The Good Shepherd — He Leaves the 99
The most memorized passage in Western Christianity: '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' (Psalm 23:1-3). A thousand years later Jesus claims to be that shepherd: 'I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep' (John 10:11). And then the parable: which of you, having a hundred sheep and losing one, does not leave the ninety-nine and go after the lost one until he finds it? (Luke 15:4). The math doesn't make sense unless the one lost sheep matters absolutely. The testimony structure of the Gospel begins here — every person is the lost sheep, and the Gospel claim is that the Shepherd came looking before you knew you were lost. 'I was found by one who did not seek me' (Romans 10:20, quoting Isaiah). Psalm 23 ends where every testimony ends: 'Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life.'