Luke 15 opens heaven’s heart, showing us God’s relentless love through stories of lost things — a sheep, a coin, and two sons. When the Pharisees grumbled that Jesus “welcomes sinners and eats with them,” they missed the point: sharing a meal meant sharing life, and Jesus was declaring that the lost mattered to God. In the parable, the shepherd leaves ninety-nine sheep to search for the one that’s gone astray, reminding us that God’s math is mercy — every single soul matters. Each of us has been that one sheep, carried home on the shoulders of grace, and as followers of the Good Shepherd, we’re called to love as He loves — to go after the lost, to welcome the broken, and to rejoice when grace brings someone home.

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There are a few chapters in Scripture that feel like they open heaven’s heart for us to see. Luke 15 is one of those. It’s a chapter about lost things — a lost sheep, a lost coin, and two lost brothers. Each story reveals something about the relentless love of God, a love that searches, welcomes, and rejoices when the lost are found.

At the beginning of the chapter, Luke tells us that “all the tax collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to Jesus.”That line alone says so much. The people the world had written off — the outcasts, the broken, the ashamed — found in Jesus someone they wanted to be near. But while they came close, the Pharisees and scribes grumbled, saying, “This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them.”

That last phrase — “eats with them” — mattered deeply in that culture. To share a meal was to share life. To eat with someone was to welcome them as family. So when Jesus sat down at the table with sinners, He wasn’t just being polite; He was declaring that they mattered to God.

Then Jesus told this story.

A shepherd had a hundred sheep, and one wandered off. Most of us would cut our losses. Ninety-nine percent isn’t bad, after all. But the shepherd leaves the ninety-nine in the wilderness and goes after the one that’s lost — not casually, not half-heartedly, but until he finds it. When he does, he lifts it up onto his shoulders, carries it home, and calls his friends and neighbors to celebrate.

Jesus says, “There will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.”

Now, we all know there aren’t any “righteous persons who need no repentance.” Every one of us is in need of grace. Repentance isn’t just for the lost; it’s the daily rhythm of the Christian life. It’s how we grow, how we stay free, how we stay close to the Shepherd.

That’s why I think Jesus is being a bit playful, even ironic here. It’s better to be one broken person who knows they need saving than ninety-nine “perfect” people who think they don’t.

From a human perspective, leaving the ninety-nine for the one makes no sense. It’s not efficient. It’s not practical. It’s bad business. But Jesus doesn’t operate by the world’s spreadsheets. He’s not efficient — He’s loving. His math is mercy. He goes after the one because the one matters.

And that’s the heart of the Gospel.

Every one of us is that one sheep. Every one of us has wandered. And every one of us has been carried home on the shoulders of grace.

So if we’re going to follow this Shepherd, it means we’re called to love as He loves. We’re called to sit down with broken people, to eat with them, to listen to them, to welcome them as Jesus welcomed us. There will always be those who grumble, who mutter that we’re keeping the wrong company. But I’d rather be known, as Jesus was, as someone who “treats broken people like old friends.”

Because that’s exactly what He did for me.

Today, think about the one lost sheep in your life — the person who’s drifted, who’s hurting, who needs to know they’re not forgotten. Go after them. Bring them a word of hope. Invite them to the table. Be the kind of person who welcomes the lost, because that’s who Jesus is — the One who left the ninety-nine to come find you.