Where Are You? - A Reflection on Matthew 18:1-5,10-14


At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” He called a child, whom he put among them, and said, “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever becomes humble like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me.

“Take care that you do not despise one of these little ones; for, I tell you, in heaven their angels continually see the face of my Father in heaven. What do you think? If a shepherd has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray? And if he finds it, truly I tell you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that never went astray. So it is not the will of your Father in heaven that one of these little ones should be lost.

There is an extraordinary truth contained in today’s passage that we often miss. It is that God searches for us. We often believe that we have to go looking for God, and while this is undoubtedly true, it should give us a sense of immense encouragement that God is also looking for us. And were it not for this fact, many of us who are looking for him might be permanently lost. Consider the sheep that got lost in today’s story. For whatever reason he wandered away from the flock and couldn’t find his way back home, but the shepherd went looking for him. And found him!

This has been the truth about God from the beginning of time. After Adam and Eve disobeyed God by eating the forbidden fruit, Scripture says “they heard the sound of God walking in the garden at the time of the evening breeze, and hid themselves from his presence among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to the man, and said to him, “Where are you?” (see Genesis 3:8-9). God went after Adam, seeking him out. And, since then, it has always been God in search of us, asking the same question: “Where are you?”

Speaking for God, the prophet Ezekiel said: “I myself will search for my sheep and look after them” (Ezekiel 34:11). This is a truth that Jesus confirmed time and time again. One instance, of course, is this parable of the lost sheep that we just looked at. He did this in the two parables that follow it as well: one, of a woman combing through her entire house searching for a lost coin (Luke 15:8-10), and the other of a father continuously scanning the horizon for the return of his lost son (Luke 15:20).

Jesus said that “the reason he came to earth was to SEEK out and to save the lost” (Luke 19:10). That is all of us. Like the prophet Isaiah said, “We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way” (Isaiah 53:6). Many of these lost sheep include those whom we love. I hope that knowing that God loves us so much, he seeks us out even before we try to find him, will give us the comfort and hope that we need that those we love will be saved. And if we are among the lost, God is calling out to us today, asking, “Where are you?”

Let us not hide from his sight, but respond: “Here I am, Lord.” 

Watch a video of this reflection by Aneel Aranha here: https://youtu.be/Jupe5yHpAbc

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Let’s Get Healed - A Reflection on Matthew 18:21-19:1

Image
  Then Peter came and said to him, “Lord, if another member of the church sins against me, how often should I forgive? As many as seven times?” Jesus said to him, “Not seven times, but, I tell you, seventy-seven times. “For this reason the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his slaves. When he began the reckoning, one who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him; and, as he could not pay, his lord ordered him to be sold, together with his wife and children and all his possessions, and payment to be made. So the slave fell on his knees before him, saying, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.’ And out of pity for him, the lord of that slave released him and forgave him the debt. But that same slave, as he went out, came upon one of his fellow slaves who owed him a hundred denarii; and seizing him by the throat, he said, ‘Pay what you owe.’ Then his fellow slave fell down and pleaded with him, ‘Have patience with me...
Read more

Patience - A Reflection on Luke 2:33-35.

Image
  And the child’s father and mother were amazed at what was being said about him. Then Simeon blessed them and said to his mother Mary, “This child is destined for the falling and the rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be opposed so that the inner thoughts of many will be revealed—and a sword will pierce your own soul too.”   This is probably the shortest passage that we have reflected upon this year. In it, we find a man named Simeon making a prophecy about three things. One, about Jesus. Two, about the people of Israel. And three, about the pain that Jesus’ mother Mary would go through. We have seen all his prophecies came true. But who is Simeon? And what can we learn from him? Ok. On the 40th day of his birth, Jesus is taken by Mary and Joseph to the temple to be officially inducted into the Jewish faith. When they were there, a man named Simeon came in to see them.   He is described as “righteous and devout, looking forward to the consolation of Isr...
Read more

Dying and Killing

  The Jews took up stones again to stone him. Jesus replied, “I have shown you many good works from the Father. For which of these are you going to stone me?” The Jews answered, “It is not for a good work that we are going to stone you, but for blasphemy, because you, though only a human being, are making yourself God.” Jesus answered, “Is it not written in your law, ‘I said, you are gods’? If those to whom the word of God came were called ‘gods’—and the scripture cannot be annulled— can you say that the one whom the Father has sanctified and sent into the world is blaspheming because I said, ‘I am God’s Son’? If I am not doing the works of my Father, then do not believe me. But if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, so that you may know and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father.” Then they tried to arrest him again, but he escaped from their hands. He went away again across the Jordan to the place where John had been baptizing earl...
Read more