Lost Sheep

Luke 15:1-7

Jesus came for the lost and so his ministry attracts the lost. In this instance the lost are two groups; the ones that are shunned by modern religious men, and the religious men. Ironically the Jewish leaders are disturbed by the fact that Jesus would spend time with people they deem unclean. The irony is that nobody is clean. One would think that the ministry work of the Son of God would attract the most religious, but instead they are threatened and disturbed by it. Jesus gives the analogy of a shepherd that loses one sheep and leaves the other ninety-nine to go find that one lost sheep. And that heaven rejoices in that return of a repentant sinner more so than the "righteous" that do not repent. Jesus is calling out the religious teachers and trying to reveal their hypocrisy to them. Remember that it is Christ who said that the sick need a physician, not the so-called "healthy." In the same way, we are sent today by the anointing of the Holy Spirit to the lost in the world, to bring about repentance in sinners. This is where we must find rejoicing as Christians as well, rather than rejoicing in our own self righteousness.