Bible story for kids · Luke 15
The lost sheep
Many people who had done wrong things came to listen to Jesus. Some religious leaders grumbled about it. “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.”
So Jesus told them a story.
“Imagine a shepherd who has one hundred sheep. One day he counts them, and one is missing.”
“What does he do? He leaves the ninety-nine and goes looking for the one that is lost. He keeps looking until he finds it.”
“When he finds it, he is so happy. He puts the sheep on his shoulders and carries it home.”
“Then he calls his friends and neighbors. ‘Be happy with me,’ he says. ‘I found my lost sheep.’”
Jesus said, “In the same way, there is more joy in heaven over one person who turns back to God than over ninety-nine who do not need to.”
From the Bible
Then he goes home, calls in his friends and neighbors, and says to them, ‘Share my joy, for I have found my sheep, the one that was lost!’
Talk about it
- Why would the shepherd go looking for just one sheep when he still had ninety-nine?
- Who is the shepherd in this story? Who are the sheep?
- How does it feel to know God comes looking for you?
For grown-ups: what the text says
This is a parable, a story Jesus told, not an event. Luke 15 tells three in a row: the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the lost son. Read the chapter’s first two verses with a child: Jesus told these stories to people who complained that he welcomed sinners. Psalm 23 and John 10:11 show God and Jesus as the good shepherd.