“The Lost Sheep and Coin”

Saturday, June 17, 2017

“Then all the tax collectors and the sinners drew near to Him to hear Him. And the Pharisees and scribes complained, saying, ‘This Man receives sinners and eats with them’” (Luke 15:1-2).

With these words, one of the most beautiful chapters in the Bible begins. Verse 3 continues on and says, “So He spoke this parable to them, saying:” Although the text says, this parable, Jesus actually delivers three parables, the lost sheep (verses 4-7), the lost coin (verses 8-10), and the lost sons (verses 11-32). While the illustration is different in each, the main lesson is the same. God loves the souls of the lost and wants all people to be saved (1 Timothy 2:3-4).

First is the parable of the lost sheep. In the story, a shepherd watching over 100 sheep realizes that one of them has wandered away. He leaves the 99 “safe” sheep and goes to search for the one which is lost. He continues to look for it until he locates it and then brings it back triumphantly and adds it back into the fold.

Verses 6-7 give us a “behind the scenes” look at heaven’s response when a lost soul returns to God. The parable is reminding us how much the Lord loves us and how much “joy” there is in heaven when “one sinner” repents.

His second example is a woman who owns ten coins and loses one of them. Some have suggested this might refer to a piece of jewelry that had ten coins in it as decoration (much like diamonds or other jewels) and that the loss of one piece makes the entire thing worthless. Or it might simply be speaking of her personal worth of ten coins. Either way, the lesson is that the lost coin meant a great deal to her and so she turned on the light, swept the house and searched carefully until she recovered the coin.

And again, Jesus lets us know that this lost coin, now found, represents “one sinner who repents.”

We should never underestimate the value of one soul. The Savior taught us, in another setting, that one soul is worth more than the whole world (Matthew 16:26).

That should cause us all to make certain that our own soul is in a right relationship with God. If it isn’t, not much else matters.

It should also help us, as Christians, to remember once again the value of the souls around us who do not know our Lord. Will we be like the scribes and Pharisees who hated the lost or like the Lord who loves all souls and want them to be saved?

--Roger Hillis

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