lost out – seeks them out! And it is never too late. He’s seeking that which is perished – past tense. To me, the comfort I am feeling from this is that he can and will always find me or anyone who has strayed, and it is never too late. No matter what, he can bring us back, even if perished – and He will do it.

There’s a hope we can all cherish and a promise we can all count on!

You might also like to check out Laura Matthew’s post on Luke’s Gospel. It touches on this parable and especially one that Jesus shared after it – the Prodigal son.