Shepherd and Lost Sheep

In telling the story of the shepherd searching for a single lost sheep, Jesus is undoubtedly playing off the prophetic indicments of Israel’s shepherds in such passages as Jeremiah 23 and Ezekiel 34. That gives his parable a much sharper edge than is usually recognized. Jesus’ question in Luke 15:4 demands a positive answer, but the leaders/shepherds of Israel have a long history of ignoring lost sheep, in fact a history of actively scattering them. As in John 10, Jesus is implicitly contrasting His own shepherding with that of the scribes and Pharisees.