Finding Lost Sheep

Lost Sheep

 

Luke 15:3-7 ESV / 44 helpful votes

 

So he told them this parable: “What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open country, and go after the one that 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 his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.’ Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.

Matthew 18:12-14 ESV / 32 helpful votes

 

What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray? And if he finds it, truly, I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that never went astray. So it is not the will of my Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.

Isaiah 53:6 ESV / 21 helpful votes

 

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.

Matthew 15:24 ESV / 17 helpful votes

 

He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”

Psalm 119:176 ESV / 17 helpful votes

 

I have gone astray like a lost sheep; seek your servant, for I do not forget your commandments.

Luke 15:8-10 ESV / 15 helpful votes

 

“Or what woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and seek diligently until she finds it? And when she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost.’ Just so, I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

John 10:11 ESV / 13 helpful votes

 

I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.

Luke 15:1-32 ESV / 11 helpful votes

 

Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear him. And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.” So he told them this parable: “What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open country, and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it? And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. ...

Luke 15:4 ESV / 8 helpful votes

 

“What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open country, and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it?

Luke 15:4-7 ESV / 8 helpful votes

 

“What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open country, and go after the one that 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 his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.’ Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.

Matthew 10:5-6 ESV / 8 helpful votes

 

These twelve Jesus sent out, instructing them, “Go nowhere among the Gentiles and enter no town of the Samaritans, but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

2 Corinthians 4:4 ESV / 7 helpful votes

 

In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

John 3:16 ESV / 7 helpful votes

 

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

Luke 15:1-10 ESV / 7 helpful votes

 

Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear him. And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.” So he told them this parable: “What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open country, and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it? And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. ...

Ezekiel 34:11-16 ESV / 7 helpful votes

 

“For thus says the Lord God: Behold, I, I myself will search for my sheep and will seek them out. As a shepherd seeks out his flock when he is among his sheep that have been scattered, so will I seek out my sheep, and I will rescue them from all places where they have been scattered on a day of clouds and thick darkness. And I will bring them out from the peoples and gather them from the countries, and will bring them into their own land. And I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, by the ravines, and in all the inhabited places of the country. I will feed them with good pasture, and on the mountain heights of Israel shall be their grazing land. There they shall lie down in good grazing land, and on rich pasture they shall feed on the mountains of Israel. I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I myself will make them lie down, declares the Lord God. ...

Jeremiah 50:6 ESV / 7 helpful votes

 

“My people have been lost sheep. Their shepherds have led them astray, turning them away on the mountains. From mountain to hill they have gone. They have forgotten their fold.

1 Peter 2:25 ESV / 6 helpful votes

 

For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.

Luke 15:1-7 ESV / 6 helpful votes

 

Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear him. And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.” So he told them this parable: “What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open country, and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it? And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. ...

Luke 15:11-32 ESV / 5 helpful votes

 

And he said, “There was a man who had two sons. And the younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of property that is coming to me.’ And he divided his property between them. Not many days later, the younger son gathered all he had and took a journey into a far country, and there he squandered his property in reckless living. And when he had spent everything, a severe famine arose in that country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed pigs. ...

Luke 15:1 ESV / 5 helpful votes

 

Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear him.

Matthew 24:36 ESV / 5 helpful votes

 

“But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only.

Revelation 14:10 ESV / 4 helpful votes

 

He also will drink the wine of God's wrath, poured full strength into the cup of his anger, and he will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb.

1 Timothy 2:5 ESV / 4 helpful votes

 

For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,

Acts 2:38 ESV / 4 helpful votes

 

And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

John 10:30 ESV / 4 helpful votes

 

I and the Father are one.”

John 10:14 ESV / 4 helpful votes

 

I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me,

John 5:30 ESV / 4 helpful votes

 

“I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge, and my judgment is just, because I seek not my own will but the will of him who sent me.

John 3:16-17 ESV / 4 helpful votes

 

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.

John 1:3 ESV / 4 helpful votes

 

All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.

Luke 19:10 ESV / 4 helpful votes

 

For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”

Luke 16:1-31 ESV / 4 helpful votes

 

He also said to the disciples, “There was a rich man who had a manager, and charges were brought to him that this man was wasting his possessions. And he called him and said to him, ‘What is this that I hear about you? Turn in the account of your management, for you can no longer be manager.’ And the manager said to himself, ‘What shall I do, since my master is taking the management away from me? I am not strong enough to dig, and I am ashamed to beg. I have decided what to do, so that when I am removed from management, people may receive me into their houses.’ So, summoning his master's debtors one by one, he said to the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ ...

Luke 15:2 ESV / 4 helpful votes

 

And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.”

Matthew 18:12 ESV / 4 helpful votes

 

What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray?

Matthew 9:36 ESV / 4 helpful votes

 

When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.

Ezekiel 34:16 ESV / 4 helpful votes

 

I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak, and the fat and the strong I will destroy. I will feed them in justice.

Jeremiah 31:10 ESV / 4 helpful votes

 

“Hear the word of the Lord, O nations, and declare it in the coastlands far away; say, ‘He who scattered Israel will gather him, and will keep him as a shepherd keeps his flock.’

Psalm 23:1-6 ESV / 4 helpful votes

 

A Psalm of David. The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Even 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 overflows. ...

James 2:19 ESV / 3 helpful votes

 

You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder!

1 Timothy 6:16 ESV / 3 helpful votes

 

Who alone has immortality, who dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see. To him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen.

1 Timothy 1:17 ESV / 3 helpful votes

 

To the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.

Romans 1:23 ESV / 3 helpful votes

 

And exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.

Acts 17:10-11 ESV / 3 helpful votes

 

The brothers immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea, and when they arrived they went into the Jewish synagogue. Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.

John 17:26 ESV / 3 helpful votes

 

I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.”

John 17:3 ESV / 3 helpful votes

 

And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.

John 14:1 ESV / 3 helpful votes

 

“Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me.

John 12:49 ESV / 3 helpful votes

 

For I have not spoken on my own authority, but the Father who sent me has himself given me a commandment—what to say and what to speak.

John 8:58 ESV / 3 helpful votes

 

Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.”

John 7:16 ESV / 3 helpful votes

 

So Jesus answered them, “My teaching is not mine, but his who sent me.

John 4:34 ESV / 3 helpful votes

 

Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work.

John 1:1 ESV / 3 helpful votes

 

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

Luke 23:46 ESV / 3 helpful votes

 

Then Jesus, calling out with a loud voice, said, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!” And having said this he breathed his last.

Luke 16:19-31 ESV / 3 helpful votes

 

“There was a rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. And at his gate was laid a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man's table. Moreover, even the dogs came and licked his sores. The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham's side. The rich man also died and was buried, and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side. ...

Luke 15:10 ESV / 3 helpful votes

 

Just so, I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

Luke 15:7 ESV / 3 helpful votes

 

Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.

Luke 15:3 ESV / 3 helpful votes

 

So he told them this parable:

Luke 14:1-35 ESV / 3 helpful votes

 

One Sabbath, when he went to dine at the house of a ruler of the Pharisees, they were watching him carefully. And behold, there was a man before him who had dropsy. And Jesus responded to the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath, or not?” But they remained silent. Then he took him and healed him and sent him away. And he said to them, “Which of you, having a son or an ox that has fallen into a well on a Sabbath day, will not immediately pull him out?” ...

Luke 5:32 ESV / 3 helpful votes

 

I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.”

Luke 5:16 ESV / 3 helpful votes

 

But he would withdraw to desolate places and pray.

Matthew 28:18-20 ESV / 3 helpful votes

 

And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Matthew 10:16 ESV / 3 helpful votes

 

“Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.

Zechariah 7:1-14 ESV / 3 helpful votes

 

In the fourth year of King Darius, the word of the Lord came to Zechariah on the fourth day of the ninth month, which is Chislev. Now the people of Bethel had sent Sharezer and Regem-melech and their men to entreat the favor of the Lord, saying to the priests of the house of the Lord of hosts and the prophets, “Should I weep and abstain in the fifth month, as I have done for so many years?” Then the word of the Lord of hosts came to me: “Say to all the people of the land and the priests, ‘When you fasted and mourned in the fifth month and in the seventh, for these seventy years, was it for me that you fasted? ...

Exodus 15:3 ESV / 3 helpful votes

 

The Lord is a man of war; the Lord is his name.

Exodus 4:22 ESV / 3 helpful votes

 

Then you shall say to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says the Lord, Israel is my firstborn son,

Genesis 32:30 ESV / 3 helpful votes

 

So Jacob called the name of the place Peniel, saying, “For I have seen God face to face, and yet my life has been delivered.”

Genesis 18:14 ESV / 3 helpful votes

 

Is anything too hard for the Lord? At the appointed time I will return to you, about this time next year, and Sarah shall have a son.”

Genesis 6:6-7 ESV / 3 helpful votes

 

And the Lord regretted that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart. So the Lord said, “I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens, for I am sorry that I have made them.”

Revelation 21:8 ESV / 2 helpful votes

 

But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”

Jude 1:6 ESV / 2 helpful votes

 

And the angels who did not stay within their own position of authority, but left their proper dwelling, he has kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness until the judgment of the great day—

1 Peter 1:12 ESV / 2 helpful votes

 

It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but you, in the things that have now been announced to you through those who preached the good news to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things into which angels long to look.

Galatians 3:29 ESV / 2 helpful votes

 

And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to promise.

1 Corinthians 8:5 ESV / 2 helpful votes

 

For although there may be so-called gods in heaven or on earth—as indeed there are many “gods” and many “lords”—

1 Corinthians 6:9-11 ESV / 2 helpful votes

 

Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

Romans 11:11 ESV / 2 helpful votes

 

So I ask, did they stumble in order that they might fall? By no means! Rather, through their trespass salvation has come to the Gentiles, so as to make Israel jealous.

Romans 10:19 ESV / 2 helpful votes

 

But I ask, did Israel not understand? First Moses says, “I will make you jealous of those who are not a nation; with a foolish nation I will make you angry.”

Acts 10:28 ESV / 2 helpful votes

 

And he said to them, “You yourselves know how unlawful it is for a Jew to associate with or to visit anyone of another nation, but God has shown me that I should not call any person common or unclean.

Acts 2:22 ESV / 2 helpful votes

 

“Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know—

Acts 2:1-47 ESV / 2 helpful votes

 

When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven. ...

John 20:28 ESV / 2 helpful votes

 

Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!”

John 20:26-29 ESV / 2 helpful votes

 

Eight days later, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.” Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

John 17:20-22 ESV / 2 helpful votes

 

“I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one,

John 17:11 ESV / 2 helpful votes

 

And I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one.

John 17:6-8 ESV / 2 helpful votes

 

“I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world. Yours they were, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. Now they know that everything that you have given me is from you. For I have given them the words that you gave me, and they have received them and have come to know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me.

John 17:2 ESV / 2 helpful votes

 

Since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him.

John 14:31 ESV / 2 helpful votes

 

But I do as the Father has commanded me, so that the world may know that I love the Father. Rise, let us go from here.

John 14:28 ESV / 2 helpful votes

 

You heard me say to you, ‘I am going away, and I will come to you.’ If you loved me, you would have rejoiced, because I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I.

John 14:24 ESV / 2 helpful votes

 

Whoever does not love me does not keep my words. And the word that you hear is not mine but the Father's who sent me.

John 14:20 ESV / 2 helpful votes

 

In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you.

John 13:16 ESV / 2 helpful votes

 

Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him.

John 10:26-28 ESV / 2 helpful votes

 

But you do not believe because you are not among my sheep. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.

John 10:3 ESV / 2 helpful votes

 

To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.

John 10:1-18 ESV / 2 helpful votes

 

“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber. But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.” ...

John 8:28 ESV / 2 helpful votes

 

So Jesus said to them, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he, and that I do nothing on my own authority, but speak just as the Father taught me.

John 8:17-18 ESV / 2 helpful votes

 

In your Law it is written that the testimony of two people is true. I am the one who bears witness about myself, and the Father who sent me bears witness about me.”

John 7:28 ESV / 2 helpful votes

 

So Jesus proclaimed, as he taught in the temple, “You know me, and you know where I come from. But I have not come of my own accord. He who sent me is true, and him you do not know.

John 5:31 ESV / 2 helpful votes

 

If I alone bear witness about myself, my testimony is not true.

John 4:19 ESV / 2 helpful votes

 

The woman said to him, “Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet.

John 3:18 ESV / 2 helpful votes

 

Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.

John 3:5 ESV / 2 helpful votes

 

Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.

John 3:2 ESV / 2 helpful votes

 

This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.”

John 1:14 ESV / 2 helpful votes

 

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.