What Do You Think?

Tuesday, December 9, 2025

Is 40:1-11; Mt 18:12-14

Today’s Gospel demands our response to Jesus’ question regarding the lost sheep. 

Though Jesus’ question appears very ordinary, the profundity it carries is amazing. 

Jesus asks, ‘What is your opinion? If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them goes astray, will he not leave the ninety-nine in the hills and go in search of the stray?’

In my view, Jesus expects us to see the Divine Wisdom behind his statement rather than process or try to answer the question based on what we know. 

Relying on our information and metrics could be inadequate to see the wisdom behind Jesus’ question because the business world has taught us ‘A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.’ We praise the logic of protecting what we already have instead of pursuing the one we are unsure of getting. The Age of Rationalism has taught us to discredit anything that cannot be seen or proved. Hence, we do not believe what we do not see. A rationalist would insist on being practical. 

If this is how our information landscape is limited, how can we approach Jesus’ question with the heart of God as he invites us to be open to the truth that the Divine calculation could be entirely different? Further, if we closely observe Jesus’ question, we realize that it is not about sheep but about how God values every person who is lost. This is why Jesus wishes that we agree with him to share his mindset rather than pretending to know the answer. 

In presenting The Parable of the Wandering Sheep, Jesus gets very personal because, in God’s perspective, the one who is lost is not less valuable than the ninety-nine that remain. God is concerned that the lost sheep (lost humans) may have been wounded, frightened, or vulnerable. This is what arouses God’s mercy and compassion towards the lost one(s). This is why God can never get judgemental.

Once again, before closing the parable, Jesus says that the shepherd, upon finding the sheep, will rejoice. Here, Jesus takes it for granted that anyone who shares God’s heart can not only understand the shepherd’s joy but also can share it.

Thus, Jesus lets us understand that inheriting God’s heart is central to discipleship because God values compassion over business calculations or rational deliberations. 

Let us pray that we may share God’s heart to be the compassionate Shepherd as Jesus is.

Fr. Dhinakaran Savariyar