The Lost Coin

THE PARABLE OF THE LOST COIN

Luke 15:8-10

Either what woman having ten pieces of silver, if she lose one piece, doth not light a candle, and sweep the house, and seek diligently till she find it? And when she hath found it, she calleth her friends and her neighbours together, saying, Rejoice with me; for I have found the piece which I had lost. Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth.

Jesus was responding to the criticisms of the spiritual leaders of Israel. He was tender hearted towards sinners. They were judgemental. He would spend time with sinners and tax collectors. The Pharisees would do their utmost to keep away from them. We have to ensure that we do not become pharasaical because we can soon forget where we came from. We judge people harshly, when we were the same as they, but Jesus came into our lives and sorted them out.

This woman would appear to be a widow. The ten pieces of silver would be either a part of a bracelet or a necklace. It was customary in those days that upon the marriage a man would give his wife a new necklace or bracelet and put on it a coin of commemoration. Throughout their married life the husband would continue to give another silver coin on special occasions such as the birth of a child.

Jesus is not a widower, but He does hold His bride in the depths of His heart. When you became a Christian you may have asked Jesus to come and live in your heart. Really you were responding because He first asked you to come and live in His heart. Every member of His beloved bride is so special to Him. He will search and search until He finds him. We used to ask “Have you found the Lord?” but actually it was He who found us.

For the woman to lose one of these coins would have been a sorry state of affairs. It would not be so much the financial implications, but the sentimental ones which mattered most. The coin may have been extra special among the special ones. But it may not. Each of them would have an important place in the woman’s affections. And of course each of us has a special place in the affections of the Lord. He does not really have favourites. It only appears to be that way because some people decide to enjoy His blessings more than those around them. It is an act of our own will as to whether we will enjoy the provisions of the Lord or not.

Some of us are waiting to be “moved” by the Holy Spirit to begin to praise God and enjoy Him. We should just make up our minds to do it:

“I will praise thee, O Lord, with my whole heart; I will shew forth all thy marvellous works. I will be glad and rejoice in thee: I will sing praise to thy name, O thou most High.” (Psalm 9:1-2)

And the Lord says, “Rejoice with me” concerning our salvation. It is His greatest delight to see us into His family. That is why we are called the crown of His creation. He will show us off to the universe and declare that we are the best thing He ever did. We are truly His masterpiece. When we look at one another physically it is hard for us to imagine that we are works of art! But God looks at the heart. And our heart has been renewed. It is now beautiful like the tabernacle was beautiful. As temples of God we are clean, sanctified.. meet for the Master’s presence.

When Jesus said that there was joy in the presence of the angels He was implying that there was a huge party in heaven! This would have left the Pharisees aghast! They had a picture of a God who was miserable, boring and extremely difficult to please. They thought of Him as an austere dictator who made impossible demands on His followers and punished them when they failed to do what He wanted. They could not imagine the picture that Jesus was painting for them. He was saying that in heaven God was the life and soul of the party. When a sinner repents He calls on the whole of heaven to join the celebrations. And it is He who gets up off His throne and leads the singing and dancing. And remember that He is a God of the Jews and they know how to sing and dance. There is no holding back at a Jewish party and there is no holding back in heaven. Our Father may not be “the Lord of the Dance” which is a pagan concept, but He is truly the Lord who dances.