Luke 15 begins by telling us that “all the tax collectors and the sinners drew near to Him to hear Him. And the Pharisees and scribes complained, saying, ‘this Man receives sinners and eats with them’” (Luke 15:1-2). As Christians, we read these words and often criticize the “religious” leaders for their terrible attitudes. After all, the Pharisees are the bad guys in the story. Truth be told though, how many times have we done the same thing? How many times have we put our noses in the air and turned our backs to people who are “not as holy” or who “don’t go to church” like we do? Sadly, we are all at times Pharisees!
Jesus, knowing their thoughts, told the story of the good shepherd and the one lost sheep. The story is of a man who has 100 sheep. He asks what would he do if one is lost. Would he not leave the 99 to find the one? And, when he finds the one, does he not rejoice? I have heard this story many times. Recently, I have asked myself about the 99. Did the shepherd leave the 99 in danger to find the one? Are the 99 just as important as the one?
These questions can be answered simply as yes and yes. Yes, the 99 are potentially in danger and yes the 99 are just as important as the one. If these answers are true, why did he leave them for just one? To answer this, we have to look into why Jesus told the parable in the first place. He told this story because the Pharisees and scribes were critical of Him socializing with “sinners.” After all, He was claiming to be the Son of God. Why would He spend His time with those types of people instead of the religious people?
This example wasn’t the first time Jesus was confronted about who He spent His time with. In Luke 5 Jesus was seen eating in Matthew’s house with other tax collectors. He answered saying, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but the sinners, to repentance.” (Luke 5:31-32). Well, that cuts deep! Is it possible the 99 could represent the so called “righteous”? If so, the one would be the sinner who knows he needs a savior. The good shepherd left the 99 to find the one who needed him. Although the 99 were in need of a shepherd also, they didn’t realize it. They were simply going through the everyday motions of being a sheep in the herd. It was the one sheep who was lost and alone that knew he needed help.
We are called to live like Jesus. If we are going to complete our mission, we must not forget we can never think of ourselves as too righteous to go out and look for the lost one. The one person who needs a Savior. We must keep ourselves humble and remember that we all have been that lost sheep until someone took the time to lead us to Jesus. We can’t get so caught up in living a “religious” life that we think we are too good to show Jesus to everyone! Especially those people that everyone else forgets about or doesn’t want to be seen with. Jesus loves us all and wants us all to be with Him in heaven. Jesus did not participate in or condone the sin of the people. He, instead, loved them and taught them the importance of repentance and a real relationship with Him. He preached the gospel, just as we are commanded to do in the great commission of Matthew 28:18-20.
Let us not forget our purpose as Christians. The purpose to seek out the one and not become the 99. After all, “I say to you that likewise there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over the ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance.” Luke 15-7
ourfathersgrace.com 