Title: The Shepherd's Heart / Luke 15:3-7
In Luke 15, three very famous parables are recorded.
The parable of the lost sheep, the parable of the lost coin, and the parable of the lost son.
The parable of the lost sheep is 100:1, the parable of the lost coin is 10:1, and the parable of the lost son is 2:1.
The one who finds the lost sheep is the shepherd, the one who finds the lost coin is the woman, and the one who finds the lost son is the father. They are different stories, but they have one thing in common. This is precisely that one value matters.
If you lose one of your hundred sheep, will you not go looking for it?
If you have ten drachmas of money, if you lose one, will you not find it?
You have two sons, and you will not wait for the prodigal son who has left the house.
The Bible always emphasizes “one value.”
Matthew 18:5 says, “If you receive one such little child in my name, you receive me.”
Matthew 18:6 says, “If anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to stumble, it would be better for him to have a millstone hung around his neck and thrown into the deep sea.
Matthew 18:14 says, “It is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that even one of these little ones should be lost.”
Matthew 25:41 says, “As you did it to one of the least of my brothers, you did it to me.”
Humanity also started with one. The church also started with one.
The heart of devoting all our heart to finding one lost sheep, one lost coin, and one lost son is the image of our God and the image of our Lord.
Let's not forget the value of "I am one".
I myself have only one. Life is one. What good is it if you gain the whole world and read your own life?
This passage is the parable of the lost sheep that Jesus told.
When and where did you say this parable?
Luke 15:1-2 reveals when and where he spoke these words.
“When all the tax collectors and sinners came near to hear the word, the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.”
Tax officials, who were treated like sinners at that time, and sinners like prostitutes came close to Jesus to hear Him. Because Jesus had called Matthew, who was originally a publican, to be a disciple, and because Matthew had also invited his friends tax collectors and sinners to have a meal with Jesus and other disciples, tax collectors and sinners wanted Jesus. He came and tried to hear the word. However, at that time, the Pharisees who claimed to be the set apart and lived the most pious lives, and the scribes, who were scholars of the Bible, knew this and criticized Jesus. “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them,” he accused. To “eat together” means to treat each other as the same person. When you see tax collectors and sinners welcome and eat with them, you are accused of being on the same level as them.
Jesus was never on the same level as tax collectors and sinners, but He was lowered to the same level as them.
The Pharisees and scribes did not deal with tax collectors and sinners. Because of their different levels and different statuses, they did not speak to each other, did not have any relationship, and were considered ignorant and lowly.
But Jesus was different. Jesus came to this earth to save people such as tax collectors and sinners. Therefore, Jesus humbled himself to the same level as tax collectors and sinners, talked to them, welcomed them, and shared food with them.
It's like swimming into the water to rescue someone from drowning. To explain this to the Pharisees and scribes, Jesus told the parable of the lost sheep.
The words of this parable are very simple and easy.
In the form of questions and answers, Jesus told this parable.
After telling this parable, Jesus explained this parable.
“I tell you, in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous people who need no repentance.”
In other words, if you Pharisees and scribes are like ninety-nine sheep, tax collectors and sinners are like one lost sheep. If you Pharisees and scribes are like ninety-nine righteous people who need no repentance, then publicans and sinners are like sinners who repent.
But like this, when one sinner repents, there is more rejoicing in heaven than over ninety-nine righteous people who have no need to repent.
The shepherd in this parable is Jesus Christ. A lost sheep is a human form that has departed from God. You can read the heart of Jesus who is our good shepherd. How do you feel about Jesus, the shepherd?
1. The shepherd has a deep affection for the lost sheep.
The text says that one of a hundred sheep was lost. If we talk economically, there are ninety-nine, so you can go on your way saying, “I thought at least one of them was gone.” But the shepherd here is not that. And thinking of that one, he left the ninety-nine in the field and went looking for them. This shepherd went looking for it, not because he thought that the price of one sheep was so precious that it could not be lost. You could end up looking for one of these sheep and lose your life instead. Still, the shepherd went looking for one sheep because of the sheep's life. How painful it would be if you fell mercilessly off a cliff! That one sheep is going to die! I'm going to be torn to death by a wild beast somewhere! The only way to find out is with a sad heart for the sheep's life. Therefore, this has an important meaning, not from an economic point of view, but from the love of sheep life.
The shepherd went out to find the sheep with the heart of “how painful it must be.” Now this shepherd imagines the various dangers and painful scenes that the sheep may face, and that is why I must help them. Love always comes from thinking of the other person first.
Sheep can't come on their feet. I have no ability to come back on my own, so if I don't help, I will die. This sheep is docile, but also stupid. So I cannot come to my house by my own strength or my wisdom. In the end, love for the sheep led the shepherd to search for the lost sheep. This shepherd had affection for his sheep.
2. The shepherd has a passion to find the lost sheep.
If this shepherd thinks, “Isn't it right for you to be punished like this because you did something wrong? It would have been the end of it if he said, “Rather than cause and effect.” But this shepherd was not. They didn't blame me or judge me. I only went out with an impatient heart. And he wandered all over the place until he found it. He said, “Do you not go looking for it?” I searched until I found it.
This is the gospel. I searched through the rugged valleys until I found them. The shepherd will never give up until he finds the sheep. He had a passion for finding sheep.
3. The shepherd finally tasted the joy of finding the sheep.
The shepherd said that he searched for the lost sheep with passion until the end, and when he found the lost sheep, he was so happy that he carried it on his shoulders and returned home.
Shepherds had the habit of carrying the sheep on their shoulders when they were tired or unable to walk because of a broken leg. According to Jewish legend, while Moses was tending the sheep of his father-in-law Jethro, he found the lost sheep and returned it with his shoulder. There is a story that the same people of Israel were entrusted to Moses.
The shepherd carries the sheep on his shoulders in the joy of finding the lost sheep, and when he returns home, he calls his friends and neighbors together and sings of the shepherd's full joy, saying, "Rejoice with me, I have found my lost sheep." It's not just the earth that rejoices like this.
“In the same way, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous people who need no repentance.”
Luke 15:10 says, “In the same way, I say to you, there is joy in the sight of the angels of God if one sinner repents.”
Dear brothers and sisters, what is the important lesson for us through this parable of the lost sheep?
Are none of those whom we love and cherish like a lost sheep? Is there no one among our children or parents or relatives like the lost sheep?
Let's have a deep shepherd's heart for a lost sheep and come back to God's house with the passion to find the lost sheep, carry it on our shoulders and enjoy the joy.
The apostle Paul wrote in his letter to the Thessalonians who came to believe in Jesus through evangelism, “What is our hope, or our joy, or the crown of pride? Are you not before our Lord Jesus at his coming? You are our glory and our joy” (1 Thessalonians 2:19-20).
As the Lord added believers to the early church every day, the church was filled with joy.
Evangelism gives great joy in this life and in the next life in heaven and on earth.
“He who sows in tears will reap with joy” (Psalm 126:6).
Summer Bible School will be held this week and next week. Dear teachers, remembering that the Lord values the value of one soul more than the world, let us share the word of God with them with deep affection and passion for each soul.
Dear chiefs, with deep affection and passion for the soul and soul entrusted to each branch, let's search for and find lost sheep and lead them to the temple of the Lord, and enjoy the joy of joy in heaven and on earth.
Dear brothers and sisters, let's do our best to find a lost sheep in our home and neighborhood.