page_title: Parable of the Lost Sheep
section_title: Interpretation
hierarchical_section_title: Parable of the Lost Sheep / Interpretation
caption_attribution_description: English: Good shepherd
context_page_description: The Parable of the Lost Sheep is one of the parables of Jesus. It appears in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke. It is about a shepherd who leaves his flock of ninety-nine sheep in order to find the one which is lost. It is the first member of a trilogy about redemption that Jesus tells after the Pharisees and religious leaders accuse him of welcoming and eating with "sinners." The two parables that follow are those of the Lost Coin and the Prodigal Son. The parable of the Good shepherd, a pericope found in John 10:1–21, derives from it Matthew.
context_section_description: The parable shares themes of loss, searching, and rejoicing with the Parable of the Lost Coin. The lost sheep or coin represents a lost human being.
  As in the analogy of the Good Shepherd, Jesus is the shepherd, thus identifying himself with the image of God as a shepherd searching for stray sheep in Ezekiel Ezekiel 34:11–16. Joel B. Green writes that "these parables are fundamentally about God, ... their aim is to lay bare the nature of the divine response to the recovery of the lost."
  The rejoicing of the shepherd with his friends represents God rejoicing with the angels. The image of God rejoicing at the recovery of lost sinners contrasts with the criticism of the religious leaders which prompted the parable.
caption: Depiction of the Good Shepherd by Jean-Baptiste de Champaigne showing the influence of this parable.
exif: {}