Luke 15:1–10 (ESV)
Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear him. And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.”
So he told them this parable: “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? And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And 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.’ Just 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.
“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? And 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.’ Just so, I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”
One of the mistakes people make when they read the Bible is that they skip over troubling passages. When they encounter a passage they don’t like, or don’t agree with, or don’t understand, they avert their eyes. They move on to another passage and forget about the one they don’t want to face. Thus, they miss some of the best lessons.
This is one of those passages. The problem here is that a normal shepherd would never leave the ninety-nine in the open country to look for a lost sheep. He would at least have someone else look after his flock while he went looking for the missing sheep.
Next, Jesus said, “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? And when she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors?” I might look hard for the coin, but I’m not calling anyone when I find it.
So, in a sense, these parables don’t work; they’re over the top. There’s something about heaven that’s strange to us. Then there’s, “Just so, I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” Figure this out and you’ve learned a lot.
The connection between these three passages is the number “one.” Jesus’s point is about heaven’s attitude toward individuals.
A single lost soul is important.
I never cease to be amazed that God hears my prayers. It’s not just that I don’t know what I’m praying about—and may even be asking for the wrong thing—but that I’m just one of millions of people praying at the same time. God caring about me individually seems impossible. Yet, in a way I cannot fully fathom, He cares about details and small things.
Then I said, “O Lord GOD, please cease! How can Jacob stand? He is so small!” — Amos 7:5 (ESV)
