Matthew 18:12 (ASV)

Passage

How think ye? if any man have a hundred sheep, and one of them be gone astray, doth he not leave the ninety and nine, and go unto the mountains, and seek that which goeth astray?

Nearby Context

Matthew 18:10 See 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 who is in heaven.

Matthew 18:11 [For the Son of man came to save that which was lost.]

Matthew 18:12 How think ye? if any man have a hundred sheep, and one of them be gone astray, doth he not leave the ninety and nine, and go unto the mountains, and seek that which goeth astray?

Matthew 18:13 And if so be that he find it, verily I say unto you, he rejoiceth over it more than over the ninety and nine which have not gone astray.

Matthew 18:14 Even so it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven, that one of these little ones should perish.

Study Lenses

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

The nearby context moves from verse 11's "For the Son of man came to..." into verse 13's "And if so be that he find...", so "sheep" and "gone astray" belong inside that flow. In Matthew context, the local focus is Christ, faith, and discipleship.

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