“THE PARABLE OF THE LOST COIN”
“THE PARABLE OF THE LOST COIN” (Luke 15:8-10)
“Or 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? And when she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost.’ Just so, I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”
Jesus told three parables/stories here in Luke 15
1) “The Lost Sheep” – Luke 15:3-7
2) “The Lost Coin” – Luke 15:8-10
3) “The Prodigal Son” – Luke 15:11-32
All three parables have the same central theme: “The Father’s yearning love for the lost,” and, what our ATTITUDE should be toward the lost.
For time sake tonight, we’re going to concentrate on the parable of “The Lost Coin”
Let first look at a little background information about the person in the story and their life situation:
- The Silver coin here in the story was similar in value to the Roman Denarius, which was equivalent to a day’s wage. [A denarius (or “penny”) was what an agricultural worker typically was paid for one day’s labor (Matthew 20:2). If we take into consideration the U.S. minimum wage for 10 hours of work, a Denarius would be about $72.50.]
- The poor class normally lived in homes with dirt floors and a couple of windows. Thus trying to find a coin in these conditions were at times, impossible.
What Does Jesus want us to know about this Story?
Any woman with 10 Silver coins, if she loses one:
- Will first light a lamp, then, sweep the house, until she diligently finds the coin.
- When she finds it, will be so overwhelmed, that she will immediately call her friends and neighbors to come over and celebrate with her.
- In a similar fashion, we’re told in the story that there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over ONE SINNER who REPENTS!
Okkkk … so a poor woman loses a coin, big deal … what does the parable mean – Jesus?
This parable reinforces the main point in the other two parables ( The Lost Sheep and The Prodigal Son), that there will be “more joy in heaven” over one sinner who repents – and in the story of The Lost Coin, here in Luke 15: 8-10, the expression of MORE JOY is in the “presence of the angels of God.”
[Note: Isn’t this ironic that the ‘Angels’ rejoice over a lost soul coming to Christ, when we’re told in Scripture that there awaits everlasting punishment for the Angels that left their first estate.]
But we see in 1Peter 1:10-12; Hebrews 1:13-14; Matthew 18:10 that Angelic beings take a deep interest in our salvation.
1Peter 1:10-12 “Of this salvation the prophets have inquired and searched carefully, who prophesied of the grace that would come to you, searching what, or what manner of time, the Spirit of Christ who was in them was indicating when He testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow. To them it was revealed that, not to themselves, but to us they were ministering the things which now have been reported to you through those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven—things which angels desire to look into.”
Hebrews 1:13-14 “But to which of the angels has He ever said: “Sit at My right hand, Till I make Your enemies Your footstool”? Are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister for those who will inherit salvation?”
Matthews 18:10 “Take heed that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that in heaven their angels always see the face of My Father who is in heaven.”
Now that we see the reaction of Angels concerning the Lost: what should our ATTITUDE be?
It is said that there are at least four different attitudes a person can display toward the lost:
- HATE (self-righteous) like the parable of the Pharisee and the Publican (better known as the Pharisee and the Tax Collector) in Luke 18:9-14: the self-righteous Pharisee, “I’m not like this Tax Collector.”
- INSENSITIVE (a lack of concern – giving them the brush off) Some Christians are like that.
- We can extend an Olive Branch of LOVE to them when they come to us. (The Pharisees accused Jesus of this when sinners sought Him out.)
- We can SEEK THEM OUT
According to Luke 19:10, “For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.” From this passage alone, Jesus shows us that numbers 3 and 4 (above), should be the approach for every Believer, when it comes to the reaching out to the Lost. We shouldn’t be skeptical (“I wonder if they really repented”), and we shouldn’t be judgmental? (“Shame on them for sinning in the first place!”) We should be FULL of JOY (“That’s Awesome! Glory be to God!”)
In our CONCLUSION: What do we take away from this Parable of The Lost Coin?
In our CONCLUSION: What do we take away from this Parable of The Lost Coin?
a. God not only OPENS His loving arms to sinners, but, He goes out of His way to save them!
b. God rejoices when sinners repent
c. As Christians, it’s very important that we’ve display the attitudes of our heavenly Father toward the lost, because the Word of God encourages us to do so, according to Ephesians 5:1-2, “Therefore be imitators of God as dear children. And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma.”
d. And lastly, Jesus felt that it was important enough for Him to use almost an entire chapter of the Gospel of Luke to show and tell us how important a LOST SOUL is to the Father!