New Testament 2
Lecture 17
The Parable of the Lost Sheep 
Matthew 18:12-14; Luke 15: 4-7 
The Parables Lucan Context
•	In order to understand these parables to their fullest, it is necessary to gain an appreciation of the context of the parable. Just what was ____________________________doing and what was happening in His life that caused Him to speak these parables?  Luke 15:1-2 gives us the immediate situation. 
Luke 15:1-2: The Context
•	But even behind this situation is a greater one that can be found in Luke 14:1. Jesus entered a house to eat with a Pharisee. Many other Pharisees came to check Jesus out.  Apparently Jesus was given the seat of honor as He was the one who did the teaching at the table.  He asked about healing on the Sabbath and healed a man.  He then taught the Pharisees about the proper spirit to have at such a meal. Having finished that discourse He taught them about a ____________________________where many were invited and some of those guests refused the invitation.  
The Context Continues
•	Jesus continued to teach them about____________________________. After the meal Jesus apparently left and began to walk (Lk 14:25).  Those following Jesus continued to be taught about discipleship and its cost.  Finally, in Luke 15, the Pharisees and scribes looked around at Jesus’ company and made this comment “This man receives sinners and eats with them.” (Lk 15:2).
One Commentator
•	Said that Jesus was ____________________________because of the way He ate.  He ate with sinners, tax collectors, and people from all walks of life.  
The Problem:
•	A spiritual ____________________________like Jesus should not be eating with people like those.  His association and table fellowship with them could be seen as an endorsement of their lifestyles.  When Jesus was asked why He ate with tax collectors, what was His reply in Lk 5:31-32? 
•	__________________________________
Keep In Mind
•	That Jesus was seen in the homes and company of every type of in the land. He was in the home of Zacchaeus and the honor home of Simon the Pharisee. Luke 15:1 is simply a carry over of the discussion begun in Luke 5.  
Matthew’s Setting for the Parable.
•	Matthew had Jesus discussing the kingdom with His disciples.  They came to Him wanting to know who would be the greatest in the coming kingdom. Jesus teaches them about ____________________________and warns against being a stumbling block for those who would follow Him.  He warns them to deal with seriously with sin that might cause them to fall and then tells them the parable of lost sheep.
Matthew’s Setting
•	Is such that the disciples must be aware of God’s hatred for ____________________________and what it does to men in relationship to God.  The disciples learned the first lesson back in Matthew 16. That lesson answered the question of “Who am I?” Now He is teaching the answer to “Why have I come?” They must learn the answer well. Time is short.
A Third Context to Consider 
•	This parable has a third context which is overlooked will cause us to miss much of its intended purpose.  This is the Jewish ____________________________and____________________________.  The shepherd searching for lost sheep is a reminder of God’s activity for men. 
Ezekiel 34:11-12
•	Teaches us what about God? __________
•	__________________________________
•	This prophetic word is greatly needed because the sheep have not received adequate care from the current “shepherds” or “pastors”.  What warning does God give pastors in Ezekiel 34:4? _______________
•	___________________________________
Back to Luke’s Version
•	Luke highlights the ____________________________imagery to a greater degree than Matthew’s and we will follow it.  In Luke the shepherd picks up the lost sheep and places it on his shoulders. This dramatic element is very significant. The shepherds listening to the parable would realize that even this sheep would be very heavy, probably weighing between 70 and 90 pounds.
The Actions of Lost Sheep
•	When ____________________________become lost they are often overcome with fright and bleat out loudly until help arrives. Being caught up in its terror, it is paralyzed from action and the poor animal is motionless.  The shepherd usually takes the sheep by its legs and saddle it around his neck, where he will carry it back to the flock.
Does This Remind You of
•	Exodus 28:12 where Aaron bore something on his shoulders? Why?
•	Numbers 7:9 what did the Kohathites carry on their shoulders?
•	Deut 33:12 says who rests between the shoulders of the Lord?
•	1 Chron 15:15 says the Levites carried what on their shoulders?
•	Isa 9:6 says the Messiah will carry what on His shoulders?
The Meaning of Shoulder
•	I don’t have an hard evidence of this. But it seems that the things carried on one’s shoulders are those things that are holy and God-loved.  It also seems that those that bear such holy and God-loved things brought great responsibility to those so chosen for such roles.  What is it that a sheep is to bear on his shoulders? Sheep? No. Lost and paralyzed, helpless sheep that are precious to the Lord and loved by the Lord.
Shepherd’s In Israel
•	Customarily count their ____________________________before leading them into the fold for the night.  With a flock of 100, the shepherd needs a number of under shepherds to help. Without a doubt he would leave the 99 to go and find the 1.  The reader of the parable may assume that the search has begun after the flock is in the fold and the count has been taken.
A Recent Discovery of Lost Sheep
•	Happened in 1947 in the area of Qumran, Israel (It was in Jordan then).  The Arab shepherd boy Muhammad ed-Deeb is said to have counted his sheep and discovered that one of his sheep was lost. He has been considered a poor shepherd by some as the story says that he counted them at 11:0 AM and had not counted them for two days prior.  At any rate, in the process of looking for his sheep, he accidentally found the first of the____________________________.
The Foolishness of the Shepherd Seen
•	Imagine that the shepherd has paid $200.00 per sheep. This means that he has $20,000.00 invested in sheep.  Now does it make any rational sense that the shepherd leave 99 (worth $19, 800.00) to go find one $200.00 sheep?  That seems rather preposterous!  Or does it? What is he counts this one off as a loss and then what happens when this is repeated again and again?
The Application Toward God
•	Imagine God leaving the fold (____________________________) and becoming the Good Shepherd and paying the price to redeem the lost sheep. Then He has one that strays from the fold. Does He say, “Oh well, you can’t please them all all of the time.” “It’s only one sheep, there are 99 more.”  No, God is so foolish that He goes after the one lost sheep!
Matthew 18:14
•	Jesus says that it is not the will of the Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones perish. 
Luke 19:10 
•	Says “The Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”
Luke’s Response of the Shepherd (v. 6)
•	When the shepherd gets home, he calls his friends and neighbors together, saying to them, “Rejoice with me!”  “I have found the ____________________________which was lost!”
The Joy of Finding the Lost
•	Is so great that it has to be shared with others!  This aspect of ____________________________life continues even today in the Middle East.  Few secrets could be kept in that culture and in the small villages of the day. The joy of discovery will be shared by the shepherd and all his acquaintances.  Rejoice is the thought! Rejoice! The lost is found!
Luke 15:7
•	Jesus teaches us something about what happens in ____________________________when a lost one is found, brought back to the fold on the shepherd’s back and replaced in the midst of God’s fold. What does Jesus say is going on in heaven? A____________________________!  More joy in heaven over the one sinner who repents than the 99 who need no repentance.
The Point of This Parable?
•	Remember who Jesus is teaching?  The ____________________________and the____________________________.  The ones that think they are righteous and in the fold. The ones who think they belong to the 99 and have no need of being carried on the loving shoulders of the Good Shepherd.  The ones who think they are not in need of____________________________!
But I think Jesus
•	Had a sense of humor.  In Luke 15:7 Jesus’ statement could be a question: “Who does not need to____________________________?”