(Mat 18:12-14)

“Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them.
4 

Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the
lost sheep until he finds it? 5 And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it
on his shoulders 6 and goes home. Then he calls his friends and
neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost
sheep.’ 7 I tell you that 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.
REFLECTION
This parable illustrates that God’s love for us is enduring, patient, merciful,
and fair. It uses two main subjects, the sheep(s) and the shepherd. Oftentimes,
a sheep is considered as helpless, it’s incapable of defending itself from
predators that can possibly attack anytime. Thus, it must depend on an external
source to protect and watch over it. Does this literally pertain to literal sheep?
NO [1 Peter 2:25] “For ye were as sheep going astray” and [Isiah 53:6] “All we
like sheep, going astray; we have turned everyone to his own way; and the Lord
hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.” The sheep represents us, mere human
beings that are very susceptible to committing mistakes, given that there are
undeniable temptations, influences, pressure, and deceptions. And once it
happens, a man become a lost sheep. “Like a lost sheep, a sheep gone astray is
a sheep lost from God, who has not the honor and service he should have from
him lost from the flock, which has not communion with him lost to himself.” –
Pupose-Driven Life. As a result, he will not know where he is, will wander
endlessly, is continually exposed to beasts, subject to frights and terror, and
wanting the green pastures yet cannot of himself find his way back to the flock.
God is our shepherd, He guides and protects us, His people. In committing
sin, we are in the act of departing from God. That is why Jesus is trying to teach
us to remember that even when we make mistakes God will forgive us. He
wants us to acknowledge our mistakes, learn from it, and turn back to God and
to repent. Like a shepherd, God does not only reckon things according to
numbers. We individually matter to Him and each is deemed worth saving.
Christ is earnest in bringing sinners home. When God finds a wanderer, he
doesn’t want to punish us from getting lost. [Luke 15: 5] says, “And when he
hath found it, He layeth it on His shoulders, rejoicing.” Christ picked us up from
our misery and from our sin. He lifts us up where we’ll be close to Him-
protected and safe from danger. Similarly, in the parable of the lost coin, [Luke
15:8-10], that which lost, is one piece, of small value compared with the rest.
Yet the woman seeks diligently until she finds it. This represents the various
means and methods that God makes uses of to bring a lost soul home to
Himself, and the savior’s joy on its return to Him. However, His word didn’t
mean that He preferred this lost sheep to the ninety and nine that did not go
astray, but rather, expressed God’s love and expectation of us. God places
great importance on us and also hopes us to be able to turn to Him and come
before Him to worship Him. So we can understand God’s love for mankind.
[https://www.testifygod.org/reflection-on-matthew-18-12.html]
Not only does the sheep represents the sinners, but it also represents our
world. Jesus left all of heaven and everything over which He rules to come to
this “once fallen world” or the one lost sheep. [John 3:16] For God so loved the
world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not
perish but have eternal life.

RELEVANCE TO CONTEMPORARY PEOPLE

In relevance to contemporary people, let’s take example of the various
people existing in the society who claim themselves to be religious and perfectly
abiding God’s rules as much as they are condemning other people who have
committed mistakes regardless how big or small, calling those certain persons to
be misfits and undesirable to God. By this alone, is unacceptable in God’s eyes,
considering that they have already made judgement without authority, given that
they are also mere human beings. Due to this, it makes a sinner hesitant to
repent and turn back to follow God, because of the unwelcomed feeling they
seem to receive. That kind of temper stirs up a man to despise and abhor those
for whom our Mighty Savior shed His precious blood. According to Luke 5:32,
God said,” I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but
those who know they are sinners and need to repent.” The springs from pride,
self-preference, is ignorance of a man’s own heart.
 It is important to remember that “Jesus is more interested in showing love
than taking sides”. The mercy and grace of our Lord shines in His tender and
gentle bearing with His misdirected disciples. Like how the father rejoiced for the
return of his prodigal son, [Luke 15: 11-32], God also rejoices at the redemption
of His children.