Have you ever read a parable you thought you knew, only to discover you might have been missing the point? We all know the story of the lost sheep — a shepherd leaves 99 to find the one. But what if that story is teaching two very different lessons? We jump into both Matthew 18 and Luke 15, and it turns out why the sheep is lost, and who Jesus is talking to, changes everything. One version is a warning about being led astray, but the other is a defiant celebration in the face of harsh judgment.

We explore the tense moment when Jesus is eating with ​“tax collectors and sinners,” and the Pharisees, who had perfect theology, are furious. Their problem wasn’t with Jesus’s doctrine; it was with his heart. Jesus’s response wasn’t just to defend his actions, but to declare that his party with the ​“misfits” was a mirror of the celebration happening in heaven. It leaves us with a challenging question: How good are we at celebrating? Are we known for being right, or are we known for welcoming people home?

Episode link: https://grace-community.church/lesson/leaving-the-ninety-nine