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The lost sheep

Matt 18:10–14; Luke 15:3–7 · Journey to Jerusalem

Scripture

Matthew 18:10–14

ake heed that ye despise not one of these little ones; for I say unto you, That in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven. 11For the Son of man is come to save that which was lost. 12How think ye? if a man have an hundred sheep, and one of them be gone astray, doth he not leave the ninety and nine, and goeth into the mountains, and seeketh that which is gone astray? 13And if so be that he find it, verily I say unto you, he rejoiceth more of that sheep, than of the ninety and nine which went not astray. 14Even so it is not the will of your Father which is in heaven, that one of these little ones should perish.

King James Version · public domain

Mateu 18:10–14

hikoni, mos bëni për asgjë një nga këta të-vegjëlitë; sepse po u them juve, se ëngjëjt’ e tyre ndë qiejt shohënë gjithënjë faqen’ e t’im Eti që është ndë qiejt. 11Sepse i Bir’ i njeriut erdhi të shpëtonjë të-humburinë. 12Ç’u duketë juve? ndë pastë ndonjë njeri një qint dhën, edhe t’i humbasë një nga ato, a nukë le të nëntë-dhjet’ e nëntatë, e vete ndëpër malet të kërkonjë të-humburënë? 13Edhe ndë qoftë se e gjen, me të-vërtetë po u them juve, se gëzonetë më tepërë për atë se për të nëntë-dhjet’ e nëntatë, që s’kanë humburë. 14Kështu nuk ësht’ e-dashurë përpara Atit t’uaj që është ndë qiejt të humbasë një nga këta të vegjëlitë.

Kristoforidhi, Dhiata e Re Toskërisht 1879 · zotërim publik

Summary

The shepherd leaves the ninety-nine to seek the one that is lost, and carries it home rejoicing on his shoulders. The Fathers read this of the Incarnation itself: the lost sheep is human nature gone astray, and the Good Shepherd is Christ, who comes down from heaven to seek what had wandered and lays it upon His own shoulders, the wood of the Cross, to bring it home. To "carry" the sheep is to take up our nature and bear it back to the Father, for the sheep that could not return on its own is borne by the One who came to find it.

The two evangelists set the parable in different lights, and the tradition honors both. In Luke it answers the Pharisees who murmured that Christ received sinners and ate with them: the joy in heaven over one repentant sinner is greater than over the many who think they need no repentance. In Matthew it guards the "little ones," warning that not one of them should be despised or lost, since the Father's will is that none perish. The ninety-nine are taken as the angelic hosts and the righteous who did not stray, while the one is fallen humanity, sought across the wilderness of this world that it had made by departing from God.

The Fathers draw out both the gentleness and the cost of this search. St. Cyril stresses the Shepherd's condescension, that the Son became like us to set us again among those who never wandered, and St. Ambrose dwells on the burden willingly carried, the Shepherd not driving the weary sheep but lifting it. The point is consolation and summons together: no soul is beyond seeking, and the labor of repentance is met and outweighed by the joy of the One who finds.

In their own words

The search therefore after that which was lost was no act of contempt towards those who had not erred, but one of grace and mercy and love to mankind fit for the supreme and transcendent nature to bestow on His fallen creatures.

St. Cyril of Alexandria, Commentary on Luke, Sermon CVI (106) — Cyril, Commentary on Luke (R. Payne Smith, 1859)

The Parable of the Lost Sheep (Luke 15:3–7)

Public-Domain Patristic Commentary

When the publicans and sinners drew near to hear Him, and the Pharisees and scribes murmured, "This man receiveth sinners, and eateth with them," Jesus answered with a parable. "What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it? And when he hath found it, he layeth it on his shoulders, rejoicing." Coming home, he calls his friends and neighbours: "Rejoice with me; for I have found my sheep which was lost." And so, the Lord concludes, "joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance." It is the first of the three parables of mercy in Luke 15, with the Lost Coin and the Prodigal Son, and a shorter form is found in Matthew (18:12–14).

The Fathers below are gathered from the Catena Aurea of St. Thomas Aquinas, in John Henry Newman's public-domain translation (1841), which preserves their words from older editions now in the public domain.

St. Cyril of Alexandria (c. 376–444)

From his Commentary on Luke, as preserved in the Catena Aurea (Newman trans., 1841). Public domain.

On the hundred sheep, the whole rational creation, of which man is the one that strayed:

We may hence understand the extent of our Saviour's kingdom. For He says there are a hundred sheep, bringing to a perfect sum the number of rational creatures subject to Him. For the number hundred is perfect, being composed of ten decades. But out of these one has wandered, namely, the race of man which inhabits earth.

Theophylact of Ohrid (c. 1050–1107)

As preserved in the Catena Aurea on Luke. Public domain.

On why the Lord received sinners, as the physician receives the sick:

For this was His wont, for the sake whereof He had taken upon Him the flesh, to receive sinners as the physician those that are sick.

On the heavenly powers as sheep, friends, and neighbours:

The heavenly powers thus are called sheep, because every created nature as compared with God is as the beasts, but inasmuch as it is rational, they are called friends and neighbors.

St. Gregory of Nyssa (c. 335–395)

As preserved in the Catena Aurea on Luke. Public domain.

On the gentleness of the Shepherd, who carries the sheep rather than driving it:

But when the shepherd had found the sheep, he did not punish it, he did not get it to the flock by driving it, but by placing it upon his shoulder, and carrying it gently, he united it to his flock.

St. Gregory the Great (c. 540–604)

From his Homilies on the Gospels (Homily 34), as preserved in the Catena Aurea (Newman trans., 1841). Public domain.

On the ninety and nine left in the wilderness, the choirs of angels in heaven:

One sheep then perished when man by sinning left the pastures of life. But in the wilderness the ninety and nine remained, because the number of the rational creatures, that is to say of Angels and men who were formed to see God, was lessened when man perished ... Does he not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, because in truth he left the companies of the Angels in heaven.

On the word "Rejoice with me," and how our return completes the joy of God:

And we must observe that He says not, "Rejoice with the sheep that is found," but with me, because truly our life is His joy, and when we are brought home to heaven we fill up the festivity of His joy.

Blessed Augustine (354–430)

As preserved in the Catena Aurea on Luke. Public domain.

On the ninety and nine as the proud, who lack the unity that comes by humility:

Or He spoke of those ninety and nine whom He left in the wilderness, signifying the proud, who bear solitude as it were in their mind, in that they wish to appear themselves alone, to whom unity is wanting for perfection. For when a man is torn from unity, it is by pride; since desiring to be his own master, he follows not that One which is God, but to that One God ordains all who are reconciled by repentance, which is obtained by humility.

St. Ambrose of Milan (c. 339–397)

From his Exposition of the Gospel of Luke, as preserved in the Catena Aurea (Newman trans., 1841). Public domain.

On the wealth of the Shepherd, of whom we are each a hundredth part:

Rich then is that Shepherd of whom we all are a hundredth part.

On the joy of the angels over one sinner, and how it should spur us to repentance:

Now the angels, inasmuch as they are intelligent beings, do not unreasonably rejoice at the redemption of men ... Let this serve as an incentive to goodness, for a man to believe that his conversion will be pleasing to the assembled angels, whose favour he ought to court, or whose displeasure to fear.

Note on sources and other Fathers

The voices gathered here read the parable as a single picture of redemption. Cyril counts the hundred as "the number of rational creatures subject to Him," a perfect sum, of which the one that wandered is "the race of man which inhabits earth." Theophylact recalls why the Physician came in the flesh, "to receive sinners as the physician those that are sick," and names the heavenly powers sheep, yet "friends and neighbors" because they are rational. Gregory of Nyssa marks the Shepherd's gentleness, who does not drive the sheep but carries it "upon his shoulder." Gregory the Great carries the arithmetic into heaven: the ninety-nine left "in the wilderness" are "the companies of the Angels," and he fixes on a small but telling word, that the Lord says "Rejoice with me," not "with the sheep," "because truly our life is His joy." Augustine hears in the ninety-nine a warning against the proud, "to whom unity is wanting for perfection," for unity is recovered only "by humility." Ambrose adds that the very angels "do not unreasonably rejoice at the redemption of men," so that our conversion is "pleasing to the assembled angels."

The image of the shepherd carrying the sheep home on his shoulders was, from the earliest centuries, the favorite Christian picture of the Good Shepherd, and the Fathers heard in it the whole descent of Christ, who took the lost nature upon Himself to bear it home. The Catena preserves further comment on this passage, including notes drawn from the Gloss, which are not reproduced here. The same parable in Matthew (18:12–14) is set in the context of not despising "one of these little ones."

Patristic sources

Read the sources: Cyril on Luke, Sermons 99–109 (Tertullian.org)