Parable of the Lost Sheep

Etching by Jan Luyken showing the triumphant return of the shepherd, from the Bowyer Bible.
Parable of the Lost Sheep (right) in St Mary's Cathedral, Kilkenny, Ireland

The Parable of the Lost Sheep is one of the parables of Jesus. It appears in the Gospels of Matthew (Matthew 18:12–14) and Luke (Luke 15:3–7). It is about a man who leaves his flock of ninety-nine sheep in order to find the one which is lost. In Luke 15, it is the first member of a trilogy about redemption that Jesus addresses to the Pharisees and religious leaders after they accuse him of welcoming and eating with "sinners."[1]

  1. ^ Richard N. Longenecker, The Challenge of Jesus' Parables, Eerdmans, 2000, ISBN 0-8028-4638-6, pp. 201–204.