Meet Jesus

The Lost Sheep: When You Feel Lost

Jesus told of a shepherd with a hundred sheep who loses one, and leaves the ninety-nine to go after the single lost one until he finds it. And when he finds it, he does not scold it. He lifts it onto his shoulders, carries it home, and calls the neighbors to celebrate. That, Jesus said, is heaven's joy over one who was lost and found.

If this is you

If you feel like you drifted off somewhere along the way and no one would even notice you were gone, this parable says the opposite is true. You are not a rounding error. You are the one the shepherd counts as missing and goes out into the dark to find.

The story

When religious leaders complained that Jesus welcomed sinners, he answered with a question about a shepherd and a lost sheep, one of a hundred, wandered off and gone.

What this shows about Jesus

Notice the shepherd goes until he finds it. Not until it is inconvenient, not until dark, but until. And he carries it back rejoicing, doing the work himself rather than making the exhausted sheep walk. Jesus is describing his own heart. Being lost does not make you forgotten. It makes you the very one he goes out after, and your return is not met with a lecture but with joy.

Frequently asked questions

What is the parable of the lost sheep?

Jesus told of a shepherd who leaves ninety-nine sheep to search for one that is lost, and rejoices when he finds it and carries it home (Luke 15). It pictures God's pursuit of each person.

What does the lost sheep parable mean?

It means being lost does not mean being forgotten. The shepherd searches until he finds the one, and heaven rejoices over its return (Luke 15:7). Jesus told it to explain why he welcomed sinners.

Where is the parable of the lost sheep?

It is in Luke chapter 15, verses 3 to 7, alongside the lost coin and the prodigal son. You can read it in the Gospel reader here on The Living Bread.