The Parable of the Lost Sheep (Child)

“So he told them this parable: ‘Which one of you, having a hundred sheep and losing one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the one that is lost until he finds it? And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders and rejoices. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my lost sheep.’’”

- Luke 15:3-6

What would you do if your flock of 100 sheep suddenly contained only 99? Have you ever stopped and asked yourself that question after hearing this parable? My answer would be something like: “I’m not sure, I’ve never owned any sheep.” For most of us that’s probably the case—we’re not quite sure because we don’t really understand what it means to be a shepherd. It’s easy to fall back on the common interpretation of this parable: that the kingdom of God is for all of us, even and especially those who have strayed from God’s path. However, just like the other parables we have looked at, we miss a lot when we ignore the details.

So what was a shepherd in ancient Israel? A shepherd in the context of this parable was a person who cared for a flock of sheep. The shepherd may or may not have owned the sheep, but was charged with their care and safety. The sheep were the shepherd's responsibility. The shepherd had to be prepared to fight for the sheep—mainly fighting off wild animals who may see the sheep as easy prey. The shepherd also had to make sure the sheep were fed and watered. In ancient Israel this meant a somewhat nomadic lifestyle of directing the sheep continually to new food sources in the hills of Israel. The shepherd’s job was not an easy one—in part because sheep are not the brightest animals alive. Just like modern sheep, sheep in ancient Israel tended to wander, and would often unintentionally place themselves in dangerous situations. But sheep were important. Sheep were used for a multitude of purposes, from clothing, to food, to religious sacrifices. In a culture where most people didn’t have a lot, sheep were vital to survival.

Based on the importance of sheep in biblical times, one can imagine that the owner of the sheep in this parable was actually fairly well off with a flock of 100 sheep. Even if the shepherd wasn’t the owner of the sheep, they would still have been in an important position to take care of a flock of that size. This brings us to the first interesting aspect of this parable—when the shepherd finds out one sheep is missing, they immediately leave 99 extremely valuable sheep out in the wilderness to go searching for the one sheep. The parable never says if the shepherd left anyone to watch the sheep or not, all we know is that the sheep were left by the shepherd where they were. Some translations say they were left in the wilderness, some say it was the mountains—either way, these were now 99 free roaming not-so-bright sheep.

Additionally, both Matthew and Luke frame this parable in a way as to which the shepherd is the main character. Despite our most common interpretations saying the sheep represents us sinning and repenting, the sheep was really just being a sheep—it wandered off and got lost. This becomes more evident when the sheep is found. The sheep in the parable never celebrates or repents or even thanks the shepherd. It’s just along for the ride. The shepherd is the one who, upon finding the lost sheep, rejoices and throws a party with their friends and family.

This isn’t to say the common interpretations are wrong, both Matthew and Luke actually encourage those interpretations with the verses immediately following this parable:

“So it is not the will of your Father in heaven that one of these little ones should be lost.” - Matthew 18:14

“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.” - Luke 15:7

However, I do believe in telling this parable, Jesus is inviting us to ask some deeper questions as well. The first question I see is the question of “what have we lost?” Is it our faith? Our confidence or trust in God? Or is it something else? All of us have lost something important, but not all of us are as aware of what we lost as the shepherd is. Another important question is “to what lengths will we go to find the thing we lost?” The shepherd made a huge sacrifice to go find the lost sheep—are we willing to go to such extreme lengths in search of whatever it is that we lost?

In our modern retelling of this parable, we chose to use children instead of sheep in an attempt to convey the importance of sheep in ancient Israel. This isn’t to say children are not-so-smart in the same way as sheep, but left alone, children do tend to wander, and may also wind up in dangerous situations. We also intentionally emphasized the rest of the children being left alone—a part of the parable we often ignore. It is our hope that this retelling of the parable of the lost sheep will help you to see this parable with new eyes, and maybe reflect on some of the difficult questions Jesus may be inviting us to ask.