Jesus continues to walk to Jerusalem and great crowds go with him (Lk 14:25). Along the way, he teaches the parable of the Lost Sheep in answer to the scribes and Pharisees who object to his associating with tax collectors and sinners and eating with them.

Implicitly, the scribes and Pharisees are also considered by Jesus as shepherds. That is why, he asks them, “What man among you having a hundred sheep and losing one of them...?” (v 4).

The parable presumes that they are doing what the shepherd does, but they do not. Jesus unmasks their obstinate refusal to accommodate the so-called sinners. In contrast, he is focused on welcoming sinners who draw close to him. For him, that means repentance from sin.

The scribes and Pharisees are not much different from sinners in the eyes of God, since they have fallen short of their mission as spiritual leaders.

God will have more joy in heaven if they, too, will repent from their self-righteousness.

Brothers and sisters: None of us lives for oneself, and no one dies for oneself. For if we live, we live for the Lord, and if we die, we die for the Lord; so then, whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s.

For this is why Christ died and came to life, that he might be Lord of both the dead and the living. Why then do you judge your brother or sister? Or you, why do you look down on your brother or sister?

For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of God; for it is written: As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bend before me, and every tongue shall give praise to God.

So then each of us shall give an account of himself to God.

“I believe that I shall see the good things of the Lord in the land of the living.”

The tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to listen to Jesus, but the Pharisees and scribes began to complain, saying, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.”

So to them he addressed this parable. “What man among you having a hundred sheep and losing one of them would not leave the 99 in the desert and go after the lost one until he finds it? And when he does find it, he sets it on his shoulders with great joy and, upon his arrival home, he calls together his friends and neighbors and says to them, ‘Rejoice with me because I have found my lost sheep.’ I tell you, in just the same way there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over 99 righteous people who have no need of repentance.”

“Or what woman having 10 coins and losing one would not light a lamp and sweep the house, searching carefully until she finds it? And when she does find it, she calls together her friends and neighbors and says to them, ‘Rejoice with me because I have found the coin that I lost.’”

In just the same way, I tell you, there will be rejoicing among the angels of God over one sinner who repents.

Source: “365 Days with the Lord 2025,” St. Paul’s, 7708 St. Paul Rd., SAV, Makati City (Phils.); Tel.: 632-895-9701; E-mail: [email protected]; Website: http://www.stpauls.ph.