Luke 15:4 (WEB)

Passage

“Which of you men, if you had one hundred sheep, and lost one of them, wouldn’t leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one that was lost, until he found it?

Nearby Context

Luke 15:2 The Pharisees and the scribes murmured, saying, “This man welcomes sinners, and eats with them.”

Luke 15:3 He told them this parable.

Luke 15:4 “Which of you men, if you had one hundred sheep, and lost one of them, wouldn’t leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one that was lost, until he found it?

Luke 15:5 When he has found it, he carries it on his shoulders, rejoicing.

Luke 15:6 When he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!’

Study Lenses

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

The nearby context moves from verse 3's "He told them this parable..." into verse 5's "When he has found it he carries...", so "sheep" and "hundred" 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 "hundred" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.