Matthew 18:12, commentary and pictures

The verse pictures a shepherd with a hundred sheep who leaves the ninety-nine to go into the mountains and wilderness to seek the one gone astray. It belongs to the instruction for dealing with erring members, correcting faults and practicing discipline in order to save the one in danger of ruin. It means the Son of man came to seek and to save the lost, going after each straying, wounded and helpless soul who cannot find the way back alone. Every lost soul is precious and of immeasurable worth, so precious that He would have died for one soul alone, and it is not the Father's will that one of the little ones should perish. When the stray is found there is greater rejoicing than over the ninety-nine that did not stray, and all who believe share that shepherd work of seeking with tender compassion and self-denying personal effort rather than harshness or neglect.

Parable Picture and Context

The picture is of a man holding a hundred sheep who leaves the ninety-nine and goes into the mountains and wilderness to seek the one that has gone astray. The flock already gathered is left in the fold to its own resources while the shepherd searches actively for the straying one, showing the worth of each person and the work of rescue for the lost.

The verse belongs to the instruction in Matthew 18 for dealing with erring church members, correcting faults in the church, and practicing church discipline with a desire to save the one in danger of being ruined by wrongdoing. That chapter is to be carefully studied and practiced as a source of relief, courage and hope, bringing wisdom that saves time and strength, healing dissension and alienation when heeded, and requiring thorough organization and accountability under God's law.

The surrounding teaching forbids striving for supremacy and despising others, for greatness in Christ's kingdom is inward spiritual excellence, true conversion, meekness and humility rather than position, outward splendor or authority. Learners in His school are to follow these most positive principles in all cases and under all circumstances, putting aside selfish and unholy attitudes, self-sufficiency, faultfinding, criticism, dissension and self-exaltation, tending and purifying their own hearts and thoughts instead of scattering reckless words, drawing apart from brethren, hindering a good work, accusing, thinking and speaking evil, seeking to remove another worker from office, or loving one another without tenderhearted, pitiful and courteous brotherly love.

The passage connects to the sayings around it that the Son of man is come to save that which was lost, that their angels always behold the face of the Father, that finding the stray brings greater rejoicing than over the ninety-nine that went not astray, and that it is not the will of the Father in heaven that one of these little ones should perish. That command to take heed not to despise one of these little ones forbids misleading their feet by wrong words, wrong actions and crooked paths so that they stumble, which deeply grieves the Holy Spirit, and it prescribes going after the straying brother to bring him back instead of rigid judgment while one's own record stands charged with unconfessed sins. This teaching should enlighten the eyes and be studied and practiced by all.

The verse explains association with publicans and sinners, for the shepherd seeking the stray pictures the Son of man come to seek and to save that which was lost, with joy in heaven over one sinner that repents. Those commissioned by God are to do the same work, scattering seeds of truth in all their words, being found in every place where souls need a Saviour, opening new fields where people have not heard the truth, and going into all the world under the authority of the crucified and risen Christ to preach the gospel to every creature and declare a sin-pardoning Saviour, since His mission embraces the whole human family, Jew and Gentile, with the whole world as His field of labor at great cost.

Unlike the friend in the midnight parable who grants the request only to save himself from further inconvenience because of troublesome perseverance, the shepherd watches over sheep and lambs by day and by night to seek the one gone astray. He never slumbers nor sleeps, hears the prayer of the humble suppliant, freely grants blessing and the Holy Spirit to those who ask, seek and knock with the whole heart, never turns them away unblessed, and lays the same shepherd work of feeding sheep and lambs on His followers, revealing the great love of the heavenly Father for every soul and His will that not one of these little ones should perish.

On a cosmic scale the ninety-nine represent the sinless worlds that loved Him and the one lost sheep represents fallen humanity, whom the Son of God left heaven to uplift by becoming human, sharing hunger, thirst, weariness and temptation yet living without sin, and dying for human sin, thereby revealing God's tender, compassionate character.

Christ's Saving Mission

The shepherd's search means the Son of man came to seek and to save that which was lost, going after the one that has strayed in order to bring him back. It forbids despising any who have strayed or treating them as beyond help, and it prescribes going after an erring brother to restore him instead of rigid judgment while one's own record stands charged with unconfessed sins. It is a lesson of mercy, forbearance, patience and love toward perishing souls who are helpless in sin and liable to be destroyed by Satan's arts and snares, to be cared for as a shepherd cares for his flock. Finding the stray brings greater rejoicing than over the ninety and nine that went not astray, because it is not the Father's will that one of these little ones should perish.

He seeks each person who has strayed rather than treating anyone as expendable, and His special care rests on the weakest of the flock. The lost whom He seeks include the wounded, bruised, weak and tempted, the distressed, misunderstood and sick in mind, and those overcome by temptation, remorse and despair. They are precious to God, and His followers are to bear a burden for them, look after and encourage them, and make faithful efforts with tenderness and humility to rescue them from Satan and bring them to Christ rather than discouraging them or causing them to stumble.

He does not abandon the wanderer to Satan's power, drive the erring away, or cut off unbalanced, diseased minds as a diseased limb. Such souls are sick and need a physician to heal them, so He strengthens the weak, delivers from the enemy's power, and never forsakes anyone who trusts in Him. His followers are to show the same spirit by using their light to help the erring toward heaven, treating them with the compassion they themselves need, and making extra effort through prayer, loving guidance, tender forbearance in word and dealing, and tender care to bring the straying one to Him. Harsh dealing loses souls, for if He dealt with people as they deal with one another, not one would be saved.

He seeks sinners, not only the faultless and lovely, for He knows His sheep, gave His life for them, and goes to seek them even before they seek Him. He left the flock already gathered in the fold and went into the mountains and wilderness to seek the lost, straying sheep, rejoicing more over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance. He died to save every son and daughter of Adam, not only the few who accept Him, so that even the lowest and most degraded are unwillingly left to perish.

The straying sheep is helpless and cannot find its way back, and so a soul that has wandered from God cannot return to God unless divine love comes to its rescue. Those wandered from Christ will not find the way back to the fold without help, but must be sought and brought back with tender, sympathetic care. The search reaches into dangerous, rugged places where the lost sheep is helpless and near death.

His seeking is costly and tireless, leaving the rest of the sheep and taxing His whole energies to find the one that is lost. He presses on despite weariness, cold and hunger, without letting hardship or wages turn Him from duty, with blood shed along the mountain track and with self-denial, self-sacrifice, humiliation, crucifixion and agonies as the redemption price of a lost world. He looks for His reward only after completing the work entrusted to Him, with the saving of the lost as His one aim in self-forgetting care. His mission in this seeking embraces the whole human family, Jew and Gentile, with the whole world as His field of labor.

Value and Identity of Little Ones

Every straying soul is precious, very precious, in the sight of God, of immeasurable worth for God-given possibilities, spiritual advantages, capacities strengthened by His word, and the immortality offered through the gospel. Christ would have died for one soul alone so that that one might live through the eternal ages, and in fact He died to save every son and daughter of Adam, not only the few who accept Him. The shepherd leaving the ninety-nine in safety and searching in the mountains for the one lost sheep shows this value and His work to rescue those who are lost and in spiritual and human misery. Even one person wrenched from Satan's hand and redeemed over whom Satan has triumphed brings joy in heaven, and though only a few accept grace the united human and divine search in the depths of human woe is not in vain but rests under rich blessing.

The little ones who are not to be despised are children and youth, beginners in the faith, and disciples changed in views and character to be meek and lowly in heart, docile and submissive as little children. More broadly they are believers and all who need care and protection in religious experience, who do not know as much as they should and do not understand all they should but will understand if given opportunity and a Christlike example in the right way, the weak and feeble, the weakest of the flock, the sin-sick who have gone astray, and poor outcasts who have destroyed God's moral image in themselves. All God's children are precious in His sight, and the lesson reaches to the present as assurance both for those new in the faith and for those who have known truth longer yet feel their nothingness. The Good Shepherd gives special care to the weakest believers, looking after and encouraging them, and the search ending in greater rejoicing over the recovered sheep than over the ninety-nine that did not stray shows Christ's concern for each one.

Misleading their feet by wrong words, wrong actions, and crooked paths so that they stumble deeply grieves the Holy Spirit. Discouraging them, causing them to stumble, turning them away by contempt or careless actions, and treating them with neglect and loveless harshness can leave them to perish, for without help they will not find the way back to the fold. The wanderer is not to be driven back with scolding or harshness, harsh words and lack of compassion further harm those already vulnerable to losing faith, and harsh, unforgiving, accusing treatment that grieves the weak and makes them stumble is contrary to mercy, patience, forbearance, and love. Many are lost because no one goes after them, and letting erring people go without searching for them fails the duty of tenderness, patience, and enduring love.

God takes deep interest in the weakest and feeblest, loving and caring for them. He identifies Himself with the necessities, needs, and sufferings of His people as His own, counting what is done for His saints as done for Himself. The shepherd's care for the lost sheep reveals compassion and gentleness and tender, pitying love exercised toward the erring, repentant, and fallen. His servants must follow that example and manifest the same tender affection, sincere love, deep interest, compassion, and gentleness toward His followers, especially those who are lost or in need, encouraging and strengthening the weak rather than grieving them.

Father's Will and Heaven's Joy

It is not the will of the Father in heaven that one of these little ones should perish, but that the stray should be found and return. The command to take heed not to despise one of these little ones stands behind the shepherd leaving the ninety-nine to go into the mountains after the one gone astray, for in heaven their angels always behold the face of the Father and the Son of man is come to save that which was lost. The little ones are the weakest of the flock, children and youth, beginners who do not know as much and do not understand all they should but will understand if given opportunity and a Christlike example in the right way, and they are precious to God and must be looked after and encouraged rather than despised or treated as beyond help. Misleading their feet by wrong words, wrong actions, and crooked paths so they stumble deeply grieves the Holy Spirit, and the erring brother is to be gone after to bring him back instead of rigid judgment while one's own record stands charged with unconfessed sins, a lesson all are to study and practice until the teaching enlightens the eyes.

When the lost sheep is found there is greater rejoicing over it than over the ninety-nine that did not stray. Finding that sheep brings joy, likewise joy in heaven over one sinner that repents and is rescued from Satan. The true shepherd goes after a sheep that has strayed rather than leaving it lost, and the search for the wandering sheep is the model for bringing people back to the fold, with those responsible for caring for others seeking to restore the wandering rather than abandon them.

Angels cooperate with faithful workers in this rescue, and those who serve the outcast in Christ's way by relieving suffering and teaching righteousness work with their cooperation. Angels pity wandering souls even when people withhold sympathy, for those who stray may be distressed, unable to find God, and longing for pardon and peace, and their outward hardness does not erase the good they might have become with better help and opportunities, so compassion and practical help are required lest the wanderer continue until he perishes. Those who follow the Lamb are to join the angels in this search with active spiritual effort, seeking in the depths of human woe and misery in love by feeding, cleansing, and clothing, including through medical missionary service to care for outcasts. One soul redeemed over whom Satan has triumphed causes joy among the heavenly angels, and even one person rescued from Satan brings joy in heaven.

Those rescued, even poor outcasts who destroyed the moral image of God in themselves, can have that image restored. Through cooperation of human agencies with the divine and with angels, they can then restore it in others for whom Christ paid the price of His own blood, to be called the elect of God and stand next to the throne of God.

Church Duty to Seek

The shepherd work of seeking, feeding and bringing back rests on all who believe, on ministers, church members, Bible teachers, parents, and every Christian teacher of children and youth. It calls for a burden for lost souls and for faithful, diligent, personal effort to rescue them from Satan and bring them to Christ, giving them interest, love and compassion without neglect. The stray is not to be treated as expendable or left lost, nor is the search to wait for the wanderer to make the first move or return on his own, but the true shepherd goes after the sheep that has strayed to restore it to the fold. Christ watches by day and by night to seek the one gone astray, acquainted with His sheep, giving His life for them and going to seek them even before they seek Him, and His followers are to join Him in the same care for each vulnerable person with the cooperation of angels. Finding the sheep brings joy, and the rescue of even one soul brings joy in heaven.

If the stray is not sought and brought back it continues wandering until it perishes, wandering distressed, unable to find God, and longing for pardon and peace. Many are lost because no one goes after them, though outward hardness does not erase the good they might have become with better help and opportunities, and they are to be met with compassion and practical help. Christ leaves the ninety-nine to seek and save the one lost sheep, and His example lays on His followers the duty to spend their efforts, utmost resources and sacrifices to win even one soul at any peril and cost. Neglecting this work and refusing to sacrifice as Christ did betrays a sacred trust, insults God, and stands as a failure of stewardship for which account must be given.

The work means leaving the ninety-nine to their own resources and leaving the established church's familiar field to enter mountains, wilderness, cities, new districts and new fields. It reaches into homes and at tables, into nearby towns, and into places of human woe and misery where people have not heard the truth and cannot be reached by public meetings alone, requiring diligent, personal effort. Ministers and every church member are to make self-sacrificing efforts to find and save sinners rather than concentrating efforts on people who already know the truth, searching mountains and cities for the precious soul Christ valued enough to give all to redeem. This opening of new fields, with simple witness, prayer and personal labor, wrought salvation at great cost.

It includes seeking erring church members and backsliders, those outside of Christ, sinners in spiritual darkness, and the degraded, fallen and outcast whom none who has gone astray should despise or treat as unimportant. It reaches the humble and lowly and poor outcasts and miserable sinners, the unbalanced and diseased in mind who are sick and need a physician to heal them rather than to be cut off as a diseased limb, and interested persons after camp meetings who are to be diligently searched out and labored with to bring them to the truth. Following Jesus closely in this requires thorough conversion, singleness of purpose and purity of motive, with concern turned away from self toward others through personal effort and with tender forbearance in words and dealing, since harsh dealing loses souls. Parents and children are embraced in the same search, with one's own children first until every child is brought into the fold.

A special effort to save a soul in peril and ready to die illustrates the search, as in the search for Edson, for whom God gave His life as well as for those who failed to seek him. Earnest, interested, personal hunting for souls means seeking souls in danger of being destroyed by Satan who can still be found and restored, and unless God's appointed workers do this hunting Satan succeeds in destroying souls that might have been found and restored. When done through personal labor it brings in new Sabbathkeepers, fifty in Balaclava, Melbourne. Faithful shepherds who pursue the salvation of people far from the fold, enduring hardship and danger and setting aside their own comfort as Paul and Barnabas did, bring some to conversion. The Berkeley workers sought people who were lost and ready to answer those wanting to learn the truth, whom few others were trying to reach, and their work brought some to conversion, and with the church's loving cooperation many more could have been brought to a saving knowledge of the truth.

The image of one and ninety-nine is also turned into a call for many more canvassers, that where one is working there should be a hundred, with the missing ninety-nine as a rhetorical appeal to recruit workers. Following Christ's example means patient, humble labor to save one soul from ruin even if ninety-nine efforts in a hundred fail. Saving that one is a noble deed for the Master's cause whose full amount of good cannot be measured in this life and will not lose its reward. Results are left with God, without scorning the simplicity of the work or saying of the difficult that they are not worth saving, even when the work is lightly considered and help is refused, and labor is not to reach only for the intellectual and honorable, for those long in transgression seldom fully feel their lost and hopeless condition.

The work is not in vain even though only a few accept the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, for when human effort is united with the divine to go and seek those in the very depths of human woe and misery, God's blessing rests richly on the workers. This instruction in Matthew 18 is a source of relief, courage and hope, and should enlighten the eyes. Studying and practicing the Bible's teachings brings more of God's wisdom and saves time and strength, with self kept under the control of the great Teacher. Heeding Christ's lesson calling those in a wrong course to turn to God and receive correction can heal dissension and alienation, and following the Bible plan pleases the Lord Jesus and brings His saving grace to the church in rich blessings with rejoicing return.

Tender Manner of Restoration

The straying one is to be sought with care, compassion, tenderness, pitying love, mercy, forbearance, patience and love, because perishing souls are helpless in sin and liable to be destroyed by Satan's arts and snares. The ninety-nine that have not strayed do not call for the sympathy and tender pitying love that the lost one does, for the shepherd's greatest anxiety and deepest sympathy are engrossed by the sheep and lambs that have strayed, taxing his whole energies to find the one that is lost. The straying sheep is one overcome by temptation, remorse and despair, distressed, unable to find God and longing for pardon and peace, who will not find the way back without help and will continue wandering until perishing if left alone. He does not drive the wanderer back but carries the sheep in his arms or on his shoulder and rejoices to bring it home, and finding brings greater joy than over the ninety-nine that went not astray. Contempt, neglect, careless action and loveless treatment can turn the erring away from the Saviour, discourage return and leave them to perish, and many are lost because no one goes after them.

Restoration is never to be by harsh words and a whip, scolding, driving, criticism, condemnation, accusing, or a harsh, unforgiving, dictatorial and condemnatory spirit. Such severity wounds and bruises souls, destroys confidence, grieves the weak and makes them stumble, and can further harm those already vulnerable to losing faith. Instead the erring are to be followed with winning invitations to return, and the strong are to bear the burdens of the weak with tender care, patience and enduring love. God's will for workers is kindness, courtesy and mercy rather than harshness and severity, requiring transformation to represent Jesus, purged of self-superiority and a hard cruel spirit.

When faults and errors are seen, those who see them are to go personally to the erring one as directed, telling him his fault between him and them alone in meekness and love desiring the salvation of his soul. They are to get the arm about him, talk over differences kindly in the Spirit of Christ, seek the Lord together, bring the erring close to the heart, plead tenderly, offer the bread of life to feed the sheep, and with hearts softened and subdued by grace kindly point out wrongs. There is to be more praying for brethren and less accusing of them, with no variance, criticism, condemnation, or influence that pushes them away and drives them farther from the fold, and no separating an individual from the church to leave him a subject of Satan's temptations instead of seeking to save him. Following this Bible plan for soul-saving pleases the Lord and brings His saving grace to the church in rich blessings.

Rigid judgment of a brother's wrong is forbidden while one's own record stands in heaven charged with unconfessed sins, and focusing on others' faults while neglecting one's own heart is to be put away. Each person is to tend and purify his own heart and thoughts rather than scatter reckless words that may harm another, practicing humility, thorough conversion, singleness of purpose and purity of motive with concern turned away from self toward others. Those in places of responsibility must first reform themselves under Christ as the one head, united as branches in the same vine, and must be transformed in spirit to represent Jesus. Only then with perfect love and compassion are they to seek and reform the erring, hearing, seeing and speaking with sanctified ears, eyes and tongues.

The work calls for self-forgetting toil, spending utmost efforts, resources and personal means with wholehearted sacrifice and perseverance to win even one soul, for neglecting this sacred trust betrays it and insults God. The shepherd leaves the flock in the fold and goes into the wilderness, willingly bearing self-denial, hardship, discomfort, cold and hunger with compassion, sorrow, persistence, tenderness and forbearance, because the stray is helpless and cannot return without divine love coming to its rescue. Eternal life is worth everything, so every talent, ability and God-given power is to be exercised as laborers together with God to lift up and try to save souls ready to perish at any peril and cost, rather than concentrating only on those who already know the truth. His self-denial, self-sacrifice, humiliation, crucifixion and agonies as the redemption price show every soul's value, and He died to save every son and daughter of Adam, not only the few who accept Him.

Practical help belongs to the search, relieving suffering and teaching righteousness in Christ's way, laboring in love in feeding, cleansing and clothing those found in the depths of human woe and misery, and wrenching them from Satan's hand. Medical missionary service to care for outcasts cooperates with angels to help them recover God's moral image, and the rescue of even one soul brings joy in heaven. Personal spiritual care recognizes the backslider's condition and presents truth in a way that can convict and restore, approaching the unconverted personally with clear instruction rather than neglecting the flock. Training the young is by high and holy educating principles for practical everyday life, and outward hardness in the wandering does not erase the good they might have become with better help and opportunities, whom angels pity even when people withhold sympathy.

Ministers are to care personally for every member, including parents and children, rather than only preaching from the pulpit. Parents are to feel travail of soul for their children and rest not until every child is brought into the fold, beginning with their own little flock and taking special pains to make the home pleasant and cheerful, since they deal with children for time and eternity. Workers are to love one another as brothers and be tenderhearted, pitiful and courteous in business meetings and daily dealing, loving neighbor as self. No one is to draw apart from brethren, devise plans to separate them, hinder and repress one doing a good work, accuse another, think and speak evil, or seek to remove another worker from office, for such devices are of the enemy and must be met and condemned.

Love for Christ in the heart leads followers to seek lost sheep on the path He trod, and by working to win souls they give evidence of love for Him. Looking upon Christ, contemplating His self-sacrifice and remembering that all the fullness of the Godhead dwells bodily in Him draws believers closer to the Source of power. By beholding they reflect His image and through transforming grace become partakers of the divine nature for this seeking work. When the erring repent and are restored after God has pardoned them, they are not to be despised or condemned.