One of them goes astray

Gospel + Mt 18:12-14

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The parable is placed on “Church Order” (Mt 19), that is, Jesus’ teaching on how his disciples should deal with members of their community. It is especially aimed at Church leaders who must exert every effort to bring back any member who strays.

The parable of the Lost Sheep in Matthew is also found in Luke who has two other parables about the “lost,” i.e., the parables of the Lost Coin and of the Lost/Prodigal Son (Lk 15).The parable points out that when a sheep goes astray, the shepherd will go looking for it. Sheep are always valuable commodities no matter what the size of the flock is. The other ninety-nine are not being abandoned or put at risk, because for a flock of a hundred, ordinarily there is more than one shepherd. As one sheep is so precious that it