ACC ~ Matthew 18 v14

TO MAKE THE FLOCK COMPLETE

APOLLINARIS: The sheep that became lost is the sinner lost from the flock of a hundred. This could refer to the number of the heavenly powers. [1] These powers are capable of speech and reasoning. The one sheep is counted as being among the flock, a part of a great number, as if among “a hundred sheep.” His wandering is the consequence of Adam’s fall. He is searched for. He is of like nature to those who stay at God’s side. He is necessary for their full complement, so that the shepherd may not be deficient and wanting. The summing up of what Paul calls “the whole in Christ” [2] involves the regaining of the deficient part, since the composition of the whole in Christ is not complete because of the deficient and absent one. FRAGMENT 89. [3]

[1] In biblical typology, the number one hundred often symbolizes a completed cycle or a perfected number. Since the powers that comprise the heavenly hosts are such a completed cycle, they are symbolized by one hundred.

[2] Cf. 1 Cor 12:12-31.

[3] MKGK 28.