This week our parable number 30 is about the Lost Coin, which was told right after last weeks parable about the Lost Sheep. This is a second of three parables about being lost and how a loving Father waits for the sinner to come home and be saved. Jesus is about to give another perspective, hoping his hearers would get the idea. This week’s parable, The Lost Coin, is found in Luke 15:8 – 10.
8 “Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Doesn’t she light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? 9 And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.’ 10 In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”
A woman had saved her small wages and amassed ten silver coins, her wages for ten days. Tragedy struck. She lost one coin. Now she faced the same dilemma as the shepherd: “Do I spend time and energy on the one when I still have nine?” Of course she does! She instigates spring housecleaning far out of season. She sets out the brightest lamp she can find, lights it, takes her broom, and sweeps the floor. She watches carefully to discover everything the broom reaches. Finally, there in front of her lies the coin. She reaches down, snatches it up, calls her friends and neighbors: party time. Rejoice! I found it!
Why did this woman place such value on this coin and why would she look so hard for it? First of all, the woman was not a widow (or a different word would have been used) and this was not money for household expenses as a woman would not have been entrusted with that in those days. In the Near East, women received ten silver coins as a wedding gift as a provision in the case of future need, especially for the death of her husband. So besides their monetary value, such coins had sentimental value like that of a wedding ring, and to lose one would be extremely distressing.
The lost coin was probably either a Greek drachma or Roman denarius, each worth about an average day’s wages (Matthew 20:2). Smaller Near Eastern houses frequently had no windows and only earthen floors, making the search for a single coin difficult. The coin itself was small—about the size of an American dime— and probably tarnished, so would be very hard to find.
Like finding a valuable and sentimental coin, so do the angels of God rejoice over a repentant sinner. Each individual is precious to God. He grieves over every loss and rejoices whenever one of his children is found and brought back into the kingdom.
Jesus repeated the message of verse 7 of last week’s parable. A repentant sinner brings celebration and joy to heaven. The question lingers: Does it bring the same joy and celebration to you? Do you share God’s feelings of love and pity and care for sinners. Is your heart so heavy for them that their repentance—their being found for the kingdom—swells your heart with joy? Hopefully, this week the results of your witness will flood heaven with joy.