The KJV Version:
Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones; for I say unto you, That in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven. 11 For the Son of man is come to save that which was lost. 12 How think ye? if a man have an hundred sheep, and one of them be gone astray, doth he not leave the ninety and nine, and goeth into the mountains, and seeketh that which is gone astray? 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. 14 Even so it is not the will of your Father which is in heaven, that one of these little ones should perish.
12-14
If any man have a hundred sheep.—This parable is also found in
Luke 15:4-10. It shows the value that Jesus placed on a human soul. He came to seek and to save the lost, if there is not much value to be placed on a human soul, then Jesus' mission was not worth very much. If we deem his mission to earth very valuable, we must place a very high estimate on the soul. Jesus makes no difference in his estimation of a soul, the least of his disciples is as valuable and precious in his sight as the most renowned.
The Pharisees and other religious leaders of that day disregarded the poor, the disgraced, and degraded wretches of human society. They were spoken of as "publicans and sinners" and "publicans and harlots." So Jesus here shows by the parable of the lost sheep the care that should be given to each one. If one has a flock of a hundred sheep and one is lost, the shepherd leaves the ninety-nine and goes to find the one that has gone astray. When it is found, he rejoiceth over it more than the ninety-nine "which have not gone astray." This does not mean that he values the one greater than he does the ninety-nine; but to restore the one to the flock gives him greater joy for the occasion than the remainder of the flock. Jesus makes his own application of this parable when he says, "Even so it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven, that one of these little ones should perish." By implication Jesus teaches that it is possible for those who have become his "little ones" to perish. It is not God's will that any should perish. (
Ezek. 33:11;
2 Pet. 3:9.) As it is not the will of the shepherd that one of the flock should perish, so it is not the will of our Father that even the least of his disciples perish.