View source for THE PATHOS OF DIVINE LOVE

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<p>"Suppose one of you has a <em>hundred </em>sheep—and loses <em>one </em>of them. Does he not leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after<em> the lost sheep </em>until he finds it?" Luke 15:4<br><br>
Nothing is more wonderful in the Good Shepherd, than His care for His lost sheep. It might be worth while, we would say, for Him to care for a whole flock that wanders away and is lost—a <em>flock </em>is valuable. But it is the loss of only <em>one </em>sheep—which makes its appeal to the heart of the Good Shepherd. Does He really miss <em>one </em>among so many? Does Christ really care when somewhere on the earth, one of His sheep is wandering in the dark ways of sin? Did any mother ever have so many<br><br>
children that if one of them wandered from home—she would not miss it? It would not be love in the Good Shepherd, if He did not miss the one that strayed from His fold.<br><br>
The seeking of the sheep by the shepherd—is a wonderful illustration of the <em>divine love</em>. He leaves the ninety-nine that are safe—and goes away in search of the one poor, silly sheep which has left the shelter of the fold. The story suggests pain and discomfort, danger and suffering, as the shepherd goes to the desert and treads on over rough ways, up steep mountains, through dark gorges—looking for His lost sheep. His <em>heart </em>is in His quest. He does not <em>weary </em>in it.<br><br>
But none of the ransomed ever knew <br>
  How deep were the waters crossed; <br>
  Nor how dark was the night that the Lord passed through, <br>
  Before He found His sheep that was lost!<br><br>
"Lord, whence are those blood-drops all the way,<br>
  That mark out the mountain's track?"<br>
  "They were shed for one who had gone astray<br>
  Before the Shepherd could bring him back!"<br><br>
All this is wonderfully heart-moving, as the story of an oriental shepherd seeking his straying sheep. But that is not all that is in the story. The Master would not have recited the beautiful story merely to tell the people about a <em>common </em>shepherd. It would not have been put into the Gospels among heavenly revealing, if that were all. Christ Himself is the Good Shepherd, and what He tells us in His parable is how He seeks His lost sheep! Not one ever strays away from Him—and is allowed to go on unmissed, unsought. No one on the <em>earth </em>may care, and no one may seek to bring back and save the imperilled one. But always Christ <em>cares</em>and <em>seeks</em>—until He <em>finds</em>!
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