Daily Bible Reading 2nd November 2026 // Luke 15:1-10
1 Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear him. 2 And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.”
3 So he told them this parable: 4 “What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open country, and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it? 5 And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. 6 And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbours, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.’ 7 Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.
8 “Or what woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and seek diligently until she finds it? 9 And when she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbours, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost.’ 10 Just so, I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”
There are, in fact, two kinds of sinners portrayed in this chapter, represented by the Pharisees and the publicans respectively. Jesus did not receive the former, because they did not come (to hear Him), and they did not know they were sinners. This sums up something of decisive importance: you need to know, and you need to come! In fact, there is a good deal of misunderstanding about the meaning of sin. 'A great deal too much attention has been given to sins, as compared with sin. And so if it happens that I cannot think of any particular wrong thing that I have done, or any particular good thing I might have done and neglected, then still I must ask God to be merciful to me a sinner, for I share the common sin of mankind, and make myself in a host of ways the centre of the world - I think like a man and not like God' (Temple). This is emphasised in two of the parables - the coin was lost in the house, not in the wilderness; and the prodigal was a prodigal before ever he left home!
The picture given of sin in the story of the lost sheep stresses its pathetic and tragic aspect and calls forth the compassion and pity of our hearts for the weakness and waywardness of the human heart. A lost sheep, bleating in distress is a pathetic sight, conscious that something is wrong, but not knowing how serious the position is. It does not know where it is and cannot find the way back. The contemporary Russian writer Solzhenitsyn makes one of his characters cry out, 'History is a farce from beginning to end. It's not even a matter of truth or error. There are no signposts to anywhere, and there's nowhere to go'. Surely this is the 'lost sheep' aspect of human sin!