Matthew the apostle wrote how, “it must needs be that offenses come; but woe to that man by whom the offense comes! Wherefore if your hand or your foot offend you, cut them off, and cast them from you: it is better for you to enter into life halt or maimed, rather than having two hands or two feet to be cast into everlasting fire. And if your eye offend you, pluck it out, and cast it from you: it is better for you to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire. Take heed that you despise not one of these little ones; for I say unto you, That in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven. For the Son of man is come to save that which was lost.”, and in chapter eighteen and verse twelve of his book, Matthew shares what Jesus said about leaving “ninety and nine” sheep where we read:
How think you? if a man have an hundred sheep, and one of them be gone astray, does he not leave the ninety and nine, and goes into the mountains, and seeks that which is gone astray?
The verse reads, “How think you? if a man have an hundred sheep, and one of them be gone astray, ...”. Matthew began with the words, “how think you” or “what is the disciple's opinion and determination”? “if a man” which means “whether a male human being”“have an hundred sheep” or “possesses one hundred tame and small grazing animals”, “and one of them” which means “and one of the tame and small grazing animals” “be gone astray” or “wanders and roams about”. Matthew shared how Jesus referred to a shepherd who owned “one hundred sheep” but had “a single one of them” “wander away from the fold”.
The verse continues, “... does he not leave the ninety and nine, and goes into the mountains, and seeks that which is gone astray?” Matthew continued with the words, “does he not leave” or “does the man or shepherd not depart and go away from” “the ninety and nine” which means “the ninety nine other sheep”, “and goes” or “leads over, continues on a journey and departs” “into the mountains” which refers to “the risings above the plain”, “and seeks” or “and craves, strives after and looks for in order to find” “that which is gone astray” which means “the sheep that wandered and roamed about”? Matthew shared how Jesus questioned whether the disciples thought the shepherd would leave the other ninety nine sheep and go to the “mountains” to look for sheep that “wandered away”.
When we think through Matthew's words in this verse, we see how Jesus employed another agrarian illustration to demonstrate God's desire to “find” every person who is lost. The “ninety nine” sheep were where they were supposed to be, but the one wandered away, and that “one” motivated the shepherd to seek for him. God wants every person to be in a relationship with Him through His Son Jesus, and He will “seek” to the end of the earth to find them. Perhaps there is one reading these words who feel they have “wandered and roamed away”, if so, today is the day Jesus has found them, and when they yield their lives to Him, they shall find Him to be the “good shepherd” He promised He would be.
Next time Matthew shares how Jesus shares how the man, “rejoices more of that sheep”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.
Until
tomorrow…there is more…
Look for the daily devotional book
“Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the
marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the
Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms
Volumes I and II" and the new novel "Elizabeth County"
in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com
; http://www.barnesandnobles.com
; download to e-books, and find it locally at
www.mrzlc.com/bookstore.
No comments:
Post a Comment