Why would God leave the 99 to find 1?

from the old testament

• While the “lost sheep” passage is not found in the Old Testament, the New Testament parable connects to passages such as Ezekiel 34. There, God confronts Israel’s false shepherds (Ezekiel 34:2–4). Israel’s “shepherds” (leaders) were treating the people selfishly for their personal gain.
• In contrast, God is the Good Shepherd (Ezekiel 34:11–12). Finding lost sheep is a priority for a shepherd, and God intends to find and bring back the sheep that were scattered because of the wicked shepherds’ self-indulgence (Ezekiel 40:5).
• Psalm 23 is famous for its shepherd imagery, with God guiding and protecting David. It begins, “The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want” (Psalm 23:1). The rest of the psalm speaks about God’s shepherd-like guidance that, through both love and correction, “restores my soul” (Psalm 23:3).
• Isaiah 40, the transition chapter between a focus on the near-term judgment of Israel to a focus on her future salvation, described the Lord as a gentle shepherd. Similar to Ezekiel 34, the Lord is pictured as a Shepherd, lovingly gathering His errant sheep, Israel.
• Though not a shepherd passage, Jeremiah 31:20 shows God’s heart aching for the wayward: “Is Ephraim My dear son? Is he my darling child? For as often as I speak against him, I do remember him still. My heart yearns for him; I will surely have mercy on him.” God’s pursuit of the one is rooted in deep affection for that “sheep.”
• Psalm 119:176 offers a prayer from a straying sheep: “I have gone astray like a lost sheep; seek your servant, for I do not forget your commandments.” God’s people are often depicted as needy sheep who look to their Shepherd for rescue from their self-inflicted pain.

from the new testament

• The passage about Jesus leaving the 99 to seek the one is found in Luke 15. Because of their self-righteousness, Israel’s leaders had no compassion for those who were eternally lost (Luke 15:2). They considered themselves morally superior and without the need to repent of their sin. Jesus used this illustration to rebuke them and to show how precious repentant individuals are to Him. In a farming culture like Jesus’s, livestock were valuable. Because of their value, shepherds would put great effort and time into seeking out any lost sheep, knowing that they would never return on their own.
• When a lost sheep was found, there was joy and celebration (Luke 15:6b). The Jewish leaders were unwilling to seek others to enter the kingdom of God, content in their self-righteous belief that they had earned their salvation. Jesus’s reply was, “There will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance” (Luke 15:7).
• The Jewish leaders were the 99 “righteous persons.” Jesus’s point was not that the Jewish leaders were sinless, but that repentant, not smug, sinners were valuable. The Jewish leaders were supposed to be the ones who represented God’s heart best, but, like the bad shepherds in Ezekiel 34, they were self-centered. This is why Jesus ate with those whom the Jewish leaders had rejected as unworthy—He was looking for repentant sheep to bring home
• Matthew 18:12–14 repeats the theme: “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?… it is not the will of my Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.” In that passage, the focus is not on the self-righteous “99,” but on the fact that all repentant sinners (sheep) are valuable, and that God will leave those who are currently obeying to bring back the one who is wandering.
• Jesus’s ministry consistently reflected the shepherd in His parable. For example, in Luke 19:10, He declared His mission: “the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” He did not come for the righteous, but for sinners (Mark 2:17).
• In John 10, Jesus contrasts Himself with hired hands who flee when danger comes. He says, “I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me” (John 10:14). He lays down His life for the sheep and pursues those who are His—even one who wanders.

implications for today

God’s heart for the “one” shows us that He will seek and find those sheep who are His. Jesus said that the true sheep know His voice and listen (John 10:27). These are the ones whom God is actively seeking and saving.

We often measure evangelistic success by numbers, counting how many “sheep” we have gathered together. But God sees the heart (1 Samuel 16:7), rejoicing in true repentance. That should be an encouragement that a believer’s quiet prayers, patient witness, and consistent love for one struggling person matter.

If you’ve wandered away from God, this parable also offers hope. God does not discard His true sheep when they stray. He pursues them, carrying them back with joy. Your worth is not in how righteous you are—but in being known and loved by the Shepherd.

Finally, this parable calls you to imitate the Shepherd. Who is your “one”? Jesus called us to share the gospel throughout the world (Matthew 20:19–20), which is the means that God uses to seek His sheep. Each believer has access to potential sheep that others do not, and he or she should never assume that someone else will tell them about Jesus. Let us each be faithful to lovingly speak the gospel to them with the hope that some recognize Jesus’s voice and follow.

If God is willing to leave the 99 to find just one sheep, you should never ignore the one person right in front of you…they might be the one God is seeking through you!