The Parables of Lost Sheep and Coin

Study of Luke 15:1-10

Now all the tax collectors and the sinners were coming near Him to listen to Him. Both the Pharisees and the scribes began to grumble, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.” 

So He told them this parable, saying, “What man among you, if he has a hundred sheep and has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open pasture and go after the one which is lost until he finds it? When he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!’ I tell you that in the same way, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.

“Or what woman, if she has ten silver coins and loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? 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!’ In the same way, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

— Luke 15:1-10

Even after Jesus told them the high cost of discipleship, sinners who understand the hopelessness of their condition were more attracted to Jesus than the religious bunch. They are already outcasts and have got nothing to lose but their sins. On the other hand Pharisees and scribes can't part away with their pride and self-righteousness and in contempt, they grumbled that Jesus "receives sinners and eats with them.” 

They are disgusted that a functioning Rabbi, although not official, like Jesus is mingling with wicked sinners. By associating with sinners one can be branded as sinner as well. Tell me who your friends are and I will tell who you are. But Jesus also goes to social gatherings with the Pharisees so He seem like a double agent playing both sides. If Jesus is tainted by unclean sinners and He also mingles with the clean Pharisees, then He might infect them with uncleanness.

But Jesus is not tainted with sinners, He does not agree with their sins. It was the sinners who are agreeing with Jesus that they are sinners. That's why they go to Him who is able to forgive and cleanse them of their sins. It seems a deja vu of what Luke reported earlier 

When all the people and the tax collectors heard this, they acknowledged God’s justice, having been baptized with the baptism of John. But the Pharisees and the lawyers rejected God’s purpose for themselves, not having been baptized by John.

— Luke 7:29-30

The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Behold, a gluttonous man and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’

— Luke 7:34

They didn't understand that Jesus is a friend of all the spectrum of sinners, from the grossest sinner to the most religious sinner. To explain His actions, Jesus told a trilogy of parables that has the same theme, God's seeking of the lost and His joy when they are found. We'll study the first two for now.

The first is the parable of the lost sheep where a shepherd lost one of his 100 sheep so he leaves the 99 perhaps inside an enclosure or sheepfold, or ask another shepherd nearby to watch his flock for him while he go and look for the lost one. And when he finds the sheep he affectionately carries it and calls his friends to rejoice with him. Then Jesus said "in the same way, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance."

We remember that God is often portrayed as a Shepherd in the Old Testament.

For thus says the Lord God, “Behold, I Myself will search for My sheep and seek them out. As a shepherd cares for his herd in the day when he is among his scattered sheep, so I will care for My sheep and will deliver them from all the places to which they were scattered on a cloudy and gloomy day.

— Ezekiel 34:11-12

“I will seek the lost, bring back the scattered, bind up the broken and strengthen the sick; but the fat and the strong I will destroy. I will feed them with judgment.

— Ezekiel 34:16

By telling this parable of lost sheep Jesus is saying that He is doing God's work. He is seeking the lost sheep. He already identified Himself earlier as the Good Shepherd in John 10 and later He will say 

For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”

— Luke 19:10

God delights more over a repentant sinner than the self-righteous religious elite who see no need for repentance. Jesus stated His mission earlier:

I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.”

— Luke 5:32

If the first parable is about a man working outside the home, the second parable is about a woman inside the house who lost a silver coin which, like the denarius, is equivalent to a full day's wage. The woman diligently and carefully searched by not only lighting a lamp but sweeping the floor so she can hear the clinging sound when she hits it. And when she finds it, like the shepherd, she calls her friends to rejoice with her. And Jesus added "In the same way, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

When we are filled with joy that we cannot contain to ourselves we want to share our joy with others. We post in social media, tell our friends, invite others to celebrate when we want to share a happy event like birthdays, graduations, achievements, weddings, reading a good book, watching an exciting movie, eating delicious food, overcoming a great difficulty and others like it. We invite others to share our joys and we also share in the joy of others. In our impurity our sharing sometimes is mixed with boast and our rejoicing with others may be mixed with envy.

But God's joy is pure and outgoing. He does not need to share in our joy, He is the source of it and He delights in sharing His joy with us. This is God's heart for sinners like us. God does not delight in the death of the wicked (Ezekiel 18:32) but instead He is a God "who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth."— 1 Timothy 2:4

God does not want self-righteous unrepentant stony hearts. He wants a humble repentant fleshly heart.

For You do not delight in sacrifice, otherwise I would give it;

You are not pleased with burnt offering.

The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit;

A broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise.

— Psalm 51:16-17

What an amazing thought that there is celebration in heaven whenever a sinner repents and receive salvation. There should also be rejoicing here on earth, for every sinner that repents is another friend we will enjoy perfect fellowship forever. May we share in God's joy in our own repentance and calling lost sinners to repent and believe.

Restore to me the joy of Your salvation

And sustain me with a willing spirit.

Then I will teach transgressors Your ways,

And sinners will be converted to You.

Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, the God of my salvation;

Then my tongue will joyfully sing of Your righteousness.

— Psalm 51:12-14