Leaving Ninety-Nine to Find the One
“See that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that their angels in heaven continually see the face of My Father who is in heaven. [For the Son of Man has come to save that which was lost.] What do you think? If any man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go and search for the one that is straying? If it turns out that he finds it, truly I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine which have not gone astray. So it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones perish” (Matt. 18:10-14)
God’s love for people is unsurpassed by anything else. To help us understand the essence of this divine love, Jesus makes this spiritual reality tangible by paralleling it to a snapshot in the life of a shepherd. In the ancient world, one hundred sheep was the average size of a flock. One of the normal routines was for a shepherd to leave behind his flock under the care of another shepherd, to seek out any animal that had gone astray. This was also true for other kinds of livestock, for Kish, the father of Saul, sent his son to find lost donkeys (1 Sam. 9:3). Jesus, therefore, makes an analogy from the lesser to the greater. Any shepherd worth his salt would leave the ninety-nine to find the one lost sheep, so the Heavenly Father does not desire for His “little ones” to perish.
The “little ones” are those who have entered into a relationship with God. They are the followers of Christ. They are those who have entered humbly, like a child, into the kingdom of heaven (cf. Matt. 18:3-6).
Jesus points out that God love is for all. Each person is valuable to Him, so one must be cautious to “no despise one of these little ones” (Matt. 18:10a). The Lord even suggests that the “little one” have their own heavenly representatives, as “their angels in heaven continually se the face of My Father who is in heaven” (Matt. 18:10b). In the Book of Daniel we find angels appointed over nations (Dan. 10:12:1) and in John’s Apocalypse there are angels over churches (Rev. 1:20), but here we find God’s care in the appoint of angels over each “little one.”
It is not that God loves the one over the many—the minority over the majority. The point is that God loves all, and He seeks after those who are lost, and rejoices in finding them, because the one completes the whole community, and the whole community is incomplete without the one. Christ dined with Zaccheus, the tax-collector was transformed by grace, and he sought to make amends for his sins. To this display of faith, Christ said, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he, too, is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man has come to seek to save that which was lost” (Luke 10:9-10). The believer is assured that “it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones perish” (Matt. 18:14).
How easy it is in our own fleshly inclinations to lose concern for those who are lost. When fellow believers stumble, how easy it is to respond with contempt. To look upon the wayward with disgust, shake one’s head, and even speak words of contempt. But God sees and does things differently. He seeks after the “little ones’ who have gone astray, and rejoices when they return. God’s desire is to save those who are lost. How important it is to extend divine love to all, even to those who have gone astray.
—WGN
God’s love for people is unsurpassed by anything else. To help us understand the essence of this divine love, Jesus makes this spiritual reality tangible by paralleling it to a snapshot in the life of a shepherd. In the ancient world, one hundred sheep was the average size of a flock. One of the normal routines was for a shepherd to leave behind his flock under the care of another shepherd, to seek out any animal that had gone astray. This was also true for other kinds of livestock, for Kish, the father of Saul, sent his son to find lost donkeys (1 Sam. 9:3). Jesus, therefore, makes an analogy from the lesser to the greater. Any shepherd worth his salt would leave the ninety-nine to find the one lost sheep, so the Heavenly Father does not desire for His “little ones” to perish.
The “little ones” are those who have entered into a relationship with God. They are the followers of Christ. They are those who have entered humbly, like a child, into the kingdom of heaven (cf. Matt. 18:3-6).
Jesus points out that God love is for all. Each person is valuable to Him, so one must be cautious to “no despise one of these little ones” (Matt. 18:10a). The Lord even suggests that the “little one” have their own heavenly representatives, as “their angels in heaven continually se the face of My Father who is in heaven” (Matt. 18:10b). In the Book of Daniel we find angels appointed over nations (Dan. 10:12:1) and in John’s Apocalypse there are angels over churches (Rev. 1:20), but here we find God’s care in the appoint of angels over each “little one.”
It is not that God loves the one over the many—the minority over the majority. The point is that God loves all, and He seeks after those who are lost, and rejoices in finding them, because the one completes the whole community, and the whole community is incomplete without the one. Christ dined with Zaccheus, the tax-collector was transformed by grace, and he sought to make amends for his sins. To this display of faith, Christ said, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he, too, is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man has come to seek to save that which was lost” (Luke 10:9-10). The believer is assured that “it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones perish” (Matt. 18:14).
How easy it is in our own fleshly inclinations to lose concern for those who are lost. When fellow believers stumble, how easy it is to respond with contempt. To look upon the wayward with disgust, shake one’s head, and even speak words of contempt. But God sees and does things differently. He seeks after the “little ones’ who have gone astray, and rejoices when they return. God’s desire is to save those who are lost. How important it is to extend divine love to all, even to those who have gone astray.
—WGN
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