Matthew 18:12 (WEB)

Passage

“What do you think? If a man has one hundred sheep, and one of them goes astray, doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine, go to the mountains, and seek that which has gone astray?

Nearby Context

Matthew 18:10 See that you don’t despise one of these little ones, for I tell you that in heaven their angels always see 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 “What do you think? If a man has one hundred sheep, and one of them goes astray, doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine, go to the mountains, and seek that which has gone astray?

Matthew 18:13 If he finds it, most certainly I tell you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-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", "goes", "doesn", "leave", and "ninety-nine". 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 "If he finds it most certainly I...", 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.