Matt 18:12-14	Luke 15:4-10	Thom 107:1-3
12 "What do you think	4 So he told them	1 Jesus said:
about this?	this parable:
		"The Father's empire *
If someone	"Is there any one of you	is like a shepherd
had	who owns	who had
a hundred sheep	a hundred sheep	a hundred sheep.
and one of them	and one of them	2 One of them,
		the largest,
wanders off,	gets lost,	went astray.
won't he leave	who wouldn't leave	He left
the ninety-nine	the ninety-nine	the ninety-nine
in the hills	in the wild
and go look for	and go after	and looked for
the one	the one	the one
that wandered off?	that got lost
	until he finds it?	until he found it.
13 And if	5 And when
he should find it,	he finds it,
he'll rejoice over it	he is happy
more	and hoists it
	on his shoulders.
than the ninety-nine
that didn't wander off.
	6 Once he gets home,
	he invites his friends
	and neighbors over
	and says to them,
	'Celebrate with me,
	because I've found
	my lost sheep.'
		3 After
		he had struggled,
		he said to the sheep,
		'I love you more
14 And so it is	7 I'm telling you,
the intention
of your Father	it'll be just like that
in heaven	in heaven:
that	there'll be
	more celebrating
not one	over one
of these little ones	sinner
be lost."	who has a change of heart
	than	than
	over ninety-nine	the ninety-nine."
	virtuous people
	who have no need
	to change their hearts.
	8 Or again,
	is there any woman
	with ten drachmas,
	who if she loses one,
	wouldn't light a lamp
	and sweep the house
	and search high and low
	until she finds it?
	9 When she finds it,
	she invites her friends
	and neighbors over
	and says,
	'Celebrate with me,
	because I've found
	the drachma I lost.'
	10I'm telling you,
	it's just like that
	among God's messengers:
	they celebrate
	when one sinner
	has a change of heart."

* See cameo essay on the empire of God

Sources

The parable about the lost sheep was preserved by Q and Thomas. Luke follows it with two other parables which focus on finding what was "lost": one about a coin and the other about sons. The last --- popularly known as "the prodigal son" --- was probably not from Q, but the preceding one ("the lost coin") may have been, since Q had two other pairs of parables with common themes: "the burglar" and "the master's return" ( Luke 12:39-46//Matt 24:43-51) and "the mustard seed" and "the leaven" (Luke 13:18-20//Matt 13:31-33). In any event, Luke did not invent the parable of the lost coin any more than the lost sheep, since neither really illustrates the moral about repentance which he appends to them (see Luke 15:7 and 10 above). Neither the sheep nor the coin returns on its own. Both are the focus of a long search. And this focus illustrates Q's previous saying about seeking and finding (Luke 11:9//Matt 7:7).

Versions

Each parable was probably formed separately. But Luke (or Q) tells the pair in similar terms. Matthew's version of the lost sheep differs slightly from Luke's, but also claims that the shepherd was happier with the stray than the rest. Thomas takes this to mean that he always loved the one more and provides a reason: its size.

Attribution

The lost sheep	%	Red	Pink	Grey	Black	WA	Print
Luke 15:4-6 Luke 15:7 Matt 18:12-13 Matt 18:14 Thom 107:1-3		32 0 31 0 11	50 0 45 0 36	14 0 17 0 39	4 99 7 99 14	70 00 67 00 48	pink black pink black grey
The lost coin
Luke 15:8-9 Luke 15:10		45 0	41 0	7 0	7 99	75 00	pink black

More than 80% of the Seminar Fellows were persuaded that Jesus created both parables. Both are compact accounts of everyday situations using exaggeration to make a point. A shepherd who leaves 99 sheep on a mountain or in the wilderness to find one stray is taking a risk that most people would avoid. More people might scour the house to find a missing day's wages. But with nine times that amount still in hand, the description of the woman's urgency and reaction is a bit extreme. Such dramatic overstatement is sign of oral composition found in many genuine Jesus sayings. And like other parables outside Q that are probably genuine --- the prodigal son and the buried treasure, for instance --- it stresses a joyous discovery. Neither parable was rated red, however, because of the signs of editorial revision mentioned above.

Matt 6:24	Luke 16:13	Thom 47:2
		1 Jesus said:...
24 "No one	27 "No servant	2 "And
can be a slave	can be a slave	a slave cannot
to two masters.	to two masters.	serve two masters,
That slave will either	That slave will either	otherwise that slave will
hate one	hate one	honor the one
and love the other,	and love the other,	and offend the other."
or be devoted to one	or be devoted to one
and disdain the other.	and disdain the other.
You can't be enslaved to	You can't be enslaved to
both God	both God
and Mammon."	and Mammon."

Source

The compact three step argument in Matthew and Luke is traceable to Q:

• impossible situation: one person, two bosses;
• problem: divided loyalty;
• challenge: which to obey?

The conclusion confronts an audience ("you") with an option. Thomas omits that conclusion but preserves the rest among a string of secular proverbs. The saying's logic is self-contained. Q may have located it here to prevent  the parable of the lost coin from being interpreted as endorsing a concern for money, which is what mammon means in Aramaic.

Attribution

Serving two masters	%	Red	Pink	Grey	Black	WA	Print
Luke 16:13 Matt 6:24 Thom 47:2		25 25 18	67 67 61	8 8 22	0 0 0	72 72 65	pink pink pink

Almost all the Fellows agreed Jesus said something like this, and those who had doubts granted it at least reflected his outlook. There were no black votes. Most considered Q's version more original. Thomas' proverb is an observation that anyone who took orders from different persons could make. Q's opposition of God and wealth, however, gives that proverb an unconventional twist. The wording shows the author was a Judean sage who opposed the popular view that wealth is a sign of God's favor. His purpose could have been to encourage the poor as much as to challenge the rich. For like Luke 6:20 ("Congratulations, you poor! God's empire belongs to you!") or Mark 10:25 ("It's easier for a camel to squeeze through a needle's eye than for a wealthy person to get into God's empire") this saying's impact all depends on the hearer's economic status.