The Parable of the Lost Sheep
A shepherd leaves ninety-nine to find one — and heaven throws a party.
A shepherd with a hundred sheep loses one and leaves the ninety-nine to search until he finds it, then carries it home rejoicing and calls his friends to celebrate. Jesus says there is likewise joy in heaven over one sinner who repents.
The parable
What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it?
He goeth after that which is lost, until he find it — the relentless search.
I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance.
Heaven's disproportionate joy over one repentant sinner.
What it means
Jesus told this parable because the Pharisees complained that he welcomed sinners. His answer is a picture of God as a shepherd who counts, misses, and goes after the one — not waiting at home for the lost sheep to find its own way back, but searching until he finds it. The initiative is entirely the shepherd's.
The detail that undoes every notion of a reluctant God is the joy. He layeth it on his shoulders, rejoicing, and calls the neighbours to celebrate. Then Jesus lifts the curtain on heaven itself: joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth. The angels celebrate what the Pharisees resented.
It is a parable about the worth of one. In a crowd, one lost person can seem a rounding error; to the shepherd, the one is worth leaving the ninety-nine to find. This is the heart of the gospel — the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.