Brendan Alexander G10D: The Parable of the Lost Sheep Part 1

(Source of Parable) Luke 15: 1-7

Now the tax collectors and sinners were all gathering around to hear Jesus. But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.”


Then Jesus told them this parable: “Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’ 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.

Representations and Metaphors

The Shepherd represents Jesus.

The Lost Sheep represents us, who are sinful and have went astray from the right path.

The Other 99 Sheep are those who believe that they are already righteous, such as the Pharisees.

Critical Questions and Reflection

Why did the Shepherd go after the lost sheep instead of staying safe with the other 99?

Why do the heavens rejoice more over that one lost sheep rather than the other ninety-nine who represents those who do not need to repent?

What is the moral of the story?

How can we apply the morals of the story into our daily lives?

Further Proof

John 10: 1-21

  1. We are all sinful
  1. We do not have the right to judge others, only God can judge us. Instead of criticizing those who are more sinful than us, we should spread God's news to them to help them get back to the correct path.
  1. Jesus still loves us no matter how sinful we are. In fact, he will be more pleased with one person who repents than people who do not need to repent at all.
  1. We should not be arrogant to sinful people (We shouldn't be like the Pharisees). Instead, we should always be humble.
  1. The shepherd going out to retrieve the lost sheep shows that God is always guiding us and protecting us even when we have went astray. He will always be there for us. The only thing we need to do to get back on the right path is to repent, open our hearts to Him, and accept Him as our one and only savior.
  1. As Christians, we need to have the determination to grow closer with God. We shouldn't think that we are already "good enough" to enter heaven. We should always strive to communicate and learn more about God and apply His words into our daily lives.

As mentioned in the morals branch, we can apply the moral of this story into all aspects of our daily lives. We can apply it anywhere to anyone, even to strangers! For example, if we see our friends who are struggling with the temptations of cheating, we should not criticize and judge them. Instead, we should tell them and inform them that that is not what God wants them to do, we must share God's words to help them realize what they're doing is wrong. This will allow them to realize their sin and repent. Hence, for this parable's application, we must always spread awareness and help by spreading God's words especially to those who are sinful.

It is comparable to a person who has suffered through many struggles before. If we've suffered a lot but we've already recovered, that means that we will be stronger. The same applies here. If we repent after we've sinned, our faith in Jesus will be stronger in that we believe that He is always able to bring us to the correct path. Hence, we can be stronger believers after we have repented and promise to always trust Jesus and to never the sins again.

This represents Jesus' relationships with us. His love for us is unconditional, unbiased, and eternal. Even though some of us have sinned more than others, He will always love us equally no matter what. Hence, His immense love for us means that when one of us goes astray, he will always care for us and reach out to us to save us from the price of sin, because he loves us.

Furthermore, according to the slides, the more we are rejected by society, the more God will look upon us. This is because Jesus will try to open our hearts in order to save us from our sins.

These verses show us that the only way we can enter the kingdom of heaven is through Jesus (He represents the shepherd with the key). Once we enter his kingdom, we will be protected and guarded against all types of sin and temptations (This is represented by the shepherd protecting the sheep from the wolves). Furthermore, once we are in the kingdom of heaven, we will never be led astray any longer by sins or temptations(This is represented by the sheep who only listens to the shepherd's voice, not the thief's voice. Furthermore, the access to the gate was only made for one person [The Shepherd], so that thieves cannot steal the sheep).

1 Peter 2:25 and Isaiah 53:6

These verses represents that everyone is sinful. However, when we believe in God, he accepts us no matter what and that when we repent, He will forgive our sins. These verses also show that those who are sinful still are able to return to God.

"God looks for them and doesn't give up, until He finds them." and a quote from St. Augustine "God loves every person as if there was no one else to love".

As sheep ourselves, we are weak, easily influenced, and easily tricked. Hence, we cannot defeat sin on our own. Only God can help us defeat sin. Even though sin will try to deceive us and cheat us out of happiness, God will protect us from those sins and allow us and our faith in Him to remain strong.

These quotes proves that God's love is immensely strong, unconditional, and eternal.

The thief in John 10:1-21 represents the devil who tries to deceive us with the tempetations of sin.