THE cynical remarks of the religious classes in Israel rendered it necessary for the Saviour to justify His attitude towards the guilty and lost. The three parables of Luke 15. were accordingly given, in which is explained, in a manner calculated to move every true heart, the yearning of the divine Trinity over the erring, and the various parts played by the Father, Son and Holy Spirit in the blessing of such. In the parable of the lost sheep we have portrayed the work of the Son; in that of the lost piece of silver we have the work of the Spirit; while in the parable of the prodigal son we have graphically described the warmth of affection with which the Father welcomes the wanderer home.
The Lord spoke first of His own work for two reasons. First, because it was with Him men were finding fault at that moment, and second, because His self-sacrifice on behalf of sinners necessarily precedes (and is, indeed, the basis) of the work of the Spirit and of the Father in men’s souls. He put this question to His critics: “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?” (Luke 15:44What 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? (Luke 15:4)). If they would be so solicitous about a straying animal, why marvel that the Lord of all should yearn over lost men, made in the image and glory of God? To seek and to save such, He was even then upon that wonderful journey which began from the heights of heavenly bliss, and which would only end when the cross of Calvary had been endured. Such grace as this has no charm for religionists; their self-complacency hiding from them their need of it. It may suit the profligate, but pride maintains that it does not suit them. In their own eyes they are the ninety and nine just persons who have no need of repentance. So utterly alienated are they from divine interests and affections that they are unable to understand the joy of the Father and the Son when one sinner is brought home. The fact that the religious talk were ever the Saviour’s bitterest enemies is sufficient to put this painful truth beyond controversy. But the Shepherd rejoices in the fruit of His sufferings and toil. He shoulders His sheep, and carries it home rejoicing. By His mighty power is every saved one kept until the end. No force, either human or infernal, can wrest even the feeblest of His lambs from His care (John 10:27-3027My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: 28And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. 29My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand. 30I and my Father are one. (John 10:27‑30)). He brings them, not into the fold, but home to Himself. There is no fold in Christianity. “One fold” is a sheer perversion in John 10:1616And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd. (John 10:16); “one flock” is what the Saviour said. Wycliffe and Coverdale so rendered His words long before the Authorized Version was published; it was departure from truth when “one fold” was adopted in preference. The “fold” savors of the bondage of the law, which men, ignorant, alas, of the grace of God, have revived in Christianity: “the flock” suggests the liberty of divine love, which attracts, and binds, men to a personal Saviour.
The Shepherd’s joy is shared by His friends and neighbors, to whom He says: “Rejoice with Me; for I have found My sheep which was lost.” Those who are accustomed to intimacy of communion with the Son of God know, to their blessing, what this means. His interests are theirs; His achievements in the way of saving grace furnish them with material for holy triumph and delight. But in what relation did these religionists stand to Him, who, instead of rejoicing in His joy, could only coldly criticize the exercise of His goodness to the needy and lost?