Matthew 18:11-14

11 For 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?

13 And 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.

14 Even so it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.

Verse 11 isn’t in many manuscripts in this passage, but it does appear in Luke 19:10.

Ironside has a take on verse 14 that is interesting. I’m not sure how I feel about it.

Verse 14 gives the assurance that all children dying [before] coming to years of accountability are forever saved through the work of Christ. It is not the Father’s will that any of them perish; and inasmuch as their wills are not set against the will of God we may be certain they are with Christ in the Father’s house. — Ironside, page 225.

I do think that this passage must be understood in the context of the kingdom and what would (and will) occur between this teaching by the Lord and the beginning of the kingdom — the tribulation.

Christ went on to show the twelve that He rejoiced over and loved the one who came to faith in Himself. He used the figure of a man who had a hundred sheep, one of which was lost (vs. 12-14). He searched until he found the sheep that had strayed. When he found it, he rejoiced over it. Christ’s heart was satisfied through the faith that this man had placed in His person … Christ searched for what was lost because “your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should be lost” (v.13). If the twelve shared the heart of Christ, they would have love for those who came to Him. — Pentecost, page 267.

I realize my notes are sketchy on this chapter. I’m still working though it. I trust that further study will shed more light.