“…[W]hat 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.” Luke 15:8-9
We all lose things from time to time, but the woman in this parable shows a firm resolve to find her lost coin that highlights God’s desire for man’s repentance. She does not say to herself, “Oh, it will turn up sooner or later.” Instead she goes to all manner of pains to find her lost silver coin. Just as the shepherd would not stop searching until he found his lost sheep (v.4), the woman in this parable is set on recovering her coin. Palestinian dwellings were often of mud-brick construction with no windows and earthen floors; thus, it was possible for a coin to fall, be trodden underfoot and become embedded in the floor. The search was painstaking. She had to light an oil lamp, which shed roughly the same amount of light as a candle. With her dim light in hand she swept and searched until she found the small coin.
At last when the lost coin was found the woman was so overjoyed that she threw a party. No doubt some will demur that this celebration probably cost the woman more than the coin she found was worth, but that is exactly the point. These parables in Luke 15 show the joy in heaven over sinners who repent. They are not lessons in economics, but rather in the joy of God when a soul returns to Him (v. 10). Upon the return of the lost son, the father does not concern himself with the money that was wasted in the younger son’s prodigal living, but rather celebrates that he has returned (vv. 22-24). The one who questions such a celebration is more like the older brother (vv. 25-32).
The Pharisees and scribes thought that “sinners” were not worthy to be received (v.2). Unlike the woman in this parable, they would not so much as waste the oil to light a lamp to search for the lost, much less rejoice over them. In that sense they would remain in the dark; their inner darkness blinding their eyes to the truth as Jesus explained earlier in the book of Luke (11:33-36). They had an evil eye toward Jesus for associating with those who were called “sinners.” Similar to how Saul eyed David with envy (1 Sam. 18:9), the Pharisees, moved with envy, were not putting forth effort in understanding Jesus’ sayings, but rather in plotting His death (Mk. 3:6; 15:10). They would never consider that they would be lost; never would they place themselves in this parable and see themselves as a lost coin.
Jesus is the light of the world, that all may come and see the light of God (Jn. 8:12). If it were not for His light shining into the world we would have remained lost in the darkness of sin. He did not come to save and enlighten people who are just like you and me, but people of every background. Do we see our need for salvation? Are we searching for souls to save? Are we searching our own souls? Can we place ourselves in Jesus’ parables, becoming engaged in what He has to say and weighing the meaning in our own lives? Or do we, like the Pharisees, wear masks of hypocrisy, professing to be enlightened while never considering our own spiritual destitution? Does the light of Christ shine in us?
– Mark Day
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