A shepherd finds his missing sheep and calls his neighbors to celebrate. Yet the people hearing Jesus tell this parable were not all ready to share that joy. In Luke, religious leaders complained because He welcomed sinners. In Matthew, disciples asking about greatness needed to learn how the Father valued people they might overlook. Reading both settings helps me recognize the inconsistency of admiring the shepherd’s care while refusing to welcome sinners or seek those who wander.
Why Jesus Told the Parable in Luke 15
What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one which is lost until he finds it? And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!’ I say to you that likewise there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance.
Tax collectors and people publicly known as sinners were coming to hear Jesus. Tax collectors gathered revenue within the Roman world and were widely despised, especially where their work involved extortion. The Pharisees were an influential religious movement concerned with strict observance of the Law, and the scribes were trained interpreters and teachers of the Law. These men complained that Jesus received sinners and ate with them (Luke 15:1-2).
Eating with these people expressed personal welcome and fellowship, which was precisely what the leaders objected to. Luke also tells us why the tax collectors and sinners were drawing near: they came to hear Jesus. He welcomed them without declaring their sin harmless. As He explained the parable, He twice connected heaven’s joy with a sinner’s repentance, so we cannot separate His welcome from His call to turn to God (Luke 15:7-10).
He answered with three connected parables: a lost sheep, a lost coin, and a father with two sons. The younger son’s open rebellion brought him to ruin before he returned, while the older son’s anger kept him outside the celebration of his brother’s recovery. In each illustration, the recovery of what was lost brought joy. The grumbling leaders needed to consider why they were so reluctant to share it. The study on the Prodigal Son follows the final parable in that sequence.
The shepherd had a hundred sheep, but one was missing. The Greek verb translated “lost” is a form of apollymi, which can describe loss, ruin, or destruction according to its setting. Here it describes a living sheep separated from its flock and needing to be found. Jesus uses that danger to picture a sinner’s need to repent; the word does not have to mean physical death every time it appears.
The shepherd did not decide that ninety-nine were enough and the missing animal could be written off. He went after it because it was his sheep, and he continued until he found it. Being lost had not made it worthless.
Luke says the shepherd left the ninety-nine in the wilderness, or open country, without telling us that they were in a secure pen or guarded by another shepherd. Those arrangements are possible, but I should not supply them as though Jesus described them. Nor should I turn His illustration into a rule that church leaders must leave everyone else unattended whenever one person wanders. He is showing why recovering that one person deserves deliberate effort, even when most of the flock has not gone astray.
After finding the sheep, the shepherd laid it on his shoulders and carried it home rejoicing. Jesus describes both the work of bringing it back and the shepherd’s delight in its recovery. That delight continued when he reached home and called his friends and neighbors to celebrate with him.
The woman in the next parable likewise invited others to rejoice over the coin she had found. Jesus explained both celebrations in terms of heaven’s joy over one sinner who repents. The religious leaders were complaining about the very mercy heaven celebrated. Their dislike of the people Jesus welcomed gave them no reason to withhold that joy.
Jesus compares that joy with the joy over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance. Since all have sinned, He cannot mean ninety-nine people who have never needed forgiveness. Some understand Him to mean people already walking faithfully who do not need the particular return pictured by the lost sheep. On that reading, rejoicing over a recovery does not make those who remained with the flock less valuable.
In this setting I also hear irony directed at the Pharisees and scribes, who considered themselves righteous while objecting to His mercy toward others. Jesus had already said in Luke 5 that He came to call sinners to repentance rather than the righteous. Someone satisfied with his own respectability may see no need to return to God, yet his contempt for a repentant sinner can expose a sin he has refused to acknowledge. These leaders needed repentance as surely as the people they despised.
The sheep in the illustration neither makes a confession nor walks home under its own strength. Jesus nevertheless says the recovery represents a sinner who repents. We must use His explanation rather than make an animal’s behavior settle every question about a human response to God.
Repentance means turning from rebellion to God, agreeing with Him about sin and trusting Jesus Christ. Someone may regret being exposed or fear the consequences without turning to God at all. Tears can accompany repentance, but they do not prove it, and trying to make ourselves respectable cannot purchase forgiveness. The study on repentance explains that response more fully.
God graciously seeks the lost, and Jesus expressly describes the sinner repenting. We should preserve both parts of His explanation. Calvinists who teach irresistible grace generally mean that God renews a person’s will so that he comes willingly, as Westminster Confession 10 states. I reject its restriction of that effective saving call to a selected group. God genuinely offers salvation to every person, and His grace can be resisted. The fact that the shepherd carries the animal home does not establish how a person responds to God’s grace. The sinner who repents receives mercy without earning the Shepherd’s care.
If I resent seeing someone with a publicly shameful past turn to Christ, I need to examine why I am reluctant to welcome a person God forgives. Serious wrongdoing can leave harm that requires safeguards, and rebuilding trust may take time. A church can exercise that discernment while rejoicing in genuine repentance. Christian fellowship does not require immediately giving someone a position of leadership, but neither should it become a way to make a forgiven person keep paying socially for his past.
The Warning in Matthew 18
Matthew addresses another obstacle to caring for the lost: the disciples’ concern about who was greatest. Before telling them about the wandering sheep, Jesus placed a little child among them and warned them against despising or harming those who believed in Him.
Take heed that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that in heaven their angels always see the face of My Father who is in heaven. For the Son of Man has come to save that which was lost. “What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them goes astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine and go to the mountains to seek the one that is straying? And if he should find it, assuredly, I say to you, he rejoices more over that sheep than over the ninety-nine that did not go astray. Even so it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.
The disciples asked about greatness, but Jesus first told them what was necessary to enter the kingdom at all. They had to turn and become as little children, humbling themselves instead of claiming superior rank. He also said that whoever received such a child in His name received Him. Anyone hoping for greatness needed to reconsider how he treated someone who offered him no impressive position in return (Matthew 18:1-5).
Jesus goes on to speak of “these little ones who believe in Me.” His concern includes vulnerable believers who can be despised, mistreated, or led into sin. With a child standing among them, the disciples were hearing a warning about people they could actually harm. They could not honor Christ while treating those of low standing as expendable.
The warning about a millstone and drowning makes the severity of causing another believer to stumble unmistakable. Jesus also tells His hearers to cut off a hand or foot, or remove an eye, if it causes them to sin (Matthew 18:6-9). He is calling for a decisive break with what leads us into evil, not teaching that mutilating the body can cure a sinful heart. If I keep protecting an influence that draws me into wrongdoing, I cannot excuse my refusal to deal with it by minimizing its harm to me or to others.
Jesus then forbids the disciples to despise even one of these little ones, explaining that their angels always see His Father’s face in heaven. Some understand this as an individual guardian angel assigned to each person, while others understand the angels collectively as serving these believers before God. He does not give enough detail to settle those assignments. He does make clear that heaven does not disregard the people others consider unimportant.
A church can favor the wealthy, the talented, or those who make its work look successful, while neglecting someone whose needs are less convenient. Poverty, disability, youth, or immaturity must not make a believer beneath our notice. If I am impatient with someone who needs repeated instruction or practical help, Jesus’ command reaches beyond courteous words to the value I place on that person.
Matthew’s shepherd seeks the sheep that has strayed, going into the mountains to look for it. The verb associated with planomai describes wandering or being led astray. Luke says the search continues “until he finds it,” while Matthew says, “if he should find it.” We should keep that difference. Luke describes a successful recovery that pictures a sinner’s repentance; Matthew calls the disciples to seek a wanderer without promising that they can control the response.
If the shepherd finds the sheep, its recovery gives him particular joy. Jesus concludes by explaining that the Father does not will that one of these little ones should perish. His concern reaches each person, so the disciples cannot excuse neglecting one on the ground that most of the group seems to be doing well.
The Father’s desire to preserve the little ones gives us reason to seek their good. It does not prove that everyone will eventually be saved or that God’s grace cannot be resisted, since Scripture also describes people rejecting Christ and perishing. Neither should we use this warning to overturn Christ’s promise to keep everyone genuinely born again. A believer’s wandering can bring serious harm, invite discipline, and injure others even though his eternal life is secure. That security should never become an excuse to leave him in danger.
Prayer and truthful conversation belong in our efforts to bring a wanderer back, along with gentle correction and practical help where it is needed. Sometimes we can remove an obstacle or help someone break with a temptation. We disregard the Father’s concern, however, if we leave the whole responsibility to others or defend an abusive leader at the expense of someone he has harmed. Pressuring that person into an unsafe meeting would compound the harm under the claim of offering help.
Underlying our care for others is the Son’s own purpose, stated in Matthew 18:11 in the received Greek text followed here: “For the Son of Man has come to save that which was lost.” Some translations omit the verse from their main text because of manuscript differences; the NET textual note explains its editors’ decision. I retain the verse with the received text. Luke 19:10 also plainly states Christ’s purpose, and Matthew’s surrounding commands and the parable’s conclusion affirm the Father’s care for the little ones.
We can bring Luke and Matthew together without flattening their different settings. Luke confronts resentment when sinners repent, while Matthew calls disciples to humility and the protection and recovery of vulnerable believers. Jesus may have used the illustration on different occasions, or the Gospels may preserve forms of His teaching appropriate to their settings. Either possibility allows us to receive both inspired accounts faithfully, attending to what each tells us about His care.
The Shepherd God Promised
Jesus’ hearers already had Scripture describing God as a shepherd and condemning leaders who failed to care for His people. Through Ezekiel, the LORD charged Israel’s shepherds with enriching themselves at the flock’s expense. He then promised:
“I will feed them in good pasture, and their fold shall be on the high mountains of Israel. There they shall lie down in a good fold and feed in rich pasture on the mountains of Israel. I will feed My flock, and I will make them lie down,” says the Lord GOD. “I will seek what was lost and bring back what was driven away, bind up the broken and strengthen what was sick; but I will destroy the fat and the strong, and feed them in judgment.”
Israel’s shepherds were taking the fat and wool for themselves while neglecting the people entrusted to them. They left the sick without care and the broken without help, failing to strengthen the weak or bring back those driven away. When others were lost, the leaders did not search for them. Their harsh rule scattered the people and exposed them to further harm, so God held the shepherds accountable and announced that He would rescue His flock from them (Ezekiel 34:1-10).
God promised to do the work those leaders had neglected. He would search for His sheep, gather them from the countries, and bring them into their own land (Ezekiel 34:11-13). There He would feed them on Israel’s mountains, give them rest, and strengthen the sick. His rescue also included judgment against the fat and strong who harmed the flock. People abusing their position could not claim the comfort of His shepherding while refusing His correction.
Later in Ezekiel 34, God promises to place one shepherd over His people, “My servant David.” I understand this to identify the Davidic Messiah, the promised King descended from David. When Jesus calls Himself the Good Shepherd and seeks the lost, He is carrying out work God promised to do Himself. His care reveals who He is. At the same time, applying His shepherding to Christians does not cancel the national and land promises God made to Israel in this passage.
David’s description of the LORD’s care in Psalm 23 shows what it means personally to belong to that Shepherd.
The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness For His name’s sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; For You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; My cup runs over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me All the days of my life; And I will dwell in the house of the LORD Forever.
The LORD provides pasture and water, restores the psalmist’s soul, and leads him in righteous paths for His name’s sake. David’s confidence includes both the Lord’s provision and His guidance about where to walk. That helps me understand why warning someone away from danger belongs with caring for him. Comfort that leaves a person on a destructive path falls short of the Shepherd’s care.
David also describes passing through the valley of death’s shadow with the Shepherd present. His rod and staff give comfort in the danger; the psalm does not promise a life with nothing to fear or endure. Even with enemies present, David pictures the LORD’s generous hospitality through a prepared table, anointing with oil, and an overflowing cup. Goodness and mercy accompany him as he looks ahead to dwelling in the LORD’s house. Being found is the beginning of life under that care, not the end of our need for it.
Isaiah likewise joins the Lord’s power to His gentle treatment of the flock.
O Zion, You who bring good tidings, Get up into the high mountain; O Jerusalem, You who bring good tidings, Lift up your voice with strength, Lift it up, be not afraid; Say to the cities of Judah, “Behold your God!” Behold, the Lord GOD shall come with a strong hand, And His arm shall rule for Him; Behold, His reward is with Him, And His work before Him. He will feed His flock like a shepherd; He will gather the lambs with His arm, And carry them in His bosom, And gently lead those who are with young.
The Lord GOD comes with a strong hand and an arm that rules, yet He also uses His arm to gather lambs and carry them close. He gently leads those with young, caring for the flock according to its needs. I do not see permission here for a leader to excuse harsh treatment as proof of his authority. The Lord’s strength enables Him to protect those who depend on Him.
Isaiah’s picture of the flock also helps explain why we need to be saved. In chapter 53, he compares all of us to wandering sheep and describes the innocent Servant who suffers to bring us peace with God.
Surely He has borne our griefs And carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.
Isaiah includes all of us among the sheep who have strayed, each turning to his own way. One person’s rebellion may bring public scandal while another’s attracts little criticism, but both involve refusing God’s way. A religious reputation cannot make self-directed disobedience righteous. The person judging a notorious sinner still needs the mercy the Servant provides.
The Servant bears our griefs, sorrows, and iniquity while suffering innocently for us. Isaiah distinguishes what He accomplishes from the judgment of those who regarded Him as stricken by God. I understand His bearing our sins as His voluntarily giving Himself to be slain, offering Himself in His sinless perfection as the sacrifice for us. Wicked people inflicted His bodily wounds and death. The LORD’s appointment of the Servant as our sin-bearer does not mean the Father tortured or punished His Son.
The “all” who went astray are the people whose iniquity He bears. His sacrifice provides salvation for the whole world, genuinely offered to every person. The religious observer who objects to mercy for someone else has no smaller need of that provision himself.
Jesus Seeks, Saves, and Keeps His Sheep
Luke later records Jesus seeking a chief tax collector in Jericho. The crowd’s complaint resembles the objection that prompted the lost-sheep parable.
But when they saw it, they all complained, saying, “He has gone to be a guest with a man who is a sinner.” Then Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord, I give half of my goods to the poor; and if I have taken anything from anyone by false accusation, I restore fourfold.” And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he also is a son of Abraham; for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”
Zacchaeus was a wealthy chief tax collector, yet his position did not win him the crowd’s approval. Because he was short and could not see Jesus over the people, he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree. Jesus looked up, called him down by name, and said He must stay at his house that day. Zacchaeus received Him joyfully, while the onlookers complained that Jesus had gone to be a sinner’s guest (Luke 19:1-7). They were objecting to the welcome He had deliberately given.
Zacchaeus’ response addressed both his use of wealth and any abuse of his position. He would give half his possessions to the poor and repay fourfold whatever he had taken by false accusation. Instead of merely expressing a vague wish to improve, he committed himself to generosity and restitution to anyone he had cheated. Those acts would give evidence of repentance; they could not buy salvation.
Jesus announced that salvation had come to the house and identified Zacchaeus as a son of Abraham. His ancestry had not made his sins harmless or removed his need for a Savior. Now he was receiving the One who had come to seek and save the lost. Jesus did not wait for the crowd to approve before showing mercy, and Zacchaeus’ response gave the onlookers reason to join his joy instead of continuing their complaint.
John 10 explains more fully who this Shepherd is and what He gives to those who enter through Him.
I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own. As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd. “Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again. No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This command I have received from My Father.”
Jesus calls Himself both the door of the sheep and the Good Shepherd. Anyone who enters through Him receives salvation and life, and He knows His sheep personally, calling them by name and leading them. His warning about thieves and robbers concerns false claimants who exploit the flock (John 10:1-10). He is not condemning the prophets and other faithful servants God sent before Him.
The contrast with a hireling shows what His care costs. A hired man runs when the wolf comes because he does not care for the sheep, leaving them exposed to the attack. Jesus gives His own life for them (John 10:11-13). He goes on to say that He has authority both to lay down His life and to take it again, so we must understand His words in terms of His actual death and bodily resurrection. He is promising more than the lasting influence of a devoted teacher.
Wicked men killed Jesus and were guilty for doing so, but their violence did not make Him an unwilling victim or defeat God’s foreknown purpose. He freely gave Himself to save us. After rising bodily, He continues to lead His people, and His written word governs how we recognize His voice. Whatever we may believe He is impressing on us, a private impression has no authority to contradict Scripture.
In the same teaching, Jesus also promises to bring sheep who are not of the present fold, gathering one flock under one Shepherd. I understand this to include Gentiles brought into saving fellowship with believing Jews through the gospel. Their unity in Christ does not turn Gentiles into ethnic Israelites or transfer Israel’s land promises to the church. The study on Jesus as the Good Shepherd considers His care and identity more fully.
Jesus’ statement that He lays down His life for the sheep describes His particular care for them. It does not say that He died only for that group, and other passages identify His saving provision with the whole world. I cannot use these words to limit His sacrifice to a predetermined elect group. Salvation is genuinely offered to all, and those who receive Him have life in Him.
Later in John 10, opponents demanded that He say plainly whether He was the Christ. His answer points to the testimony He had already given and the security of those who belong to Him.
“But you do not believe, because you are not of My sheep, as I said to you. My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand. I and My Father are one.”
Jesus pointed His opponents to what He had already said and to the works He had performed in His Father’s name (John 10:24-25). They remained unbelieving, outside His flock, while His sheep hear His voice, are known by Him, and follow Him. Demanding more evidence could not excuse their refusal to receive the testimony already before them. Their religious standing did not give them a relationship with the Shepherd they refused to believe.
He gives His sheep eternal life and says they will never perish. No one can snatch them out of His hand or His Father’s hand. Their security rests in the power and faithfulness of the Father and Son, not in their ability to maintain a flawless record of obedience.
Christ’s promise belongs to those genuinely born again; adopting a Christian label does not establish that this has happened. The Holy Spirit permanently indwells and seals every genuine believer, who will never become eternally lost again. Because new birth produces a changed direction in life, conduct gives evidence of that life without becoming a test of sinless perfection. Following Christ is the fruit of the life He gives, never the means of earning salvation or keeping it secure.
How the Church Should Care for Wanderers
Being secure in Christ does not make a believer’s wandering harmless. James closes his letter by calling the church to help someone who departs from the truth.
Brethren, if anyone among you wanders from the truth, and someone turns him back, let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save a soul from death and cover a multitude of sins.
James describes someone among the church who wanders and another person who turns him back. The departure may involve false teaching, sinful conduct, or both, so caring about the person requires attention to what is actually wrong. If I dismiss every attempt at correction as unloving, I may leave someone without the warning he needs. Nor should his departure become a reason to decide he is no longer our concern.
Christians differ over what James means by saving a soul from death. Some understand physical death under God’s discipline, a real possibility for a sinning believer illustrated in 1 Corinthians 11:30. Others understand rescue from final death for someone within the congregation whose profession of faith was not genuine. Steven Cole explains both readings, favoring the latter. Neither interpretation requires us to say that someone genuinely born again loses eternal life. Both take the danger of sin seriously and recognize helping a sinner return as an act of mercy.
Covering a multitude of sins concerns the forgiveness connected with that return, rather than hiding wrongdoing to protect an offender from accountability. God uses truthful correction to bring the wanderer back to what is right. The person offering help serves in that work without becoming another savior, and recovering someone else does not earn forgiveness for the helper’s own sins.
Qualified male elders have a particular responsibility to shepherd the church, but an official assignment is not required before the rest of us can offer a needed warning or encouragement. A direct, patient conversation may help someone beginning to stray far more than a public accusation would. We can pray and teach while also asking enough questions to understand the need. Practical help and a willingness to welcome genuine repentance should accompany that care.
Listening carefully may also show that we have misunderstood the situation. A person who leaves a congregation because of abuse is not necessarily wandering from Christ. We cannot claim to seek restoration while threatening that person, persisting in unwanted contact, or demanding a return to an unsafe setting. Human shepherds serve under Christ and can teach and plead, but His authority does not give them control over another person’s heart or permission to ignore lawful boundaries.
Protecting the rest of the flock belongs to that same responsibility. Seeking one wanderer must not expose others to danger, and rejoicing over repentance does not require removing safeguards or restoring an offender to a former position. A church may still need to report a crime, and those harmed must not be silenced in the name of forgiveness. Jesus’ concern for the little ones should govern how we pursue recovery from beginning to end.
Peter brings our attention back to the Shepherd whose suffering both saves us and teaches us how to respond when we are wronged.
For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps: “Who committed no sin, Nor was deceit found in His mouth”; who, when He was reviled, did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but committed Himself to Him who judges righteously; who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness–by whose stripes you were healed. For you were like sheep going astray, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.
Peter describes the Shepherd’s own response to wrongdoing: although Christ committed no sin and spoke no deceit, He endured abuse without reviling or threatening those who harmed Him. He entrusted Himself to the One who judges rightly and bore our sins in His body so that we might live for righteousness. Those who had strayed like sheep have now returned to Him as their Shepherd and Overseer. An overseer exercises watchful care and authority, which gives His people reason to trust Him rather than take revenge.
Jesus is the eternal, uncreated Son, fully God and fully man, born of a virgin and completely sinless. His atonement rests on His perfection and His voluntarily giving Himself to be slain as the perfect sacrifice. Wicked men tortured and crucified Him, and He willingly shed His innocent blood and died. His saving sacrifice through His blood and death was complete before His burial and bodily resurrection. The Father did not punish, curse, abandon, strike, bruise, or pour wrath on Jesus. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are distinct divine Persons who acted in perfect unity in our salvation.
Christ died for the whole world, and His invitation is genuine for every person, even though His grace can be resisted. In his second letter, Peter warns about scoffers who will question the promise of Christ’s coming and explains why God has been patient.
But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.
Peter explains the Lord’s apparent delay by His patience and desire for repentance. He has neither forgotten His promise nor become unable to fulfill it. That patience leaves room for people to turn to Him; it does not cancel the coming judgment or make postponing repentance safe. We should hear His invitation while we have the opportunity to respond.
Everyone who turns to Jesus in repentance and faith receives forgiveness and justification, God’s declaration that the believer is righteous before Him. God gives that person new birth, and the Holy Spirit permanently indwells and seals the believer. Obedience follows from that new life; it does not earn or keep salvation, and a profession without genuine faith and repentance is no proof of conversion. Having received the Shepherd’s mercy, we should care for others rather than defend our own rebellion or resent their welcome.
My Final Thoughts
The lost sheep should make me consider both how I receive mercy and how I respond when someone else receives it. If I listen to Jesus while refusing to turn from sin, I have missed His call to repentance. If I resent a repentant sinner or disregard a vulnerable believer, I am resisting the care His parable teaches. The Shepherd gave His life and keeps those who are genuinely His. Under His care, we can seek wanderers patiently, speak truthfully, protect those who could be harmed, and rejoice when someone returns.