MISSING SHEEP

Tuesday 22 April

Then Jesus told them this parable: “Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’ I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent. Luke 15:3-7 (NIV)

MY sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. John 10:27-28 (NKJV)

In Luke chapter 15, we see the parable of the lost sheep. The man leaves the ninety to go after the one. Jesus makes a differentiation between them as the one sinner and the ninety nine righteous persons. It’s noteworthy that the Old Testament saints had a promissory note for salvation and therefore temporary righteousness but not salvation itself. So the ninety nine righteous would only be a reality after the resurrection. With that in mind, the emphasis of this story was about going after the sinner. This is an evangelistic work that would take place after receiving the indwelling and infilling of the Holy Spirit it seems.

The phrase ‘one sinner who repents’ is also in relation to an individual who changes his mind about who Jesus is as Lord and then chooses to accept Him. It is not about somebody repenting of their sins as this is not a requirement for receiving Christ. Remember confession and belief are the only two requisite actions.

There are OTHER sheep separated from the rest of the flock that Jesus made mention of in John 10:27-28. These ones are able to hear the Shepherd’s voice and He knows them. The word know here is ‘ginosko’ and it has an inference of the sexual intimacy between a husband and wife and how spouses become more and more acquainted with each other over time. He is talking to those here who belong to Him. MY sheep hear my voice. Jesus gives the assurance of salvation to these particular sheep which proves they are believers.

We see these same lambs and sheep in John 21:15-17. Jesus asks Peter if he loves Him unconditionally ‘agapao’ and Peter’s response is ‘phileo’ which means to love like a friend, instead of responding in kind. Jesus asks again and gets the same ‘phileo’ response. In the first instance Jesus says ‘feed my lambs’ which is a reference to young sheep. The second and third time Jesus instructs, ‘feed my sheep’. Jesus the asks ‘do you love me’ (agapao) again which seems to offend Peter but he still responds with ‘phileo’. Why three times? Some say because Peter denied Jesus three times that Jesus reversed the denial with Peter’s three declarations for the Master. This was no doubt for Peter’s sake.

In John 10:11 Jesus alludes to who the man was in Luke 15; Himself. Before this could become a reality however the Good Shepherd would have to lay down his life for the sheep. Jesus first came for the ‘lost sheep of the house of Israel’ and then thankfully all of us.

For all of us who are in Christ, as His sheep, ‘we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip.’ Hebrews 2:1

‘Unless we should let them slip’ refers in context to those ‘sheep’ who have moved away from the truth. It is the person who has allowed themselves to go astray or have drifted away from the gospel.

The word castaway or ‘anathema’ in Greek has a similar meaning of drifting or wandering from the truth (1 Corinthians 9:27).

Now that Jesus has passed into the immateriality of the heavens, who has the responsibility to ‘go after the one’ that is spiritually lost OR has lost its way? Simple answer: You and the Holy Ghost who are ‘one spirit.’

Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession’ (Hebrews 4:14).

‘But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him.’ (1 Corinthians 6:17)

Whichever sheep you may be; there’s hope and eternal salvation for you in Christ Jesus.

‘We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.’ (Isaiah 53:6)

For all the missing sheep or sheep that have gone astray, there’s good news for you. Jesus came to seek AND save the lost.

APPLICATION

Take up your responsibility as somebody who goes after lost sheep and restores the wayward sheep to the fold of the Kingdom through the gospel of His grace.