Parable of the Lost Coin

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The Parable of the Lost Coin is a parable told by Jesus in the New Testament of the Christian Bible.

Contents 1 Context 2 Overview 3 Interpretation 4 External link

[edit] Context

This is the second of three parables about loss and redemption that Jesus tells after the Pharisees and religious leaders accuse him of welcoming and eating with sinners. The other two are the Parable of the Lost Sheep and the Parable of the Lost Son (the Prodigal Son).

[edit] Overview

As recounted in Luke 15, a woman with ten silver coins loses one. She then lights a lamp and sweeps her house until she finds it, rejoicing when she does.

From Luke 15:8-10:

"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 which I had lost.' Just so, I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents."

[edit] Interpretation

As with the other parables something precious has been lost or put in peril. In this case, the one coin becomes in a sense more valuable than the other nine. Jesus illustrates that those who are lost or in peril are more important for the moment than those who are not. Since Jesus sees "sinners" as lost or in peril, it makes perfect sense for him to spend more time with them.

[edit] External link

• The parable in the book of Luke (NIV)

Parables of Jesus - edit

The Fig Tree | Drawing in the Net | Faithful Servant | The Friend at Night | Good Samaritan | Good Shepherd | Growing Seed | The Hidden Treasure | Lazarus and Dives | The Leaven | Lost Coin | Lost Sheep | Mustard Seed | New Wine into Old Wineskins | Pearl | Pharisee and the Publican | Prodigal Son | The Rich Fool | Sower | Weeds | Workers in the Vineyard | Parable of the Talents | Ten Virgins | The Two Debtors | The Two Sons | The Unjust Judge | The Unjust Steward | Unmerciful Servant | The Vine | Parable of the Wedding Feast | The Wicked Husbandmen | The Wise and the Foolish Builders

In addition, each of the lost items has varying degrees of knowing that it is lost. The coin has no idea it is lost, doesn't appreciate that it is lost and doesn't know how to be found or even that it should be. The sheep may know that it is lost but doesn't know how to find its way back home and the lost son (Prodigal son) knows he is lost, knows how to get home and tries to do this. But the joining theme is that someone is looking for each of these no matter what there understanding of their state may be and that is the power of the parable. This very deep appreciation of the parables was explained by Pastor Henry Wright.