Luke 15:4 (WEB)
“Which of you men, if you had one hundred sheep and lost one of them, wouldn’t leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the one that was lost, until he found it?
Fathers and councils · 35
Irenaeus of Lyons
“Moreover, that Achamoth wandered beyond the Pleroma, and received form from Christ, and was sought after by the Saviour, they declare that He indicated when He said, that He had come after that sheep which was gone astray.” — editor's note: Luke xv. 4, 8.
Read the whole comment“Blending in one the production of their own Æons, and the straying and recovery of the sheep [spoken of in the Gospel], these persons endeavour to set forth things in a more mystical style, while they refer everything to numbers, maintaining that the universe has been formed out of a Monad and a Dyad.” — editor's note: Luke xv. 4.
Read the whole comment“All therefore speak falsely who disallow his (Adam’s) salvation, shutting themselves out from life for ever, in that they do not believe that the sheep which had perished has been found.” — editor's note: Luke xv. 4.
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Cyril of Jerusalem
“They are the ninety and nine sheep, but mankind is the single one.” — editor's note: Matt. xviii. 12; Luke xv. 4. Ambrose, Expos. in Luc. VII. 210: “Rich is that shepherd of whose flock we are but the one hundredth part. Of Angels and…
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Augustine of Hippo
“…on the Shepherd’s shoulders, while the angels rejoice, and the drachma is restored to Thy treasury, the neighhours rejoicing with the woman who found it; and the joy of the solemn service of Thy house constraineth to tears, when in Thy house it is read of Thy younger son that he “was dead, and is alive again,…” — editor's note: Luke xv. 4–10.
Read the whole comment“May we from the Lord’s saying that He had left ninety and nine sheep in the mountains, that is, in the higher regions, and had come down for one?” — editor's note: Matt. xviii. 12; Luke xv. 4.
Read the whole comment“Not yet did that sheep seek the Shepherd, it had strayed from the flock, and He went down to it; He sought it, and carried it back upon His shoulders.” — editor's note: Luke xv. 4.
Read the whole comment“He left the ninety and nine, and descended to seek the one, He bringeth it back on His own shoulders ransomed by His own blood.” — editor's note: Luke xv. 4, 5.
Read the whole comment“One sheep had strayed; He found it, He brought it back on His shoulders rejoicing.” — editor's note: Luke xv. 4, 5.
Read the whole comment“And when she had found it, “Rejoice with me,” she said to her neighbors, “for I have found the piece of money which I lost.”” — editor's note: Luke xv. 4–10.
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Jerome
“Unless the good Shepherd shall place me on his shoulders and carry me back to the fold, my steps will totter, and in the very effort of rising I shall find my feet give way.” — editor's note: Luke xv. 3–5.
Read the whole comment““The good Shepherd”—they are the Lord’s own words—“layeth down his life for the sheep.”” — editor's note: Joh. x. 11, R.V.; Luke xv. 4, 5.
Read the whole comment“So also the ninety and nine sheep are left in the wilderness, while the shepherd carries home on his shoulders the one sheep which has gone astray.” — editor's note: Luke xv. 4, 5.
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Tertullian
“You shall have leave to begin with the parables, where you have the lost ewe re-sought by the Lord, and carried back on His shoulders.” — editor's note: Luke xv. 3–7.
Read the whole comment“The shepherd’s patience seeks and finds the straying ewe: for Impatience would easily despise one ewe; but Patience undertakes the labour of the quest, and the patient burden-bearer carries home on his shoulders the forsaken sinner.” — editor's note: Luke xv. 3–6.
Read the whole comment“There strays, withal, one little ewe of the shepherd’s; but the flock was not more dear than the one: that one is earnestly sought; the one is longed for instead of all; and at length she is found, and is borne back on the shoulders of the shepherd himself; for much had she toiled in straying.” — editor's note: Luke xv. 3–7.
Read the whole comment“Who sought after the lost sheep and the lost piece of silver?” — editor's note: Luke xv. 1–10.
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Gregory of Nazianzus
“…came to seek for that which had strayed upon the mountains and the hills, on which thou wast then sacrificing, and found the wanderer; and having found it, took it upon His shoulders—on which He also took the Wood of the Cross; and having taken it, brought it back to the higher life; and having carried it back,…” — editor's note: Luke xv. 4, sq.
Read the whole comment“That He lit a candle, His own flesh, and swept the house, by cleansing away the sin of the world, and sought for the coin, the Royal Image that was all covered up with passions, and…” — editor's note: Luke xv. 4, 5.
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Hippolytus of Rome
“And for this reason (they maintain) that when an error had arisen respecting the twelfth number, the sheep skipped from the flock and wandered away; for that the apostasy took place, they say, in like manner from the decade.” — editor's note: Luke xv. 4–10.
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Catena Aurea on Luke
- Ambrose of MilanCatena Aurea on Luke
Thou hadst learnt by what went before not to be occupied by the business of this world, not to prefer transitory things to eternal. But because the frailty of man can not keep a firm step in so slippery a world, the…
Read the whole comment - Glossa OrdinariaCatena Aurea on Luke
That is, those who collect or farm the public taxes, and who make a business of following after worldly gain.
Read the whole comment - Theophylact of OhridCatena Aurea on Luke
For this was His wont, for the sake whereof He had taken upon Him the flesh, to receive sinners as the physician those that are sick. But the Pharisees, the really guilty, returned murmurs for this act of mercy, as…
Read the whole comment - Gregory the GreatCatena Aurea on Luke
From which we may gather, that true justice feels compassion, false justice scorn, although the just are wont rightly to repel sinners. But there is one act proceeding from the swelling of pride, another from the…
Read the whole comment - Cyril of AlexandriaCatena Aurea on Luke
We may hence understand the extent of our Saviour’s kingdom. For He says there are a hundred sheep, bringing to a perfect sum the number of rational creatures subject to Him. For the number hundred is perfect, being…
Read the whole comment - Ambrose of MilanCatena Aurea on Luke
Rich then is that Shepherd of whom we all are a hundredth part; and hence it follows, And if he lose one of them, does he not leave &c.
Read the whole comment - Gregory the GreatCatena Aurea on Luke
One sheep then perished when man by sinning left the pastures of life. But in the wilderness the ninety and nine remained, because the number of the rational creatures, that is to say of Angels and men who were…
Read the whole comment - Cyril of AlexandriaCatena Aurea on Luke
But was He then angry with the rest, and moved by kindness only to one? By no means. For they are in safety, the right hand of the Most Mighty being their defence. It behoved Him rather to pity the perishing, that…
Read the whole comment - Augustine of HippoCatena Aurea on Luke
Or He spoke of those ninety and nine whom He left in the wilderness, signifying the proud, who bear solitude as it were in their mind, in that they wish to appear themselves alone, to whom unity is wanting for…
Read the whole comment - Gregory of NyssaCatena Aurea on Luke
But when the shepherd had found the sheep, he did not punish it, he did not get it to the flock by driving it, but by placing it upon his shoulder, and carrying it gently, he united it to his flock. Hence it follows,…
Read the whole comment - Gregory the GreatCatena Aurea on Luke
He placed the sheep upon his shoulders, for taking man’s nature upon Him he bore our sins. But having found the sheep, he returns home; for our Shepherd having restored man, returns to his heavenly kingdom. And hence…
Read the whole comment - Theophylact of OhridCatena Aurea on Luke
The heavenly powers thus are called sheep, because every created nature as compared with God is as the beasts, but inasmuch as it is rational, they are called friends and neighbours.
Read the whole comment - Gregory the GreatCatena Aurea on Luke
And we must observe that He says not, “Rejoice with the sheep that is found,” but with me, because truly our life is His joy, and when we are brought home to heaven we fill up the festivity of His joy.
Read the whole comment - Ambrose of MilanCatena Aurea on Luke
Now the angels, inasmuch as they are intelligent beings, do not unreasonably rejoice at the redemption of men, as it follows, I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more…
Read the whole comment - Gregory the GreatCatena Aurea on Luke
But he allows there is more joy in heaven over the converted sinner, than over the just who remain stedfast; for the latter for the most part, not feeling themselves oppressed by the weight of their sins, stand…
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Cross-references · 6
Cited together in Against Heresies I.16.
Cited together in Gregory the Great on Luke 15:1–7 (3) (Catena Aurea).
Cited together in Against Heresies I.16.
Cited together in Against Heresies I.16.
Cited together in Against Heresies I.16.
Cited together in Against Heresies I.16.