Found – Part 1

Luke 15:1-10

¹Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear him. ²And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.” ³So he told them this parable: ⁴“What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open country, and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it? ⁵And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. ⁶And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.’ ⁷Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance. ⁸“Or what woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and seek diligently until she finds it? ⁹And when she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost.’ ¹⁰Just so, I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

The lost sheep and the lost coin introduce the spiritual principle that Jesus is driving home for the guests at this meal He is attending. These two brief illustrations are tightly packed with meaning both for Jesus’ immediate audience and for us.

The position of shepherd in the culture to which Jesus is speaking was an interesting combination of positives and negatives. The Old Testament holds up shepherds as an esteemed position but they were also considered “unclean” and represented sinners. This makes Jesus’ use of this position extremely pointed for His audience. The Pharisees may have found this illustration particularly uncomfortable as it was their place to be seeking those who were in need of God and they couldn’t have found that task more repugnant; so much so that they were basically unwilling to even try to do it. They were supposed to be seeking the lost but couldn’t “dirty” themselves to do so. Jesus’ description of the shepherd shows him to be a loving and tender caretaker. Most of those Pharisees present probably could not claim those characteristics.

Now on to the sheep; a lost sheep will often simply lie down and refuse to move. The shepherd who finds it has to carry it, possibly over a long distance, in order to save its life.

The shepherd must carry on his shoulders the burden of the lost sheep, a detail that is specifically mentioned. Without the shouldering of this burden there is no restoration. This task the shepherd accepts with joy.

K. Bailey, Poet and Peasant, 153–54.

It cannot be lost on us that Jesus carried our sin to the cross on His own human shoulders. In that startling picture, there we are, across the shoulders of our Savior as He carries us - His own chosen burden. The prophet Isaiah draws a similar picture of the Good Shepherd. The sheep does nothing in this scenario other than get himself lost. The sheep cannot save themselves. They will simply lie down and die. The Shepherd seeks the lost sheep and only through His vigilant pursuit is the sheep saved.

Isaiah 40:10–11

¹⁰Behold, the Lord God comes with might, and his arm rules for him; behold, his reward is with him, and his recompense before him. ¹¹He will tend his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arms; he will carry them in his bosom, and gently lead those that are with young.

The parable of the coin is strikingly similar to that of the lost sheep. There may be some significance in the fact that the seeker is this time female. Her search, though, is no less intense and difficult. She isn’t living on a smooth surface floor. That coin, which may have actually been a part of her dowry jewelry and is of vast important. She sweeps and searches through the night until it is found. As with the sheep, the coin is not going to aid the Seeker. It just lies there and waits – lost.

In both instances Jesus does not allow the point to escape his Pharisees-scribes audience: He is like the shepherd and the woman by seeking out the lost and separated folk from society and bringing them to the table fellowship of repentant sinners. With the authority to voice how God views “sinners,” Jesus etches an impression of his own sending to invite and receive sinners who repent.

D. Moessner, Lord of the Banquet, 159

These two simple illustration point to one fact; we are lost. We may be the downtrodden and broken or we may be the leadership, seen as strong by those around us. But the reality for all remains the same – we are lost. But the Good Shepherd seeks all who are lost with the final outcome being that of repentance. It always amazes me that there is so much to ponder in just a few short sentences of Scripture. Who knew that a lost sheep and a lost coin could move us to think about our own repentance and salvation by the God of the Universe who seeks us out with His great love, compassion, and grace?!