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? And if he finds it, amen, I say to you, he rejoices more over it than over the ninety-nine that did not stray. In just the same way, it is not the will of your heavenly Father that one of these little ones be lost. (Mt 18:12-14)
Jesus asks the listeners to have their opinion. He gives them freedom to have their views regarding the story he is about to narrate. It is a short story about the sheep and the shepherd. As he gives them an opportunity have their own view he tells them his view of the story. His view of the story as usual takes back to the Father.
We always wonder how a shepherd will leave the ninety-nine in the hills and go after the lost one. The story is about the single one only. All the rest are only a background to the story. The story has a message to communicate. The lost sheep and the message are more important than the rest of the scene.
Whenever Jesus speaks, he always speaks about the Father and his relationship with His people. Even when he speaks about the kingdom, Jesus indirectly brings in the role of the Father towards the people. Here as we all know that the Father rejoices more over the lost one which is found than the other ninety-nine which are not lost. This does not mean that the Father does not rejoice over the ninety-nine. He rejoices more over the lost one found.
