The Lost Sheep (Cont.)
While on his trip to the Holy Land, Martin saw a young Maasai boy dart across the road in front of his car. Alarmed, he realized the young boy was chasing one of his sheep! In fact, Martin noticed that to his left, there was indeed a pack of sheep left waiting while the young boy happily darted off to find the one. Clearly more than a metaphor, this is the actual practice of any shepherd, something Jesus knew by the way he spoke. He was reminding his followers what they already knew about shepherds, not teaching them something new. Sometimes, even when we think we grasp the point behind them, we need concrete in examples in our lives to relate to the Gospels as fully as we'd like.