Make sure you read parts 1 & 2 before reading this.

The Lost Coin

In Luke 15: 8–10 Jesus tells a parable with similarities to that of the lost sheep, but some key differences. Here, a woman looses a coin, then lights a candle, sweeps the house, searches diligently, and rejoices when she finds it.

Context

Just like the shepherd in the previous parable, the woman can be compared to Christ in many ways. Also like the shepherd, she doesn’t represent Christ in this parable. But who does she represent? The leaders of the Church like the shepherd? Or somebody else? In many scriptural references an unspecified woman represents the church. This comes from the symbolic imagery of the church as a woman or bride. A quick example of this recurring scriptural theme is found in Isaiah 62:5 “…as the bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride, so shall thy God rejoice over thee.” Jesus is the bridegroom, the church is his bride. First of all, the value of the silver coin is about a day’s labor. Remember though, that they didn’t have an 8 hour workday in those days. So the value of that coin was probably more like 10-12 hours of hard labor. Lets just say $200 in modern US money. Where did the money come from? Well most likely from the man of the house. He goes out and works, and she has the result of his 10 days hard labor. She looses one day’s worth. If the woman is the church and Christ is the husband, then his work is that of saving souls, of bringing them unto him. Thus, if we’re to put His work in mortal terms, this coin might represent a lost soul (just like the sheep) or perhaps several people, like a family. Understanding these symbolic constructs, the parable applies to all of us members of the church, perhaps even more so than that of the shepherd. With that in mind, what instruction can we pull from Christ’s parable?