The Parable
The next parable telling of the lost being found is somewhat shorter because it covers only a few moments in the life of the central figure, a woman apparently living by herself in her own house.
8 Either what 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?
9 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.
10 Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth.
Luke 15:8-10
Jesus informs us that when the woman lost one piece of silver, her total assets besides this coin were nine others of the same kind. In the original Greek, the coins are called drachmas, each of which was a Greek silver coin worth about the same as the Roman silver coin known as the denarius. The weight of a denarius, about sixty grains, would set its modern value at about fifteen cents, although in Jesus' day it was a day's pay for a common laborer (Matt. 20:2). So, from our perspective, the lady's wealth was miniscule, hardly more than a few dollars.
The Jews listening to Jesus as He told the parable would have assumed that the woman lived in an ordinary dwelling, not any sort of mansion. A typical house in their world was dimly lit. The only light from outside came through the doorway and one or two windows, which were few and highly placed to protect privacy and small to keep out intruders at night. To increase interior light, the door was commonly left open during the day. Also, a typical house had no hard floor, in a modern sense. Except in the houses of the very rich, it was generally hard-packed earth.
The background of the parable helps us to understand the woman's problem. In her house deprived of good lighting, a coin would be especially easy to lose. If it fell on the earthen floor, it might even become covered or stained with dirt. Why she needed to light a candle and sweep the floor is therefore obvious. Also, the little worth of all her money shows how poor she was and explains why her search for the coin was so desperate.
But her search was not in vain. She found the coin, and, naturally, she was delighted, to the extent of sharing her joy with her friends and neighbors. She called them to come and help her celebrate its discovery.
As in the other two parables in Luke 15, the loss of something represents someone turning his back upon God and pursuing a life of sin. Its recovery by the rightful owner pictures the sinner's repentance. And the celebration following its recovery shows the joy that a sinner's repentance brings to observers in heaven.
But when speaking of this joy, Jesus shifts His wording slightly. Now He specifies "joy in the presence of the angels." A literal translation is "joy before the angels." The wording seems to exclude the angels themselves, focusing rather on other heavenly observers. And it only makes sense that joy would be felt most keenly by God Himself, the Creator and Redeemer of the repentant sinner, and by the heavenly throng of saints who now appreciate the benefits of their own redemption. Doubtless the angels are also glad to see human lives spared from eternal ruin, but having no personal stake in either the cost or benefit of redemption, they cannot feel joy to the same degree.
Let us now consider the significance in each unique feature of this parable.
- The thing lost is a coin. It is not a person, not even an animal, but a small material object. This choice of imagery emphasizes that in terms of inherent power and wisdom and pervasiveness, a human being holds an insignificant place in the overall scheme of things. When we lift ourselves above familiar scenes and horizons, we see that a person is but a tiny dot in the universe. Viewing ourselves in this way teaches us humility. It also makes us grateful that God should care for creatures so presently weak and insignificant.
- But how did the coin get lost? By falling into dirt on the floor. The meaning is that an elect child of God goes astray not only because he has foolish tendencies in his own heart, but also because he lives in a dangerous world—a world of moral filthiness that catches him when he falls into sin and easily so besmirches the precious metal of his heart that his true identity becomes unrecognizable. Other worldlings cannot see who he is.
- Yet even in its worst condition, the lost coin still has great value. Why? Because the thing lost is not a frill, a passing shadow, or a pebble in the road, but a piece of money. The image of the emperor is still imprinted on its face, and this image is what elevates the coin to the status of official currency. Although a drachma would be of small value in our world, it was of very significant value in the ancient world. Likewise, an elect child of God bears the imprint of divine predestination and therefore retains value although he is covered with dirt. Just as the woman's heart was not at peace so long as she was missing a coin valuable in her sight, likewise God's heart is not pleased so long as He feels estranged from a valuable soul designed to be His child.
- The lost coin is recovered by the diligent searching of the woman. It is doubtful that the woman represents Christ. Since in the three parables of Luke 15, God the Son appears in the first and God the Father appears in the third, it is more likely that the woman in the second pictures the Holy Spirit. He is, after all, the person of the Trinity whose role is to draw a sinner to repentance by diligent use of His divine resources, operating on the sinner's heart and mind to show him both the blackness of his sin and his terrible plight if he remains mired in it. As a result, the sinner feels a gnawing conviction of guilt. It is also the Holy Spirit who enables the sinner to understand that he can escape from sin and find a wonderful future forever through salvation in Christ (John 6:63; 16:7, 8; Rom. 8:13). Finally through the work of the Holy Spirit, the sinner comes to that moment of critical decision when he puts his faith in Christ and receives everlasting life (John 3:16). Whereas formerly he was an elect child of God, now he is an actual child of God in fellowship with the rest of his family.