Thoughts and Summary: The Parable of the Lost
Sheep (Luke 15:1-7)
Luke’s Gospel
A big and apparent theme throughout the Gospel of Luke is
the emphasis of Jesus’ care for the poor and marginalized. This is illustrated
by the author in a number of ways but is strongly connected with Jesus mission
in the Nazareth Manifesto where he reads from the Scroll of Isaiah and declares:
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to bring good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives
and recovery of sight to the blind,
to let the oppressed go free,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.
because he has anointed me
to bring good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives
and recovery of sight to the blind,
to let the oppressed go free,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.
In Luke’s Gospel this text functions has a programmatic
function- It anticipates later themes. It’s placed near the start of the
gospel because the author intends to develop the theme. Further, the author is
intentionally connecting Jesus’ missional purpose and ministry to caring for
the lost and poor. Brendan Byrne notes that the Nazarene
Manifesto “establishes
once and for all that the heart of Jesus’ message is the good news of
acceptance, the invitation to all to come and be drawn into the hospitality of
God.”
With this in mind
we take a look at ‘The Parable of the Lost Sheep’.
Some Context
Matthew too,
tells the story of the lost sheep in his gospel- but in a somewhat different
context. Matthew’s telling of the story appears in the context of pastoral
concerns, ecclesiology and church discipline- with the implication that leaders
of church communities need to care for all their flock. But the author of Luke
makes an effort to frame the story as reflecting Christ’s love for the
marginalized. It seems he does this in two ways.
First, in the
immediate context, Luke introduces the story with the Pharisees criticizing
Jesus for his association with the marginalized (the sinners and tax collectors.)
It is in this context Jesus tells the story. Secondly, this story is followed
by two other stories concerned Jesus’ care for the lost and marginalized in the
story of the lost coin and the lost son.
Why do Matthew
and Luke have differences in how they report the story being told? The usual sorts
of options are available when dealing with source criticism. Maybe Jesus told
the story more than once and in different contexts so Matthew and Luke tell
recalling two different occurrences (it shouldn't be surprising to us that
Jesus might have told a parable more than once over the time of his ministry.)
Perhaps the authors of Matthew and Luke have heard parable as part of the oral
tradition and adapt it to their retelling of the Gospel. Perhaps Matthew and
Luke simply edited it from the hypothetical ‘Q’ source. Many options stand.
The Story
The story is relatively
simple but takes a sneaky subject change from the audience to the character of
the parable- “Suppose one of you have
a hundred sheep...Does he not leave
the ninety-nine...” Jesus is getting into the heads of the listeners. Verse 1-3 sets the scene with the tax collectors
and sinners gathering around Jesus and the Pharisees muttering. Verse 4-6 tells
the story. A man leaves his 99 sheep to seek and bring home one that is lost.
When he finds it joyfully carries it home and calls his friends and neighbours to
rejoice with him in celebration of the finding of the lost sheep. Verse 7 then
offers and interpretation of the verse. “In the same way there will be more
rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous
persons who do not need to repent”.
This story, as do
many in Luke, reverses the expectations of the reader and audience and places
high value in what others (such as the Pharisees) would place little value in. Jesus is presented as one who not only cares
for the lowly, but also goes on a journey to actively seek them out and restore
them, all the while rejoicing joyfully. Here Jesus is extending the table beyond
what his listeners were expecting- he is showing that he is will to go to great
lengths for the lost and frowned upon. Whatever you think Jesus’ limits are,
where ever you think Jesus would be going too far or too low- he will always exceed it.
On an entirely
pragmatic level this story almost doesn't make sense. 99 in a higher number
than 1. Surely it would be better to play it safe and look after the 99 and
just let the one go. But Jesus can’t.
There is something about the lost and helpless that magnetizes Jesus to them. He
has a disposition towards them. He can’t help it. It even goes against reason.
Obviously this is a reflection of God’s heart also. It is the heavenly council
that rejoices in the sinner finding salvation. Whoever the “righteous” who “do
not need to repent” are, they should join with Jesus in the rejoicing of the
lost being found ( I see parallels with the story of the prodigal son).
Additional points
·
The parable
seems to focus on the saving actions of the Shepherd saving the sheep, while
the explanation focus’ on the idea of repentance. Do these two themes match up?
Joel Green argues that Jesus simply assumes that the lost sheep are restored by
both the efforts of the Shepherd and
the repentance of the sinners. A
conclusion that seems fair.
·
A lot
of effort has been put into understanding the situation of the flock of sheep.
Did the Shepherd own all the sheep? Part ownership (with the friends and
neighbours) is not out of the question in the Middle Eastern context. Were the
sheep safe? The story tells us they were in the “open country” (a better
translation than wilderness) which could be considered a safe place for sheep
and perhaps the sheep had someone else looking after them. Even further, who
are the sheep meant to represent? Perhaps the Pharisees? That option seems
unlikely because of the final comment that they “do not need to repent”. Perhaps
genuinely righteous people? But then again, this story is being told to the
Pharisees.
·
Where
the reader hears that the tax collectors and sinners “were gathering’ to Jesus
the Greek can be treated a few ways. It could mean they were gathering at the
time of the story or it could mean that they had been gathering throughout
Jesus’ ministry.
