God is concerned with and takes the initiative to reach the lost.

KEY VERSES

Matthew 18:12-14 (NASB)

12 “What do you think? If any man has a hundred sheep, and one of them goes astray, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains, and go and search for the one that is lost? 13 And if it turns out that he finds it, truly I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that have not gone astray. 14 So it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven for one of these little ones to perish.

Matthew 18:1-4 (NASB)

1 At that time the disciples came to Jesus and said, “Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” 2 And He called a child to Himself and set him among them, 3 and said, “Truly I say to you, unless you change and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. 4 So whoever will humble himself like this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

UNDERSTANDING

• How many sheep were in the herd? Why would it not make sense to many people to leave the rest of the herd in pursuit of one lost sheep?

• A parallel account of this parable was recorded by Luke in Luke 15:1-7. According to Luke 15:4, how long did the shepherd search for the sheep? Why is this significant?

• How did the sheep get back to safety? (See Luke 15:5 for more detail.) What does this tell us about the shepherd? What does it say about the sheep?

• How might this act remind us of God’s strength in our weakness?

• What does Jesus’s emphasis on celebration teach us? How does this again point us to the value God places on those who are lost and far from Him?

• How is God able to have unadulterated joy over the rescue of sinful people? How is payment made for their rejection of Him?

• How should that influence the concern we have for those who are far from God being brought near? What is our role in that process?

• Matthew 18-14 immediately procedes the parable we are reflecting on today. What point did Jesus make by using a child as an object lesson in this context? What traits of small children do you think Jesus had in mind when He used them as the example of greatness?

• Why do we have to become like children to enter the kingdom of God? Why is this difficult for us?

• Who are the last, the least, and the lost in our community that we are called to pursue with the good news of the gospel?
  

APPLICATION

• How does the example of the pursuit of the shepherd inform how we are to reach out to those around us?

• In what ways can we reflect the all-inclusive rescue of God in our efforts to reach out to the lost?

• How do this parable and the truth of the gospel change the way we must think of pursuing those who have rejected God?

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