The tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to listen to him, 2 but the Pharisees and scribes began to complain, saying, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.” 3 So to them he addressed this parable. 4 “What man among you having a hundred sheep and losing one of them would not leave the ninety-nine in the desert and go after the lost one until he finds it? 5 And when he does find it, he sets it on his shoulders with great joy 6 and, upon his arrival home, he calls together his friends and neighbors and says to them, ‘Rejoice with me because I have found my lost sheep.’ 7 I tell you, in just the same way there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous people who have no need of repentance.
8 “Or what woman having ten coins and losing one would not light a lamp and sweep the house, searching carefully until she finds it? 9 And when she does find it, she calls together her friends and neighbors and says to them, ‘Rejoice with me because I have found the coin that I lost.’ 10 In just the same way, I tell you, there will be rejoicing among the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”
Luke sets the scene with two groups. “Tax collectors and sinners” draw near to hear Jesus, while “Pharisees and scribes” complain that he welcomes such people and eats with them. In first-century Judea, tax collectors worked for the occupying power and were notorious for overcharges and abuse (cf. Lk. 3:12-13; 19:2, 8). Many viewed them as collaborators whose frequent contact with Gentiles and money-handling made them suspect. “Sinners” was a common label for those known to live outside God’s law in public ways—people whose conduct or reputation placed them at moral distance from the community (cf. Lk. 5:30-32; 7:34). For Pharisees and scribes, shared meals signaled fellowship; to eat with such people looked like approving their sinful way of life (cf. Lk. 7:39). Jesus answers this complaint not by arguing about purity but by revealing God’s purpose: he tells two short parables showing that heaven’s priority is to seek, find, and rejoice over the lost who turn back to God.
Jesus begins with the shepherd and a lost sheep. A hundred sheep is a normal size for a flock; losing one is realistic. The question, “What man among you… would not leave the ninety-nine in the desert and go after the lost one until he finds it?” (v. 4), assumes determined action. Shepherds know that wandering sheep will not find their way back. The initiative must come from the shepherd. Jesus stresses the “until”: the search is not half-hearted, and the shepherd does not give up.
When the shepherd finds the sheep, he “sets it on his shoulders with great joy” (v. 5). This picture is tender and strong at once: the sheep is not scolded or driven; it is carried. The return is communal as well as personal. He calls friends and neighbors to share his joy (v. 6). Jesus then states the point: there is “more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous people who have no need of repentance” (v. 7). Jesus does not celebrate sin; he celebrates return. Repentance in Scripture means a real turning—mind, heart, and path—toward God (Mk. 1:15; Jl. 2:12-13; Is. 55:7; Acts 26:20).
He tells a second parable with the same theme but a different setting. A woman has ten silver coins, likely a small but significant reserve. She loses one and lights a lamp, sweeps the floor, and searches “carefully until she finds it” (v. 8). The verbs are deliberate. She does what the situation requires and does it thoroughly. When she finds the coin, she, too, calls friends and neighbors and says, “Rejoice with me” (v. 9). Jesus draws out the meaning again: “There will be rejoicing among the angels of God over one sinner who repents” (v. 10). Heaven’s response is not reluctant acceptance; it is joy.
Together, the parables answer the complaint at the start. If heaven rejoices when the lost return, then the Messiah must welcome those who are coming home. Table fellowship fits this purpose because Jesus is not confirming people in sin but drawing them to repentance and restoration. The shepherd’s shoulders and the woman’s lamp make the same claim: God takes the first step, bears the weight, and will not stop searching until the lost are recovered.
Jesus is not denying the reality of either genuine righteousness or hardened sin. He is showing that the safest place to be is under the mercy of God. Those who think they ‘have no need of repentance’ risk missing the Father’s heart. The point is not to scold the ninety-nine but to reveal what matters most to God: the recovery of the lost, not the status of the already secure. The shepherd’s joy does not diminish the ninety-nine; it restores the flock to fullness.
Both vignettes also show how grace and human response meet. The shepherd searches; the sheep is found and carried. The woman lights the lamp; the coin, once found, is restored to its rightful place. In human terms, repentance is our turning; in divine terms, it is God’s finding. Jesus puts these together so we will not separate what God has joined—his initiative and our response.
These images also carry Old Testament echoes. God is Israel’s shepherd who seeks the strayed sheep (Ezek. 34:11-16), and Wisdom is pictured lighting the house and sweeping to find what belongs to her (cf. Prov. 8-9). Jesus stands within these promises and fulfills them. He does not alter God’s character; he makes it visible: the Holy One desires mercy and rejoices to restore what is lost.
The communal rejoicing is part of the message. Sin isolates; finding brings us back into fellowship. The shepherd gathers friends and neighbors, and the woman does the same. Heaven’s joy becomes the Church’s joy. When someone repents, we do not keep our distance; we draw near and share the feast of welcome. That is why Jesus receives sinners and eats with them: he is giving earth a taste of heaven’s celebration.
Lord Jesus, you came to seek and to save what is lost. Carry us on your shoulders and give us the grace to turn fully to you. Make our hearts and our communities rejoice with heaven whenever one sinner returns. Amen.
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Sources and References:
- The Holy Bible, New American Bible, Revised Edition (2011).
- A Catholic Commentary on Holy Scripture, ed. Bernard Orchard et al. (1953).
- The Navarre Bible: Luke, Faculty of the University of Navarre (2008).
- The Paulist Biblical Commentary, ed. José Enrique Aguilar Chiu et al. (2018).
- The New Jerome Biblical Commentary, ed. Raymond E. Brown et al. (1990).
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