What was the difference between the believing Jewish remnant and the majority of religious Jews?
The believing Jewish remnant recognized their lost condition and their need for the true Shepherd, believing He was the Christ. The majority of religious Jews—the Pharisees, Sadducees, and most Jews—were self-righteous and self-content, unaware they were desperately lost, and continued on without a shepherd.
Les teaches that the ninety and nine picture the Pharisees, the Sadducees, and the majority of Jews. They were without a shepherd, but they did not know it because they were self-righteous and self-content. They were like sheep in the wilderness going from clump to clump, thinking they were all right, but they were desperately lost. The one sheep pictures the small remnant of Jews who followed the Lord and became believers that He was the Christ. That remnant realized they needed the true Shepherd and let it be known. The vast majority of Pharisees and religious Jews went on their merry way, not knowing they were lost.