8 “Or what woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp, sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it? 9 And when she has found it, she calls her friends and neighbors together, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the piece which I lost!’ 10 Likewise, I say to you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”
The parable of the lost coin in verses 8-10 makes the same point as the lost sheep in the previous parable—no one is insignificant in God’s eyes.
15:8
“Or what woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp, sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it?
A woman with 10 silver coins lost one. She carefully searched her house for it. A drachma was equivalent to a denarius or a quarter of a shekel, a day’s wage for an average worker. The point is that the search was for a modest sum of money.
15:9
And when she has found it, she calls her friends and neighbors together, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the piece which I lost!’
As with the shepherd, the woman celebrated finding the lost coin with her friends. The celebration was about finding even a modest amount of money.
15:10
Likewise, I say to you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”
As in verse 7, this verse gives the point of the parable of the lost coin—one sinner who repents. Angels of God rejoice over a single sinner who repents. Jesus was showing religious leaders the importance of restoring sinners through the parable of the lost sheep and the coin. The outcasts of society are valuable to God. The Pharisees needed to learn the importance of the soul for tax collectors and sinners.
PRINCIPLE:
Those willing to repent are welcome in God’s eyes.
APPLICATION:
Seeking the lost is at the heart of being a disciple of Jesus, whether it’s the salvation of a soul or the return of a backslidden sinner. Do our churches rejoice when outcasts in their communities come to or return to Christ? The church should not become isolated from society and withdraw from engaging with those who do not know Christ.
There is a danger that a local church will become a religious club, where they no longer care for those out of fellowship or for those who do not know Christ. This attitude is a loss of value of the individual soul.
