September 18

Brought Home

And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders, — Luke 15:5 BSB

The Shepherd doesn’t drive the lost sheep back to the fold. That’s not how the gentle Eastern shepherd works. Instead, he stoops down, lifts the sheep up, and carries it home on his shoulders. This little detail in the story reveals so much about Christ’s care for us. Let’s make sure we understand it fully.

We know that Christ bore our sins on the cross. We know we can cast our burdens on Him. But here we learn something even more personal—Christ doesn’t just carry our sins or our burdens, He carries us. The shepherd didn’t just take the sheep’s burden; he picked up the sheep itself and carried it.

I am the Burden-bearer;
I will never pass the burdened by.
My feet tread mountains steep and high,
Through valleys dark and dangers nigh.
I walk the paths of pain and loss,
I bear the sorrow and the cross.
Wherever a load must be carried,
My shoulders are always there.

And Christ does this with rejoicing. Can it be true? Does Christ care so much about any one of us that He rejoices when He finds us and carries us back home? The thought is overwhelming. We understand a shepherd’s joy when he finds his lost sheep. We understand a mother’s joy when her missing child is returned. But that the heart of Jesus rejoices when He finds us seems too wonderful to be true. Yet it is. Zephaniah tells us: “The Lord your God is with you, the Mighty Warrior who saves. He will take great delight in you; in His love He will no longer rebuke you, but will rejoice over you with singing.” How deeply Christ loves us!