Matthew 18:12-14

“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 look for the one that wandered off? 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. In the same way, your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should be lost.”

Context

Jesus tells the disciples this parable as part of a systematic sequence of answers to the question, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” (v.1) It is important to remember that the whole time Jesus is speaking in Matthew 18 (from what we can tell), He is using an actual child as an illustration for the kind of faith His followers ought to have (v.2). Keep this in mind as you formulate your opinion on what I will ask next. (It might be fruitful to read through the whole chapter, as well.)

Verse 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.”

This verse stuck out to me as I read through Matthew 18 last night and this morning. And though I’ve read and heard this passage on the lost sheep dozens—if not hundreds—of times, I suddenly found myself asking, “What does this verse (verse 13) mean?” I had to reread, and then interpret, the parable.

As my pastor affirms, the way to interpret a parable, which typically reveals an attribute of God, is to identify which character in the parable represents the Father. In the parable of the lost sheep, it is clear that the Father is manifested in the man who shepherds the sheep. Therefore, the sheep represent people.

If the shepherd represents God, and the sheep represent people, the parable seems fairly simple. But in reading through the story this time, I had to face a question that maybe I’d asked myself before but, for whatever reason, termed irrelevant: “What people is Jesus talking about? What people do the sheep represent?”

On the surface, this question may seem—as I have already said—irrelevant. But I think it’s very relevant. And maybe after you’ve read through my three theories, you will agree. (On the other hand, maybe you will not.)

My three theories are:

1.) The sheep represent believers;
2.) the sheep represent children; and/or
3.) the sheep represent all people.

Theory 1: The sheep represent believers.

If we interpret the sheep in the parable to be “believers,” then the parable might translate like this:

“If the Father has one hundred believers in a church adamantly pursuing Him, but one of them wanders away or falls into sin, will He not go after the one until He finds him and brings him back? And if He finds him and brings him back, I tell you the truth: He is happier about that one believer than about the ninety-nine that did not wander away.”

On the whole, this interpretation seems to be fairly safe. The test of it is to determine whether it lines up with the rest of Scripture.

The closest relatable passage is also in Matthew 18. Starting with verse 15 (the verse immediately following the parable), Jesus tells the disciples that if they have a brother who sins, then unquestionably what they must do is confront that brother. Then He describes a specific series to steps to take in the process.

This passage may shed some light on the parable of the lost sheep because Jesus’ focus in both passages is to bring back the wayward wanderer. In the parable, the “lost sheep” could be just about anyone—but in the speech that follows the parable, which appears to be part of the same lesson, Jesus specifically narrows His concern to believers: to “brothers.” (In the Bible, “brothers” often refers to Christian brotherhood—see Colossians 1:2, Galatians 6:1 for examples.) He tells His disciples, His “body” as it were, how to handle the situation that involves wandering “sheep.”

NOTE: Since we know that believers are the “body” of Christ, who is One with the Father (John 10:29, 30; 2 Corinthians 4:4), then it makes sense that God would pursue the “lost sheep” by employing His believers and followers: “Just as each of us has one body with many members… so in Christ we who are many form one body” (Romans 12:4, 5). As the body of Christ, we perform certain functions under God’s will to bring Him glory.

So, to review: if the parable’s sheep refer to believers, then when one sheep wanders, a believer wanders. And when a believer wanders, God seeks that wanderer to bring him back—and God can pursue that wanderer in any way He deems fit, including using other believers (i.e., the body of Christ) to accomplish that task. He ensured that this kind of pursuit might happen by sending His Son to tell the disciples, “If a brother sins, confront him about it.”

Theory 2: The sheep represent children.

If in the parable of the lost sheep the sheep represent children, the passage might be translated like this:

“If God weaves together, from the very wombs of their mothers, one hundred children, and one of them is caused to head down a path of destruction, will not the Father who created him leave the others to bring him back? And if He finds him, I tell you the truth: He is happier about that one child than He is about the ninety-nine that did not go astray.”

This interpretation also seems to be fairly adequate. But does it fall in line with other Scriptures?

First, allow me to say that the popularly-quoted verse from Psalm 139 reads, “For You created my inmost being, You knit me together in my mother’s womb.” I included an allusion to this verse in my translation because, if the sheep in the parable are in fact children, I think it’s fitting to remember that God creates every person (every child) individually and specifically. Thus, He probably would not forget a particular one, or fail to be concerned if something happened to him or her.

As for why the sheep in the parable might represent children:

In the actual passage in Matthew 18, Jesus concludes His parable by relating it back to the Father, and to literal children: “In the same way your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should be lost.” Prior to that verse we read that He summoned a child into their group (that is, to stand among Himself and the disciples) while He illustrated His point. So when Jesus says “any of these little ones,” He is referring to children.

While that one child is still among them, Jesus tells the disciples, “If anyone causes one of these little ones to sin, it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and be drowned in the depths of the sea.” (v.6) (Note the repetition of “one of these little ones.”) Jesus is very drawn to the innocence and faith of children, as we can verify in other passages such as Matthew 19:13-15. In fact, He praises the Father in Matthew 11:25 for revealing truths of life to children, rather than the wise and learned. So for Him to say, “Woe to the man through whom sin comes!” (Matthew 18:7) is for Him to say, “Woe to the man who taints the innocence and faith of My Father’s children!” He doesn’t want anyone messing with someone’s childlike faith.

Of course, we are God’s children (Romans 8:16), and that has nothing to do with our age, but the fact that God is our Creator. Even within human families, none of us cease to be the child of someone. So, if this the parable of the lost sheep is speaking of children, it may in fact be God’s children, or believers. (This possibility is supported by Jesus’ telling the disciples that in order to be great in the kingdom of heaven, a believer must humble himself on earth like a little child.) In that case, theory 1 and 2 are the same.

Theory 3: The sheep represent all people.

This theory is a little trickier. If the sheep in the parable represent all people, then the parable might be translated this way:

“Tell me what you think of this: Take a group of a hundred people. All of them are under the power of God, because even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table. But suppose one goes off the straight and narrow—that is, the legalistic or ritualistic ways of his society—seeking to fill his God-shaped hole inside¹, even if he’s going about it all wrong. Our Father in heaven has promised that if you seek, you will find. So God’s going to find that wayward wanderer, and He’s going to bring Him back. And He’s going to be so psyched that He got that one guy, that how He feels about the other ninety-nine is going to pale in comparison.”

That’s a much more liberal translation, I recognize. Regardless, what’s important is whether its content lines up with the rest of Scripture. So. Allow me to test it.

All people are under the power of God. All the earth and everyone who lives on it is His (Psalm 24:1). And, as the Canaanite woman reminds Jesus in Matthew 16:27, “even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.”² So, the sheep in the parable, who are under the authority of the shepherd, could represent all people, because all people are under the authority of God.

Also, in the parable, only one sheep wanders; the other ninety-nine stay in their mob-mentality up on the hill—not really hurting anybody, but sticking together. As a general rule, this is how people are on earth: they perform in whatever ways their culture says are civilized, they go with the flow. But merely being good doesn’t save anybody; only grace can do that (John 1:17, Romans 6:14). Jesus commands that we “enter through the narrow gate” in Matthew 7:13, because “broad is the way that leads to destruction, but small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.” (v.14) Most people think being good and civilized is going to get them into heaven, but that’s not going to cut it, says Jesus.

The next thing I need to point out is that the “lost sheep” in the parable wanders. Whenever anyone pursues the pleasures of the world, he is seeking something to satisfy something within him. People do not seek things that they believe will cost them more than benefit them. Matthew 7:7 says those who seek will find. That verse probably pertains to direct seeking of God, but many times people find God only by trying every other means of satisfaction first. It’s the people who wallow in their discomfort and never seek a solution that never find God. (Feel free to attack this assumption.)

I sort-of built all those verses into my translation of the parable, so allow me to point to some other Biblical concepts to support my translation:

Jesus constantly works on the motleyest of subjects—citizens with leprosy, men with withered hands, Canaanites, tax-collectors, the blind, the mute, the demon-possessed. He does not work on, as trite as it is to mention, the Pharisees. He says, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.” (Matthew 9:12) The Pharisees are earning their ways into heaven by constantly being good, and maintaining control of their own lives. They don’t think they have anything to repent of. The people who are caught in sin, like the woman at the well, and the people who don’t receive love, like anyone sick or demon-possessed, are the ones who turn to Christ and accept what He offers them. These are the humble in heart, the meek in spirit. They’re the ones to inherit the earth. They are the one sheep in a hundred, because the rest are perfectly fine and “don’t need” any help. God is much happier about these lost sheep than the ninety-nine who never give up hope in themselves and let God sweep in. The lost sheep—the ones who needed their doctor—are the ones who will be celebrating in heaven one day.

But does this interpretation fit within the context of the larger passage?

Let’s Talk

What do we think? Who are the sheep in this parable? Does it matter? Can all the interpretations I’ve presented here be correct? None of them? Why?

And from that, what applications can we take from this parable? What characteristics of God do we discover? What does this parable say about the kingdom of heaven?

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1. See http://hubpages.com/hub/Love-Bugs
2. See http://hubpages.com/hub/A-Canaanite-Woman