Leaving 99

Many of you know the story of the 99 sheep the shepherd left behind in order to seek the one sheep that wandered.

Matthew 18:12-14 (NIV)
12 "What do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off ? 13 And if he finds it, I tell you the truth, he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that did not wander off. 14 In the same way your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should be lost."

Starting with just the beginning, Verse 12 says, "If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go look for the one that wandered off?"
In biblical times, a shepherd's sheep were his children. He would raise his sheep, feed them, guide them, and lead them on the correct path. You won't find too many shepherds today, but what if we broke this down and changed the verse a bit?
What if the verse read, "If a man fathered a great number of children, and one of them got lost, will he not leave his home and go to look for the one who wandered away?"
Well, I know that my own father would travel to the ends of the earth to find me if I went missing! He wouldn't stop for anything until he found me and brought me safely home.

If an earthly father, or a good shepherd, would go to such great lengths to seek out a lost loved one, we can rest assured that our Heavenly Father would accept no limits in seeking out his wandering children.

In fact, this wasn't the only reference to shepherding lost sheep in the Bible. God referred to himself as our shepherd in Ezekiel 34:11-21:
11 "'God, the Master, says: From now on, I myself am the shepherd. I'm going looking for them. 12 As shepherds go after their flocks when they get scattered, I'm going after my sheep. I'll rescue them from all the places they've been scattered to in the storms. 13 I'll bring them back from foreign peoples, gather them from foreign countries, and bring them back to their home country. ...  15 And I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep. I myself will make sure they get plenty of rest. 16 I'll go after the lost, I'll collect the strays, I'll doctor the injured, I'll build up the weak ones and oversee the strong ones so they're not exploited." 

Does any of that look familiar? To me, it looks awfully similar to Jesus' parable about the lost sheep! And this quotation came from God even before Jesus was born on earth. Of course, one also could say that God was hinting to everyone at the time that He would be sending Jesus as a shepherd to all of us ("I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep...I'll go after the lost...doctor the injured, I'll build up the weak ones...").
But how's that for proof that God loves us--it was stated twice at completely different times from the most primary of sources :)

Verse 13 states, "And if he finds it, I tell you the truth, he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that did not wander off." 
At this point, you might think, well what the other 99 sheep? Where were they when he left to look for the one who wandered? 
At first, I used to wonder the same thing. It's possible that the shepherd in this parable left his 99 sheep with another shepherd or a friend while he went after his lost sheep or something along those lines. However, I had to remember that every parable Jesus told had a purpose--a meaning behind it. Sometimes, it's not about those small details. For example, Matthew 13:44 says,
"The kingdom of Heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field." 
The story wasn't telling us to hide the wonderful existence of Heaven or that a physical, tangible treasure like that in the story is what we should strive to find. Instead, Jesus was telling His followers about the greatness of Heaven. You might have to leave everything you have behind when you seek out the kingdom of Heaven, but the end result is much more precious than anything you could have possibly left.
In the same way, the parable of the lost sheep refers to God's great love and dedication to His earthly children.
  
Verse 14 says, "In the same way your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should be lost." 
The same verse was written in The Message to say, "Your Father in heaven feels the same way. He doesn't want to lose even one of these simple believers." 
That one lost sheep deeply hurt the good shepherd, so he left to bring it home, but he didn't leave any sheep on their own in the process. In the same way, God will never leave any of His children alone; He knows that the ones who follow Him diligently are safe--He wouldn't leave us to fend for ourselves, and He certainly wouldn't put us at risk of wandering ourselves. He simply wants every single one of His "sheep" to be out of harm's way and He will do what it takes to bring us home. God doesn't want to lose any of us! 

As I said, when Jesus told this parable, He was expressing our Father's great and unfailing love for us; He wanted His followers to know that God will always seek us; we just need to seek Him back. 


A friend once told me a story of a woman whose son was returning home after serving overseas. She was so happy to know that her son was coming home! However, she also knew that some mothers would not be able to feel that same joy, for their sons/daughters were not returning.

With that said, how much more excited is God when we make that decision to seek Him and come home?!
And how much more difficult do you think it is for God to know that so many of His sons and daughters will not be returning to Him?
Isn't there something we can do about that?? ;)



"Leaving 99" - Audio Adrenaline