Matthew 18-19

Click here to read Matthew 18-19

In this section we get into the 2nd set of parables that Jesus tells in Matthew. Parables are concrete stories from everyday life that are used to explain abstract, eternal things.

One of my favorite parables is the parable of the lost sheep, 18:10-13 (note: if you heard my sermon at FreedomRidge in July, this is all going to be redundant). One thing that I've learned is that when you read a parable, generally, you should read the story from all of the perspectives involved.

In this particular parable, a shepherd has 100 sheep, and one wanders off. So, he leaves the other 99 behind and goes and finds the one lost sheep. Then, he is very excited when he finds it.

Seems like a simple enough story, right? Well, that's becasue today, herding sheep involves keeping them in a fence. So, if you go out to look for one sheep, the fence will keep the 99 from wandering off and will keep predators from getting to the sheep. But, in Jesus' time, sheep weren't fenced in. So, the shepherd would have to constantly be keeping the sheep herded together, and would have to constantly watch out for predators.

Usually, we interpret this story as though we are in the perspective of the lost sheep. And, that is how we should read it. We were lost, and Jesus risked it all to find us and bring us back to the flock.

But, we should also read it from the perspective of the shepherd. In the story, of course, Jesus is the shepherd. And, it is Jesus' example that we are to follow. What kind of compassion do you have for those who have wandered from the flock.

But, the perspective that is most overlooked is that of the 99 remaining sheep. The shepherd LEAVES them to find just 1 sheep. If this had been a true story about an actual shepherd, when he came back with the one lost sheep, that would have been the only sheep he was left with.

I started to understand the meaning of this several years ago at a college conference I was in in Gatlinburg, TN. It was a conference I had been to several times, and something about that year just wasn't clicking with me. The worship band wasn't great, and the speaker, well, wasn't great either. Saturday night was particularly disappointing. It was one of those messages that I couldn't have told you 5 minutes after it was over what it was about.

Sunday morning, the speaker went into his message. He talked about the previous night, and how much he struggled with that particular message. When he was done, he felt it wasn't very good. He talked about how during the afternoon, he felt God leading him in a different direction that he had initially planned to go. But, in the short time that he had to make all of those edits, he felt it didn't come together. And, from the feedback he had gotten, everyone seemed to agree. People were coming to him, asking him to clarify.

But then, he said, there was a woman who came to him in tears and told him, "That message was exactly what I needed to hear." And then the talked about this parable, the parable of the lost sheep, and how that night, Jesus had left the flock to look for one sheep. There were 1000 people at that conference. We had all paid our money and were there to be taught, to be fed, to have OUR needs met. And Jesus ignored 999 of us that night in order to special deliver a message for just 1 person in the room.

We so oftem think of church in terms of a place where our needs are met. And we should, for certainly that is part of the mission. But, we also need to think in terms of our own needs sometimes being sacrificed so that other's needs can be met.