The Gramazin Blog
Jesus Teaches The Parables of the Lost Sheep and the Lost Coin
Take Every Passage to Prayer - Volume 2, The Gospels
Friday August 30, 2024
Luke 15:1-10
Father, there is nothing that You enjoy more than the salvation of the wicked. Help me to see the wicked as you do, as people who are lost and need to be rescued by the gospel of Jesus Christ. Father, if You can transform Saul into Paul, You can also transform the most wicked people among us in the 21st century. Help me to see them as the treasure they are in Your eyes, the people who will be wonderfully transformed by the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Father, Jesus continued to travel around the region of Perea. The text tells us that tax collectors and sinners had come, most likely from across the Jordan River, to hear what Jesus had to say. They were so intent on hearing His words that they gathered “around” Him. Those rejected by the elitist self-righteous had come to hear the gospel.
The text leads us to believe that these individuals were seeking forgiveness for their sin. They were considering repentance, a turning away from their sinful lifestyles. Jesus allowed these sinners to stand before Him (Psalm 1:1, 1:5) because He knew their hearts were humble and ready to receive the gospel (Matthew 5:3-6).
However, the same elitist self-righteous Pharisees and teachers of the law mocked Jesus for entertaining these sinners. They implied that He welcomed the sinners because Jesus was one of them.
Jesus responded by letting us know how heaven reacts to any individual seeking forgiveness of their sin. He shares the parable of a shepherd with one hundred sheep. One of the sheep gets lost. The shepherd is clearly devastated because he deeply loves the missing sheep. He searches the countryside until he finds the lost sheep. He then picks up the sheep and carries it back to the flock on his shoulders. He is eager to tell all of his friends that he found his beloved sheep.
There is a great deal of love for the lost sheep in this story of the shepherd. Jesus is telling us of the deep love You, Father, have for tax collectors and sinners. They are lost and need to be rescued by the gospel of Jesus Christ. You go to great lengths to “find” these lost sinners, going so far as to send Your Son to die on the cross for the lost sheep’s sin. Jesus lets us know that the greatest joy of Your heart is when a sinner comes to faith in Jesus Christ. It brings more joy to You than ninety-nine Christians who lead righteous lives. Why then do so many Christians avoid sharing the gospel with the lost? They are denying You of Your greatest delight.
To emphasize the point, Jesus shared another parable. A woman had ten silver coins. She lost one of them. She must have been quite distressed, so much so that she told her friends and neighbors about it. She turned on the light, cleaned up, and then searched every inch of her house , no doubt going through every drawer and cabinet, looking through the trash, and even looking under the rug. She found the silver coin. She was so elated that she updated her friends and neighbors, sharing her relief and joy with them.
Jesus compared the woman’s joy, Father, to Your joy, witnessed by the angels, when a sinner comes to faith in Jesus Christ. Why then do so many Christians avoid sharing the gospel with the lost? They are denying You of Your greatest delight. Amen.
A tax collector had the responsibility to collect the tax required by the authorities. They were permitted to collect more for their compensation than the tax required. The temptation was great to significantly increase the amount a citizen had to pay so that the tax collector could become wealthy. This abuse of power was well-known amongst the people and, therefore, the tax collectors were hated.
The word used for sinners is ?????????. It is used to describe pre-eminently wicked people whose behavior offends the sensitivities of the general public. A 21st century similarity would be those convicted of heinous crimes against innocent children. What does the OT tell us about sinners?
Psalm 1:1 The righteous are not to stand or sit with sinners. See also Psalm 1:5.
Psalm 25:8 God instructs sinners in His ways. This is repeated in Psalm 51:13.
Psalm 26:9 They are described as violent.
Psalm 37:38 They will be destroyed. Psalm 104:35 says that sinners will vanish from the earth. See Isaiah 1:28, 13:9 and Amos 9:10 as well.
Proverbs 11:31 Sinners will receive the justice they deserve.
Proverbs 13:6 Wickedness takes over the hearts and minds of sinners.
Proverbs 13:21 Sinners have troubled lives because of their sin.
Proverbs 13:22 A sinner’s wealth will end up in the hands of the righteous. Ecclesiastes 2:26 reiterates this truth.
Ecclesiastes 7:26 Sinners are entrapped by temptation and cannot escape.
Ecclesiastes 9:18 Sinners cause much damage to society.
Why would the shepherd tell his friends he found the lost sheep? Because the shepherd obviously had been heartbroken and had come to his friends with an urgent appeal for their help to find his beloved sheep.
The silver coin was most likely a drachma. A drachma was worth approximately a day’s wage. In the 21st century, a day’s wage for someone who earns $ 50,000 is approximately $ 200. Married women wore ten of them in a piece that they wore on their head. In today’s context, her piece was worth about $ 2,000. The lost coin represented the woman’s marriage, making it all the more priceless to her.
Jesus included a description of the woman turning on the light and cleaning her home before she began the search. Why? In this metaphor of evangelism, Jesus is stating that an evangelist must first see the light of the gospel for themselves. They also must be transformed by the gospel, repenting of their sin, and surrendering their life to Christ. Only then can they search for lost souls. An evangelist needs to have been transformed by the gospel of Jesus Christ before they can go about the business of transforming others with the gospel.
Why is there joy in heaven over the salvation of a sinner? 1) God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit are joyful. 2) The sinner is loved by the hosts of heaven who celebrate that they will enjoy spending eternity with the saved person. 3) It is a victory in the spiritual war against evil for the soul of this person.
