Today’s Gospel:  Luke 15:1-10

REFLECTION
The term “Publicans and sinners” in today’s Gospel refers to people considered to be outlaws in Israel. The publicans or tax-gatherers accepted employment from the Roman occupiers, and used their acquired authority to force taxes from their fellow Jews. Thus they brought upon their heads the disdain of the nation, and were condemned as the most despicable of sinners. That this class should be drawn into the meetings of Jesus signified that in their estimation this Preacher was totally different from the ordinary Jewish orators. They repelled sinners; Christ attracted them. The Greek word “prosdexetai” translated receives means a little more than our English word is able to convey. Christ gave them a sincere welcome - He received them gladly; with open arms, not because He condoned their sin, but because their coming provided the opportunity to reveal to them a better way of living. The Pharisees who were always seeking ways by which to criticize Jesus, misinterpreted the Lord’s motives, and charged Him with complicity in their crimes.

To understand the true import of the parable of the lost sheep it is necessary to begin at its end rather than at its beginning. That the 99 sheep had no need of repentance does not mean that they were without sin. This parable was the direct answer to the charge that He was committing a misdemeanor by associating with publicans and sinners who had sinned in becoming the servants of the hated Romans. To illustrate these people the Lord spoke of a lost sheep, and in contrast, the 99 who had not similarly strayed from the fold were the people to whom the Lord addressed this parable. They had no need to repent of this sin - because they had not committed it. Yet as Christ continued His parables, they were guilty of even greater sins in that they constantly murmured against the One whom God was using to rescue the lost. The wilderness to which reference is here made was not the sandy wastes, but rather land which is today called “common land.” It belonged to no one in particular, and therefore any man had the right to graze his flocks upon it. The illustration was drawn from the daily life of the people and could not be misunderstood. The entire inference of the story is that while the publicans and sinners had wandered, they were still precious in the sight of God. No sheep should ever be abandoned while there remained a chance to reclaim it. It was for this reason, the Good Shepherd welcomed publicans and sinners to His meetings.

Various, and sometimes startling interpretations of this parable have been suggested. The 99 which have no need of repentance, have been said to be sinless beings of other worlds, and the explanation has been offered that in the estimation of God, one redeemed sinner from earth is more precious than any number of celestial beings who never sinned. Other commentators likened the lost sheep to the church. They have said that Christ turned His back upon the fold of Israel where the 99 were safely grazing; that redemptive love sent Him into the wilderness to rescue and create the Church. To support their theories they emphasized that when the lost sheep was found in the wastelands, the Shepherd placed it on His shoulders and carried it to His home where a party was immediately organized. This was likened to the great Home in Heaven where there is joy in the presence of the angels when a sinner returns to God.

However, since Christ links together the home of the shepherd and His own home in Heaven, one thing becomes very obvious. As the earthly shepherd calls together his friends to rejoice together, so the news is broadcast throughout Heaven each time a sinner is reclaimed for God. The earthly joy in the shepherd’s home is but a faint echo of the superlative happiness that thrills eternity. Therefore knowledge of earthly affairs is one of the attributes of the life hereafter. If the angels are aware of the miracles which take place on earth; indeed if they are ministering spirits sent forth to minister to the heirs of salvation (Hebrews 1:13–14) then there exists the possibility that the eternal world is not as far removed from us as would at first appear. Perhaps our comprehension of the magnitude of God’s world is limited only by our short-sightedness!

This parable is most interesting for here we have: disaster in that a sheep had become lost; desire in that the shepherd yearned to reclaim it; decision in that his desire was expressed in action, he went forth to seek it; determination in that he searched until he found it; discernment in that having found it, he placed it upon his shoulders to carry it home. Probably the sheep was unable to walk. Here too we have delight in that it is said the shepherd placed the sheep on his shoulders rejoicing. This great happiness was shared with others for as soon as it was possible the man gathered his friends that they might rejoice together.

The shepherd was personally responsible for the sheep. If a sheep were lost the shepherd must at least bring home the fleece to show how it had died. These shepherds were expert at tracking, and could follow a straying sheep’s footprint for miles across the hills. There was not a shepherd for whom it was not all in a day’s work to lay down his life for his sheep. Many of the flocks were communal flocks, belonging not to individuals, but to villages. There would be two or three shepherds in charge. Those whose flocks were safe would arrive home on time, and they would bring news that one shepherd was still out on the mountainside searching for a sheep which was lost. The whole village would be upon the watch, and then, when in the distance they saw the shepherd striding home with the lost sheep across his shoulders, there would rise from the whole community a shout of joy and thanksgiving. That is the picture that Jesus drew of God; that, said Jesus, is what God is like. God is as glad when a lost sinner is found as a shepherd is when a strayed sheep is brought home.

Now we turn to the parable of the lost coin.

The anxiety of the woman to find her lost piece of money certainly does not proceed from a feeling of pity; it is self-interest which leads her to act. She had painfully earned it, and had kept it in reserve for some important purpose; it is a real loss to her. Here is divine love portrayed from an entirely different side. The sinner is not only, in the eyes of God, a suffering being, like the sheep on whom He takes pity; he is a precious being, created in His image, to whom He has assigned a part in the accomplishment of His plans. A lost man is a blank in God’s treasury.

The coin, a drachma, represented a day’s wages, and was possibly part of the woman’s savings. The intensity of the search reveals how much she desired to find it. She sought diligently; that is, she moved the articles of furniture, looked into all the corners, and explored every possible place in the house until she discovered her coin. Surely this reflects the intensity of the search with which God looks for the sinner. He even stoops to the dusty and dirty places of earth in order to lift His treasure from the grime into which it has fallen. It will be seen therefore that these parables belong to each other. The parable of the lost sheep reveals the intense pity of the Shepherd’s heart; the parable of the lost coin reveals the tremendous worth of the soul being sought.

Archaeologists have uncovered some of the ancient houses of Palestine and therefore we have an idea of the type of home in which this woman lived. The structure was in all probability made of mud bricks, dried hard in the sun; it had a small window possibly not much more than eighteen inches across, and the interior was very dark. The floor would be of beaten earth—earth trampled hard, and finally covered with dried reeds or rushes. Any articles of furniture would stand on this. Usually there were two levels, the one just a little higher than the other, and upon this the entire family slept. Any coin lost among the reeds would be the equivalent of a needle lost in a haystack! If the woman energetically swept that kind of floor it would probably be in the hope that the coin would be turned and made to glint in the light coming through the window. If the woman were very poor, the silver coin would be too valuable to lose.

Yet we must not lose sight of the fact that there might have been another reason why she looked so diligently for her lost treasure. The ancient sign of a married woman was a head-dress in which ten silver coins were linked together on a silver chain. This was a great possession signifying the status of its owner. She had been chosen; she belonged to a husband, she was desirable! This was the ancient equivalent of the modern wedding ring, and was so completely her own that it could not be confiscated even to pay a debt. Although the coin was only worth in our currency a few pennies, to this woman of a bygone age it represented far more than a fortune. Therefore when she found it, her heart filled with ecstasy, and she cried aloud to her neighbors that they might share her happiness. The Lord chose the most excellent illustrations for His sermons, but this story of the woman and her coin must be numbered among the best.

Today’s Reading:  Philippians 3:3-8

PRAYER
Lord, when I get lost, please don’t leave me alone.  Look for me and take me home.  In Jesus’ Name we pray.  Amen.