Tuesday in the Second Week of Advent, December 7, 2021

Matthew 18, 12-14

Jesus said to his disciples: “What is your opinion? If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them goes astray, will he not leave the ninety-nine in the hills and go in search of the stray? And if he finds it, amen, I say to you, he rejoices more over it than over the ninety-nine that did not stray. In just the same way, it is not the will of your heavenly Father that one of these little ones be lost.”

I’m sorry to all those who wanted to meet Monday night for Bible Study.  I’m not sure what happened, but I was unable to join it.  I hope to see everyone next Monday!

The Lord often used the metaphor of sheep for people, and compared himself himself to a shepherd.  Indeed, in John 10, 11, he declared that he was “the Good Shepherd”.  This reminds us that at that time Israel was largely agricultural and the sight of shepherds leading their flocks to pasture was a common one.  While not very bright, sheep were considered valuable because their wool was used for clothing and their flesh for food.  John the Baptist pointed out Jesus as “the Lamb of God”, a reference to the Paschal Lamb which was sacrificed and eaten at the Passover.  We can understand our Lord in terms of the uses of sheep in that his “wool” is the grace that protects us from the cold, that is,  sin; and he feeds us with his Flesh, nourishing us for eternal life.

We might wonder why Jesus uses the number one hundred for the number of sheep this man possesses.  This number, the result of ten multiplied by itself, signified totality for the people of ancient times.  We can then understand the Lord as speaking of all the people in the world.  He proposes that one went “astray”, so a tiny minority of the totality.  We can think of a few reasons why someone might go astray: through being led astray; through inattention; through willfulness; through accident.  Regardless, the man searches for the lost sheep, leaving the ninety-nine alone in the hills.  The search is long and hard as the land is hilly, but at last the man has his sheep back.  The Lord is saying that of all the world is saved except one who has gone astray, he will pursue it.  If he can bring it back, he will.  He does not say to himself that one does not matter when all these others are safe.  Now, if the sheep was led astray and killed and eaten by another man — the devil — it is gone for good.  Or, if it willfully fights against its owner or hides from him, then it might be counted as lost.  But if the sheep rejoices are being found and exults when it is returned to its flock, it is saved with the others.  And at this, the owner rejoices.  We ought to think about this: the Son of God rejoices that we are safe.  He does not rejoice because of any good that we can do for him.  He rejoices for our sake.  When we consider that the distance between a man and a sheep does not begin to compare between the distance of God and a human, we ought to be struck with such wonder that we shake our heads.  How could he do this?  Who is he who would do this?  And yet he pursues us across the rough country of his Passion and Death and rejoices when he has us in his arms.  

The Lord concludes: “It is not the will of your heavenly Father that one of these little ones be lost.”  It is his will that none be lost, though a certain number will defy his will and refuse to be saved.  But we see how much the Father desires us to be with him in heaven.  He did not create us to be damned but to be happy.  If we stay with our Shepherd, we will be safe.  If we wander away, his will is to take us back.  Or if another sheep has gone astray we pray for its return.