Luke 15:4 (ASV)

Passage

What man of you, having a hundred sheep, and having lost one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it?

Nearby Context

Luke 15:2 And both the Pharisees and the scribes murmured, saying, This man receiveth sinners, and eateth with them.

Luke 15:3 And he spake unto them this parable, saying,

Luke 15:4 What man of you, having a hundred sheep, and having lost one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it?

Luke 15:5 And when he hath found it, he layeth it on his shoulders, rejoicing.

Luke 15:6 And when he cometh home, he calleth together his friends and his neighbors, saying unto them, Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "sheep", "having", "hundred", "lost", "doth", "leave", and "ninety". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "sheep" and "having", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 3's "And he spake unto them this parable..." into verse 5's "And when he hath found it he...", so "sheep" and "having" belong inside that flow. In Luke context, the local focus is Christ, faith, and discipleship.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "sheep" and "having" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.