The Parable of the Lost Coin Luke 15:8-10
“Or what woman who has ten silver coins and loses one of them does not light a lamp, sweep her house, and search carefully until she finds it? And when she finds it, she calls together her friends and neighbors to say, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my lost coin.’ In the same way, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of God’s angels over one sinner who repents.”
Jesus has just eaten a meal with a bunch of tax collectors and “sinners.” Who are these “sinners?” Well, some of them might be local merchants who sell catfish and pork to Greeks and Romans. After all, both these items would be considered unclean. Perhaps some of them deal in things the Jews consider as unclean but the Gentiles consider necessary. Perhaps one of the sinners owns a local brothel. At any rate, as Jesus comes out from lunch, the scribes and Pharisees are waiting outside the gate of the house, ready to pounce on him and criticize. After all, THEY KNOW what God really demands of people.
As these supercilious individuals stand there fixing Jesus and his companions with icy stares, Jesus begins telling stories to explain just how much his Heavenly Father longs to see sinners repent. Jesus leads off with the story of the lost sheep, causing a few of his critics to become bemused; perhaps they haven’t been as correct as they have thought. Now Jesus is following up with this story.
In a day when electric lighting illuminates every space, it’s difficult to realize just what people in earlier ages dealt with. Abraham Lincoln is said to have read books by lying close to a fireplace so he could read by the light of the fire. In Charleston, South Carolina, many of the fine old houses have mirrors to reflect the light of candles or lamps, spreading it around the room. When we first came to our little village 31 years ago, everyone depended on kerosene lamps. Battery-operated lamps were a startling innovation. I have delivered a number of babies by kerosene lamp and I have sewn up lacerations holding a small torch (flashlight) in my mouth. When my husband rigged two twelve-volt lights on hospital bed stands, we thought we were in heaven.
Lighting in Jesus’ day consists of small clay lamps with wicks that burn olive oil. Even if you put one of these lamps on a lampstand, there will still be dark corners. According to Biblecourses.com, that silver coin is a drachma worth approximately $100 in today’s currency. (The Value of a Soul #17 The Lost Coin-Biblecourses.com http://www.biblecourses.com › material › value17)
For a poor village lady, losing such a coin represents financial disaster. Of course, this lady will go over every inch of her house, looking in all the cracks and crevices, even running her fingernails through those cracks, until she finds that coin and then calls her friends to rejoice with her. That woman’s joy and relief will be palpable, for that coin represents one-tenth of her life savings.
As Jesus is telling this story, you can see heads nodding throughout the crowd. Many of those listening have had similar experiences, losing small items and then sweeping and searching until they have found them. But what’s this? Jesus is saying that heaven rejoices over sinners who repent just as much as village people rejoice over finding something precious that has been lost. Jesus’ listeners know they are sinners. Can it be true that God really cares about sinners that much? Most of these people have spent years feeling inferior to the scribes and Pharisees, the “professional religious men.” Does the Lord God, Ruler of the Universe really care about little people to that degree? What an amazing idea!
We really don’t understand how precious we are to God. God loves us in spite of our sins but He also loves us too much to leave us in our sins. When we repent, heaven rejoices. Let’s pray.
PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and for caring for us. Lord, we know that we are sinners and that nothing we can do will make up for our sins. Thank You for sending Jesus to die for our sins. We trust in Jesus and in what he has done for us. Help us to follow hard after You all the days of our lives. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.
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