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“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.”
If I lose something, I can’t rest until it is found, especially if it is the contact I wear in my eye! This is a parable about the person who lost something, not necessarily the lost item. The lost coin couldn’t help its condition. It’s the woman who’s motivated and seeks that which is of value to her. Perhaps it was because of poverty: no coin meant no food. Or she could have been socially motivated. Back then a married woman had a headdress of ten coins as a symbol of her marriage, and to have a coin missing meant disaster. It would be like a woman today looking for her lost diamond wedding ring. She was perseverant. Finding the coin meant life itself if her family was starving. Finding the coin completed her wedding headdress, her most valuable possession, saving her from shame. Homes then were very dark with hard earthen floors covered in straw or rushes. Literally finding the coin in the house was like finding a needle in a haystack. She swept and strained to see a glimmer of it or to hear the metallic sound of it moving as she searched.
God is motivated, he is perseverant. He does everything he can, he goes over the top, the extra mile, in search of what is of value to him. This was a new thought to the Pharisees. Not only did Jesus say their God goes out searching for sinners, but that he rejoices in the found. They became aware God actively looks for the lost. God doesn’t just sit waiting for his creation to crawl to him for pity. His reaching down from heaven, going to the places of the desperate and despicable, confounded them. The Pharisees didn’t see it because they believed God kept himself separate and condemned sinners, as they did. Today, we believe in the seeking love of God, because we see Jesus Christ, love incarnate, who came to seek and to save that which was lost, and die for them on a cross.
God is good, all the time. His goodness never ends because he is passionate about seeking and committed to finding the lost. He is good because he is always ready to receive and welcome. The coin could represent the sinner that was lost and is now saved from judgment and wrath to come. “Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost” (verse 9). The woman called her friends to celebrate with her. The angels are ready to celebrate with God. “Just so, I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents” (verse 10). It is always happening that God is seeking and it is always happening that someone is found. A celebration is always happening as a result. Each and every person matters to the Lord. He is pleased when a soul is found, after all they were important enough for him to come to earth to die for.
This is a simple, but profound parable Jesus spoke to the Pharisees. We all are born in sin, separated from the Lord, lost and in need of being found. I am thankful the Lord found me, took my debt on the cross and provided for my salvation. He came where I was, revealed His great love for me, and saved me by His grace. Have you realized Christ is seeking you and desiring to be your personal Savior? He is the only means of salvation, and there is hope and eternal life in Him. He loves you and wants to save you by His grace. He is ready to rejoice with heaven in your being found. His goodness and grace are a great reason to celebrate. Today, listen to King of Love by I Am They as you reflect on God’s deep love for us.
Luke 19:9-10: And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, since he also is a son of Abraham.10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”
Ezekiel 34:16: I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak, and the fat and the strong I will destroy. I will feed them in justice.
Zephaniah 3:16-17: 16 On that day it shall be said to Jerusalem: “Fear not, O Zion; let not your hands grow weak. 17 The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.”
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By Donna Burns
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