John Calvin Commentary 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 18:12 (ASV)

What do you think? Luke traces the occasion of this parable further back, as having arisen from the murmurings of the Pharisees and scribes against our Lord, whom they saw conversing daily with sinners. Christ therefore intended to show that a good teacher ought not to labor less to recover those who are lost than to preserve those who are in his possession.

According to Matthew, however, the comparison proceeds further. It teaches us not only that we ought to treat Christ's disciples with kindness, but also that we ought to bear with their imperfections and endeavor, when they wander, to bring them back to the path.

For, though they may sometimes wander, yet as they are sheep over whom God has appointed his Son to be shepherd, we are so far from having a right to chase or roughly drive them away that we ought to gather them from their wanderings. Indeed, the object of the discourse is to lead us to beware of losing what God wishes to be saved.

Luke's narrative presents us with a somewhat different object: that the whole human race belongs to God. Therefore, we ought to gather those who have gone astray and rejoice as much when those who are lost return to the path of duty as a man would who, beyond his expectation, recovered something whose loss had grieved him.