Luke 15:5

My Notes

What Does Luke 15:5 Mean?

"And when he hath found it, he layeth it on his shoulders, rejoicing." The shepherd in Jesus' parable (the lost sheep) finds the one that wandered and doesn't drive it back with a stick. He lays it on his shoulders. He carries it. And he rejoices. The finding produces carrying, and the carrying is accompanied by joy. The sheep isn't scolded for wandering. It's shouldered with celebration.

The shoulders carry the weight. The shepherd doesn't lead the sheep home — the sheep that was lost enough to need finding is probably too exhausted or injured to walk back. The shepherd absorbs the return journey. The sheep rides. And the shepherd's emotional state while carrying the weight is: rejoicing.

Reflection Questions

• 1.What does the shepherd carrying the sheep (rather than making it walk back) teach about how God handles your wandering?
• 2.Why is the shepherd's emotional response joy rather than frustration — and what does that reveal about God?
• 3.Where are you too exhausted to walk back to God and need to be carried on his shoulders?
• 4.How does the Pharisees' offense at Jesus pursuing sinners contrast with the shepherd's joy at finding the lost?

Devotional

He finds it. He picks it up. He puts it on his shoulders. He rejoices. Four actions. And not one of them is: he scolds it for wandering.

The shepherd lays the sheep on his shoulders. This is the most physically intimate pastoral image in the Bible. The sheep isn't dragged by a rope. Isn't herded back with a dog. Isn't pointed toward the flock with instructions. It's lifted — bodily, personally, up onto the strongest part of the shepherd's body — and carried.

The shoulders carry the weight. The sheep that was lost is probably in no condition to walk back. It's exhausted from wandering. Possibly injured. Dehydrated. Tangled in something. The shepherd doesn't say: you got yourself out here, you can get yourself back. He says: I'll carry you. The sheep's inability to return becomes the shepherd's opportunity to demonstrate what shepherding actually looks like.

Rejoicing. The emotional texture of the carrying is joy. Not grim duty. Not resigned obligation. Not the irritation of a shepherd who's been inconvenienced by a stupid sheep. Joy. The shepherd is happy. The finding and the carrying produce celebration, not frustration. The wanderer's return is the shepherd's delight.

Jesus tells this parable in response to the Pharisees' complaint: "This man receiveth sinners, and eateth with them" (v. 2). The religious establishment is offended that Jesus pursues the lost. And Jesus' response is: you would rejoice over a found sheep too. The shepherd's joy is natural. The Pharisees' offense is the aberration.

If you've wandered — if you're the sheep that's too far gone, too exhausted to return, too injured to walk — the shepherd isn't waiting at the fold for you to figure out the way back. He's looking for you. And when he finds you, he's not going to lecture. He's going to lift. Shoulders. Joy. Home.

Commentary

Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.

Cross References

Related passages throughout Scripture