What man among you having a hundred sheep and losing one of them
would not leave the ninety-nine in the desert
and go after the lost one until he finds it?
Would we go after the one lost sheep? Would we value a single individual as much as the heart of the Good Shepherd values each of us, or would we settle for that which seems easy and safe? Jesus himself had a heart that was unable to rest while a sheep remained lost. He summarized he mission saying, "the Son of Man came to seek and save the lost" (see Luke 19:10). Jesus knew that sheep were scattered in places that were cloudy and dark and in foreign lands. He had compassion on those who could not find their way, on the injured in need of healing, and on the tired in need of rest in good pastures.
For Christ, while we were still helpless,
died at the appointed time for the ungodly.
Indeed, only with difficulty does one die for a just person,
though perhaps for a good person
one might even find courage to die.
The heart of Christ was revealed in the degree to which he loved each individual beyond what they had or could ever deserve. "All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all" (see Isaiah 53:6). He did not hold a grudge, nor insist on counting our sins against us. We were lost and he loved us too much to leave us that way. Those who knew they were lost we were open to being found by him, open to receiving his salvation. They did not imagine ourselves to be of a group "who have no need of repentance" for their existential experience of being lost stripped them of those illusions. They could no longer believe themselves "sleek and strong" and therefore be at risk because of hubris and pride. Furthermore, however many are the lost sheep Jesus will not abandon any of them. Nor will any be lost because of negligence on his part.
I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand (see John 10:28).
There is something so good about a lost sheep coming home that it is more worthy of joy than the status quo continuing for all of the rest combined. There is a genuine joy that is not only nor even primarily that of the single returned sheep, but rather, primarily the joy of the shepherd himself, a joy that can be shared by the entire flock. With the return of the lost one the flock attains the completeness of the one hundred. All together they become more perfectly what they were meant to be.
The love of God has been poured out into our hearts
through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.
We are called, insofar as we ourselves are still lost, troubled, or abandoned, to let Jesus show us compassion and love, to find us, to bring us home on his shoulders. Insofar as we dwell with the ninety-nine we are called to let Jesus make our hearts more compassionate toward those who remain lost, just as he himself is compassionate. Then life in his flock won't be boring, for the adventure of finding the lost and the joy in their return will be ours as well.
The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.
"He placed the sheep upon his shoulders, for taking man’s nature upon Him he bore our sins. But having found the sheep, he returns home; for our Shepherd having restored man, returns to his heavenly kingdom."- Gregory the Great
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