Matthew 9:12-13

9:12 When ¹  Jesus heard this he said, “Those who are healthy don’t need a physician, but those who are sick do. ²  9:13 Go and learn what this saying means: ‘I want mercy and not sacrifice.’ ³  For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

Matthew 10:6

10:6 Go ⁴  instead to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

Matthew 15:24

15:24 So ⁵  he answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”

Luke 9:56

9:56 and they went on to another village.

Luke 15:24

15:24 because this son of mine was dead, and is alive again – he was lost and is found!’ ⁶  So ⁷  they began to celebrate.

Luke 15:32

15:32 It was appropriate ⁸  to celebrate and be glad, for your brother ⁹  was dead, and is alive; he was lost and is found.’” ¹⁰ 

Luke 19:10

19:10 For the Son of Man came ¹¹  to seek and to save the lost.”

John 3:17

3:17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, ¹²  but that the world should be saved through him.

John 10:10

10:10 The thief comes only to steal and kill ¹³  and destroy; I have come so that they may have life, and may have it abundantly. ¹⁴ 

John 12:47

12:47 If anyone ¹⁵  hears my words and does not obey them, ¹⁶  I do not judge him. For I have not come to judge the world, but to save the world. ¹⁷ 

John 12:1

Jesus’ Anointing

12:1 Then, six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus lived, whom he ¹⁸  had raised from the dead.

John 1:15

1:15 John ¹⁹  testified ²⁰  about him and shouted out, ²¹  “This one was the one about whom I said, ‘He who comes after me is greater than I am, ²²  because he existed before me.’”

¹ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

² sn Jesus’ point is that he associates with those who are sick because they have the need and will respond to the offer of help. A person who is healthy (or who thinks mistakenly that he is) will not seek treatment.

³ sn A quotation from Hos 6:6 (see also Matt 12:7).

⁴ tn Grk “But go.” The Greek μᾶλλον (mallon, “rather, instead”) conveys the adversative nuance here so that δέ (de) has not been translated.

⁵ tn Grk “And answering, he said.” The construction in Greek is somewhat redundant and has been simplified in the translation. Here δέ (de) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of the disciples’ request.

⁶ sn This statement links the parable to the theme of 15:6, 9.

⁷ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the result of the father’s remarks in the preceding verses.

⁸ tn Or “necessary.”

⁹ sn By referring to him as your brother, the father reminded the older brother that the younger brother was part of the family.

¹⁰ sn The theme he was lost and is found is repeated from v. 24. The conclusion is open-ended. The reader is left to ponder with the older son (who pictures the scribes and Pharisees) what the response will be. The parable does not reveal the ultimate response of the older brother. Jesus argued that sinners should be pursued and received back warmly when they returned.

¹¹ sn The Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost is Jesus’ mission succinctly defined. See Luke 15:1-32.

¹² sn That is, “to judge the world to be guilty and liable to punishment.”

¹³ tn That is, “to slaughter” (in reference to animals).

¹⁴ tn That is, more than one would normally expect or anticipate.

¹⁵ tn Grk “And if anyone”; the conjunction καί (kai, “and”) has been left untranslated here for improved English style.

¹⁶ tn Or “guard them,” “keep them.”

¹⁷ sn Cf. John 3:17.

¹⁸ tn Grk “whom Jesus,” but a repetition of the proper name (Jesus) here would be redundant in the English clause structure, so the pronoun (“he”) is substituted in the translation.

¹⁹ sn John refers to John the Baptist.

²⁰ tn Or “bore witness.”

²¹ tn Grk “and shouted out saying.” The participle λέγων (legwn) is redundant is English and has not been translated.

²² tn Or “has a higher rank than I.”