How do you understand this verse?
"I tell you that in the same way, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance."
Seems to me that you would have to disregard this statement by Jesus as being added to the text by some "Judaizer". Most xtians focus on the lost sheep. What about the 99 who he said were righteous and needed no repentance? Obviously from the text, Jesus realized that there were people who were righteous and did not need to believe in him for their forgiveness.
BTW, this parable also goes along with the Prodigal Son parable later in the same chapter. If you notice, when the older brother gets angry that the younger brother came home and received a party, he tells his father that he was angry because he has never "neglected a command" of the father's. The father's response to him is "you have always been with me, all that is mine is yours". Obviously the older brother=99 sheep.
2006-11-10
04:15:41
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12 answers
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asked by
james.parker
3