The Story of the Lost Coin (Luke 15:8-10)
Jesus often used parables in pairs. The story of the
Lost Sheep revolves around a man; this one - around a woman.
Observe
1. One makes a man, the shepherd the chief actor; the other - a
woman.
2. In one, a sheep is lost - outside the fold; in the
other - a coin is lost - inside a house.
3. In one, the sheep's ignorance is the cause for the loss; the
other, the woman's carelessness.
Nevertheless, each story can stand on its own and on its own right.
Each has its own amazing depth and simplicity.
These two stories are viewed by most commentaries as a Double Story:
A woman has ten silver coins; she loses one coin
in her house.
She then lights a lamp - sweeps the
floor; she seeks diligently until she finds
it.
photo of the Bride's head
dress
Having found it, she tells her friends and
neighbours - and cries, "Rejoice with me
-
for I have found my lost
coin."
The emphasis is on the preciousness of
that coin. - and of the sadness turning to joy when the woman
found it.
That lost drachma of a coin was one tenth of her
pathetic savings; and one-half of the Temple Tax. But the real value lies
far more than the monetary worth of the single coin.
# the Beauty of a Necklace as a Whole is not there -
when one coin is missing.
# a Bride's Betrothal-Wedding Gift - her most
precious, treasured gift.
Hence - the intensity of her search. She
searches until she found it - followed by Joy.
Picture of the Wedding
Couple-
A Jew would accept an aggrieved man crawling back to God; but not
a God - seeking and searching
No Pharisee would dream of a God - like
that.
Understand. Appreciate the Cultural
Elements
Searching of money of the poor makes the loss of a coin a sad
event. Most peasant villages are self supporting.
They make their own cloth; grow their own food. Hence the loss of a
silver coin is of greater value in the homes of these peasant women.
Kenneth Bailey who lived and worked amongst Middle Eastern Culture for over
20 years says that
"a distinction must be made between a bedouin and a
villager. Bedouin women wear their dowry in the
form of coins hanging on their veils.
Village women do not. Village women, however do wear
coins on necklaces."
The Coin can be found. Movements of peasant women in village houses are
extremely limited - as most houses are crammed. The woman has not been
out; the coin has to be in the house. It can be found... if she keeps on
sweeping the floor - though made of packed and pounded earth.
Why did Jesus tell these
stories?!
He used the proscribed, denounced shepherd for the
Lost Sheep Story. Now.... Jesus used the inferior status of a woman.
He is
challenging and rejecting the Pharisaic Discrimintion - against the Outcasts
and Common People.....
Insight reveals deeper meanings. One out of ten
coins is lost - against one in a hundred sheep.
And the coin has - Values beyond monetary worth. The search
is now the confines of a small villlage house as against the wide open
wilderness. And the Assurance is the more intensified - that lost one can
be found - if foresight and effort are there.
Witness the Drama of
Life. The tragedy of life is followed by the grief stricken search - and then
comes the Joy of Finding.
We share our Griefs.. Share also our Joys!
Never return a Kindness. Pass it on
And that would warm God's heart as well.
Pastor Edwin Khoo
