Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Matthew 18:13
And if so be that he find it, verily I say unto you, he rejoiceth more of that [sheep,] than of the ninety and nine which went not astray.
13. of that sheep ] Rather, over that sheep.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Mat 18:11; Mat 18:13
If a man have an hundred sheep.
Seeking the lost
1. The image under which it pleases God to describe His creatures upon earth, Sheep gone astray.
2. What is said as to the dealings of God with His creatures under these circumstances, seeketh, etc.
3. The feelings with which the Shepherd is described as regarding the sheep when found, He rejoiceth more, etc.
4. The general deduction which our gracious Saviour draws from these several particulars Even so it is not the will of your Father which is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.
(1) What a conception does this text lead us to form of the character of God our Redeemer.
(2) What an encouragement does the doctrine of the text supply as to our dealings with others. (J. W. Cunningham.)
The example of saving the lost
I. Who are they that are here described as persons lost, and what is meant by the expression? Our blessed Saviour means all who did not receive Him as the messenger and interpreter of the Divine will to mankind.
II. In what sense our blessed Saviour is here said to have come to save mankind.
(1) He came to instruct mankind in the true and the whole nature of the Divine will:
(2) to show, in His own example, that human nature is capable of such a degree of perfection, as will make us fit objects of the Divine favour:
(3) to make a satisfaction for us upon the cross, such as showed that God would not pardon the sins of men unless His justice was satisfied; and, therefore, Christs suffering and death upon this account were a full and proper satisfaction made to the Divine justice for the sins of such as were till then lost to the benefits of eternal life.
III. How far should the example of Christ, in this particular of saving that which was lost, be imitated by us. The natural means, those of instruction and of example, which He made use of in His life-time for reforming mankind, and improving their morals, these are what we may copy after Him. (Nich. Brady.)
A needful caution
I. A needful caution. Take heed that ye despise not, etc.
1. To despise them is fearfully dangerous.
2. The interest taken in them by the highest intelligences should prevent us from thinking lightly of them.
3. The high destiny which awaits them.
II. A blessed announcement. For the Son of Man is come, etc.
1. The title assumed.
2. The act declared, not merely to improve, but to save.
3. The miserable objects regarded.
III. A familiar comparison. How think ye (Mat 18:12). These words may be considered:
1. In their literal signification. The recovery of lost property is a principle of human nature.
2. In their spiritual allusion.
IV. As encouraging inference. Even so it is not the will of My Father, etc.
1. The harmony that existed between the mission of Christ and the purposes of the Eternal Father.
2. If it is not the, will of God that the most despised and insignificant believer should perish, their salvation is assured. (Expository Outlines.)
The Son of Man the Saviour of the lost
I. A proof and statement of the Saviours work and errand.
1. One feature of the mediatorial character is particularly displayed in the very name in which the Saviour is introduced to our attention, the Son of Man.
2. These words point out the fact of the Saviours incarnation, The Son of Man is come.
3. This description of the object of His coming we may contrast with another, when He comes a second time into this our world.
II. View the Saviours errand and work as it is exhibited to us in that figurative illustration that follows the text,
1. He represents the state of the guilty sinner whom He came into the world to save under the idea of a wandering sheep. Prone to wander.
2. The care and kindness of the Great Shepherd of the sheep. Manifests particular care over case of individual sinner.
3. Christs search for the lost embraces all the means used for the salvation of sinners.
4. He carries back the sheep when He has found it. To prevent exposure to danger.
5. His joy.
III. The great principle of the divine conduct that is developed in the work to which we have turned your attention, It is not the will of your Father which is in heaven, etc.
1. The connection that is here obviously formed between the end in view, and the means for the accomplishment of that end.
2. In redemption the will of the Father and Son are equal.
3. The work of Christ was designed to accomplish that intention, and is efficacious to its accomplishment.
4. Magnify the fulness of Christs work.
5. Have you learnt that your characters are that of lost sheep? (R. H. Cooper.)
Gods minute and all-inclusive care of the universe
I. He is the Shepherd of the flock.
II. His love is impartially shown to all who are in the fold.
III. The salvation of the least is worth all the efforts of the highest. (J. Parker, D. D.)
The shepherd faithfulness of the Son of Man in seeking the lost
I. Let us notice the consolation in His comparing them with sheep who have gone astray.
1. It reveals to us how dear every single soul is to the Lord.
2. He misses each sheep as soon as it is lost.
3. He will leave the ninety and nine on the mountains and hunt for only one that has gone astray.
4. He rejoices over the one that is found.
II. For what does it render us responsible?
1. That we keep watch over those who are liable to go astray.
2. The shepherd-faithfulness of our Lord renders you responsible for compassion on the lost.
3. Also for active, zealous seeking and leading home all who are willing to be saved.
4. It requires us to rejoice over every one who lets himself be saved. (T. Christlieb, D. D.)
The lost sheep and the seeking Shepherd
I. The figure of the one wanderer
1. All men are Christs sheep. All men are Christs because He has created them. We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.
2. The picture of the sheep as wandering, which goeth astray. It pictures the process of wandering; not the result as accomplished. The sheep has gone astray, though when it set out on its journey it never thought of straying; more mischief is wrought from want of thought than by an evil will.
3. The progressive character of our wanderings from God. A man never gets to the end of the distance that separates between him and the Father if his face is turned away from God. Every moment the separation is increasing.
4. The contrast between the description given of the wandering sheep in our text and in St. Luke. Here it is represented as wandering, there it is represented as lost. God wants to possess us through our love; if He does not we are lost to Him.
II. The picture of the seeker. The incarnation of Christ was for the seeking of man. (Dr. Maclaren.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 13. He rejoiceth more] It is justly observed by one, on this verse, that it is natural for a person to express unusual joy at the fortunate accomplishment of an unexpected event.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
And if so be that he find it,…. Which is a casual and uncertain thing with the shepherd, but not so with Christ, who certainly finds all those he goes after, and seeks: for,
verily I say unto you, he rejoiceth more of that sheep; at the finding of it, whose loss greatly affected him,
than of the ninety and nine which went not astray; who seemed not to go astray, were outwardly righteous before men, and, in their own opinion, being the same with the ninety and nine just persons who needed no repentance in their own apprehension, Lu 15:7. This same parable is related in Lu 15:3, and it being there more largely expressed, and along with other parables of the same kind, I shall refer the more particular consideration of it to that place; only observe, that it seems to me that this parable was twice delivered by our Lord, and that on two different occasions; once, as here, in his discourse on offences, and upon mention of his coming into this world to save lost sinners; at another time, as there, upon the Pharisees murmuring at his receiving sinners, and eating with them.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
If so be [ ] . If it should so come to pass. God ‘s grace is not irresistible.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
(13) Rejoiceth more of that sheep.More literally, over it.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
“And if so be that he finds it, truly I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety and nine which have not gone astray.”
The ‘if so be’ is a warning against presumption, but Mat 18:14 cancels out any doubt for the true believer, for the will of the Father cannot be thwarted. A lost sheep may sometimes not be found, but that is never true of one of His Father’s little ones. And the point is that when that failing, helpless, foolish sheep is found He rejoice over it (the true disciple who has gone astray and has been found) more than over the ninety nine who did not go astray (the true disciples who remain ever true). This does not mean that He loves the one more than the others. It does not mean that it is more important than the others. It is simply an indication of the compassionate heart of the Shepherd and of how much all His sheep mean to Him (compare here the story of the prodigal son, the father, and the elder brother – Luke 15), and how much they should mean to us. It is in fact what does happen among shepherds in real life. He rejoices over the sheep that is found, and that not one of the sheep so dear to Him has been lost. The rejoicing is because sin and death has been defeated, and a beloved one has been restored. The full number has been made up.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
13 And if so be that he find it, verily I say unto you, he rejoiceth more of that sheep , than of the ninety and nine which went not astray.
Ver. 13. And if so be that he find it ] As he will most surely, for none can take them out of his hands; nor can he discharge his trust, should he suffer any one of them to wander and perish, as they will do undoubtedly, if left to themselves, such is their sheepish simplicity, Isa 53:6 . God hath charged Christ to see to the safekeeping of every true sheep, Joh 6:39-40 , and he performed it to the full, Joh 17:12 . As for that son of perdition there excepted, he was never of Christ’s body, yet is excepted, because he seemed to be, by reason of his office.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Mat 18:13 . : if it happen that he finds it. In Lk. he searches till he finds it. : specially solemn, with a view to the application to the moral sphere of what in the natural sphere is self-evident.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
verily. See note on Mat 5:18.
of = over. Greek. epi. App-104.
that sheep = it.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Mat 18:13. , if it happen that he find it) The finding of the sinner, therefore, is, in the sight of God, a something as it were contingent-IF IT HAPPEN that he find it: cf. on the loss of a sinner, Mat 18:11, and Gnomon in loc. Therefore grace is not irresistible; cf. Luk 15:6; Luk 15:9; Luk 15:24; Luk 17:18.- , verily I say unto you) This formula refers to the Apodosis,[817] as in Luk 11:8, and Joh 12:24; cf. the Divine adjuration in Eze 33:11.
[817] See explanation of technical terms in Appendix.-(I. B.)
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
he rejoiceth: Psa 147:11, Isa 53:11, Isa 62:5, Jer 32:37-41, Mic 7:18, Zep 3:17, Luk 15:5-10, Luk 15:23, Luk 15:24, Joh 4:34-36, Jam 2:13
Reciprocal: Deu 22:1 – Thou shalt Psa 119:176 – gone astray Eze 34:4 – sought Luk 15:4 – having Luk 15:7 – joy
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
8:13
We should observe that it is rejoicing and not merely love that the shepherd manifests over the sheep when it is found. He still esteems the 99 as highly as ever, but there is not the occasion for joyous demonstrations over them that there is for the one just recovered.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Mat 18:13. The ninety and nine which have not gone astray. Either the unfallen beings in other worlds, whom Christ in a certain sense left, to save the one in this lost world, or those who think they are not lost and who cannot be saved as long as they think so. The former meaning seems more appropriate here, the latter in Luke. The general lesson is: The good Shepherds special care was for those in greatest need, so should yours be; even if the needy be but the smallest fraction of those committed to your care.