The Lost Sheep
God's pursuing love seeks each individual with relentless compassion until they are found.
A shepherd with a hundred sheep leaves the ninety-nine to search for one that is lost, and rejoices more over finding it than over those who never strayed. This parable reveals God's heart for every individual—none is too insignificant to pursue. Heaven itself rejoices over one sinner who repents. The shepherd doesn't wait for the sheep to find its way home but actively searches until it is found. This teaching counters any notion that God cares only for the masses or the righteous. Every person matters infinitely to God.
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?
C.S. Lewis reflected that 'God, who needs nothing, loves into existence wholly superfluous creatures in order that He may love and perfect them.'
Gospel of Luke
Written about in
- What Christianity says about starting again after a fall
The shepherd leaves ninety-nine to find one, and the sheep contributes nothing whatever to being found. This tradition keeps placing the initiative on the other side: the shepherd does not wait for the sheep to find its way home, and the finding is what heaven rejoices over — more than the ninety-nine who never strayed.