NOTES for Luk 15:3-7

Here is another confirmation that we live in a very different time from Jesus... To describe the joy in heaven over a repentant sinner, He chooses the now familiar form of storytelling, a parable. And now we hear His words addressed to the people sitting around Him: "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?" (Luke 15:4).

What would a modern person think in answer to this question? First, more than half the inhabitants of the globe would immediately note that they do not have any sheep. And second, we try to call logic to our aid. Logic is completely opposed to leaving ninety-nine sheep in the wilderness, where they can easily get lost or be eaten by wolves, and going after one foolish sheep. Besides, that sheep may have been caught by those same wolves long ago... In short, the risk is too great, and it is not worth it.

But the point is that we are not the Lord. And glory to Him for that! Only He has enough faith in the human person, enough hope and mercy, to save the lost. And only He trusts us enough to give us the freedom of God's sons and daughters. That means He can leave us alone for a time, if that is what is needed...