10"Take heed that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that in heaven their angels always see the face of My Father who is in heaven. 11For the Son of Man has come to save that which was lost.
12"What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them goes astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine and go to the mountains to seek the one that is straying? 13And if he should find it, assuredly, I say to you, he rejoices more over that sheep than over the ninety-nine that did not go astray. 14Even so it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.
This is another parable which I thought I understood so I hadn't given much more thought to it. But as I look through it today I see another possible explanation. I had thought this is continuing on the subject that you should not lead one of these little ones astray, that their guardian angels watch over them, and if one of these little ones should be lead astray, God will do everything to find him again.
But with this interpretation, why is He saying to not despise them? Because we might be jealous of their close guardianship? Why does Jesus conclude with "Even so", implicating His next words would be the opposite of what was just said, when with this interpretation His next words seem to be reinforcing what he just said.
It just dawned on me today, that maybe the lost sheep Jesus is talking about here, the one that the Son of Man came to save, the one that goes astray and to be sought after by God, is not the little one who is already a full believer in Jesus, but the ones who haven't found their trust in Jesus yet. Maybe Jesus is saying to not despise those with strong faith if you are not one of them, for the Son of Man came to save you. And if He should find you, He will rejoice in you even more than the other ones who stood strong in their faith in Jesus. Even so, even though there would be so much rejoicing for you, and not as much for those who kept their faith, it is not the will of our Father in heaven that even one of them should perish either.