Mt 18:12-1
[Jesus said to his disciples,] 12“What is your opinion? If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them goes astray, will he not leave the ninety-nine in the hills and go in search of the astray? 13And if he finds it, amen, I say to you, he rejoices more over it than over the ninety-nine that did not stray. 14In just the same way, it is not the will of your heavenly Father that one of these little ones be lost.”
THE WILL OF THE HEAVENLY FATHER: The “will” (Greek thelema) of God is his design for human beings. The people of Israel boast of the privilege of knowing the will of God because of the divine revelation contained in Scriptures, especially the Torah. Moses reminds the people that there is no great nation that has gods so close to it as the Lord is to Israel, nor anyone that has statutes and decrees that are as just as the ones God gives to Israel (Dt 4:7-8).
In a culture which dwells on honor and shame, Jesus gains honor for teaching the will of God with authority. For Matthew, he is greater than any other prophet, and even Moses, because he is God’s Son. The author of the Letter to the Hebrews puts it so succinctly: “In times past, God spoke in partial and various ways to our ancestors through the prophets; in these last days, he spoke to us through a son” (1:1-2). No one can be more authoritative than Jesus in revealing the Father’s will.
In the Gospel, Jesus reveals the will of God in the negative: it is not the will of the heavenly Father that the little ones be lost. The formulation takes the gravity of a commandment. Cultures give premium to the powerful, the wise, the wealthy. But in a community where the will of God reigns, the “little ones”—people who have no claim to power and influence—are not to be belittled or abandoned. They do not just enjoy God’s protection; it is God’s gracious will to reveal to the little ones the mysteries of the kingdom which, however, he keeps hidden from the wise and the learned (Mt 11:25-26). If the will of God is to be done on earth as it is in heaven, the community of believers should take care that not even an insignificant member go astray or get lost.