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Luke 15:8–10
“What woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and seek diligently until she finds it?” (v. 8).
Jesus’ dining with “tax collectors and sinners” sparked the ire of many of the first-century Jewish religious leaders (e.g., see Luke 5:29–32). Believing that God’s grace was limited to only certain people, they grumbled when they saw our Lord extending divine forgiveness to repentant people who were notorious for their sin (15:1–2). On one occasion when the scribes and Pharisees objected to our Savior’s practice, Jesus told the parable of the lost sheep, which teaches that God the Great Shepherd values lost sheep—sinners—so much that He seeks them out and finds them, celebrating when they are recovered (vv. 3–7). The parable includes the image of the shepherd carrying the rescued sheep on his shoulders. Matthew Henry finds significance in this image, commenting that the Lord “is said to bear [His rescued sheep] upon his shoulders, denoting the power wherewith he supports and bears them up; those can never perish whom he carries upon his shoulders.”
Jesus did not stop with the parable of the lost sheep but went on to give another parable about God’s concern for the lost: the parable of the lost coin. In this parable, a woman who loses one silver coin sweeps her home until she finds it (v. 8). The coin was a drachma, equivalent to one day’s worth of wages. Thus, the sum of money lost was relatively modest. The woman, however, is not content to do without that small amount of currency but searches until she finds it. As in the parable of the lost sheep, the searcher represents the Lord and the missing object the lost sinner. God puts such a value on lost sinners that He searches for them to save them even though He does not need them, just as the woman would not necessarily need the one coin. Furthermore, the thoroughness of the woman’s search shows us that the Lord will go to great effort to find lost sinners. In the illustration, the woman sweeps the entire house clean, not resting until she has searched every nook and cranny for the lost coin. Our Creator goes to great lengths to find and redeem sinners who have gone astray; He does not give up until His saving purposes for an individual are accomplished. He does not tire until He has searched everywhere for His people.
When the woman finds a coin, she calls her neighbors to celebrate with her. Similarly, the angels in heaven erupt into great joy when a sinner is saved and brought into God’s family (vv. 9–10). The Lord rejoices each time a lost person is recovered.
Coram Deo Living before the face of God
Ambrose of Milan, whose preaching was instrumental in the conversion of Augustine, applies the parable of the lost coin to us: “Be a source of joy to the angels. May they rejoice in your return.” In other words, let us give heaven an excuse to have a celebration by turning from our sin. When we repent, there is great joy in heaven.
for further study
- Psalm 139:7–10
- Isaiah 49:1–7
- Luke 19:10
- Jude 22–23
the bible in a year
- Psalms 70–72
- Romans 4