“What man among you having a hundred sheep and losing one of them would not leave the ninety-nine in the desert and go after the lost one until he finds it?”
”Or what woman having ten coins and losing one would not light a lamp and sweep the house, searching carefully until she finds it?”
”But now we must celebrate and rejoice, because your brother was dead and has come to life again; he was lost and has been found.”
Luke 15:4, 8, 32 (NAB)
The parables of the lost sheep, the lost coin and the lost prodigal son, were all told in the same chapter. The Holy Spirit wanted to impact all readers by guiding Luke, the writer of that gospel, to put all three parables into one section.
Jesus repeatedly speaks about something or someone which was lost, but later found. Scripture is truly inexhaustible. Even though I’ve read these parables many times, I keep finding new meaning each time I read it. As we read each parable, we can imagine ourselves or a loved one in each story.
Jesus teaches us through these stories that it only takes losing “one” of something to stir God’s compassion. The good shepherd in the parable, is protective over his entire flock, and yet every individual sheep is precious to him. He instantly left the ninety nine to run after the one lost sheep, and bring it back.
Jesus, the good shepherd, wants us to know how valuable we or our loved ones are to Him. He seeks out every wandering sheep, even if it takes all the days of their life, until they are returned to the flock. Once he finally finds the one who was lost, he sets it on his shoulders with great joy, and celebrates.
Next, Jesus tells us the parable of the woman who searched her home for one lost coin. That lost coin is a Greek drachma, according to the commentaries and had a value of one week’s wage. It was just a coin, but it had great value to the one who owned it, just as each human soul has great value to the Lord God, who created them.
The last parable is the prodigal son, who estranged himself from his entire family. Although he once scorned and abandoned his father, and squandered his inheritance in careless living, the father still longed to see his son return. The father of the prodigal loved his son more than his own rules, because it was all about a relationship, not rules.
So it is with God. Jesus reminds us in this parable, that God is our Heavenly Father, who also loves us more than His rules, and wants every son and daughter to return to Him.
As Jesus told these three parables, He emphasized the intense joy in heaven over that one that is found. It only takes one, to spark a huge celebration in heaven.
Last week there was a news story about an Ohio school bus that for some unknown reason, suddenly burst into flames. The bus driver evacuated all fifteen middle school students off the bus safely, while that fire raged. Witnesses heard two loud booms as it exploded.
I happened to catch an early news interview on TV with that bus driver. In that brief interview, he told the reporter that he prays every morning before going to work, and he was thankful to God for helping him to act quickly, and get each child off the bus.
Many others were also thankful that the driver’s reflexes led him to react as he did in saving those fifteen students, and the city honored him as a hero. He was like the shepherd of that bus, and those students were the sheep in his caring hands.
Stories like that bring new relevance to the parables of Jesus. As we continue to hear contemporary versions of good shepherds, or someone finding their lost item of value, or a true story of a prodigal son or daughter returning home, we are reminded that God is the Lord of the lost and found.
Jesus revealed His Father’s heart toward all of us, in describing the father of the prodigal, who stood outside, watching and waiting with hope, looking in the distance for that lost son to one day appear. If God so anticipates the celebration over a prodigal’s return, then we should as well.
Lord, we lift up in prayer and believe for the repentance and return of every prodigal. Help us to follow your example and see the value in every soul, and to keep praying for all to be found. Amen
