18/09/2024
Hello family. Grace and Peace to you all.
Here is your Mid Week Message for Wednesday 18th September 2024.
“Jesus Values the Lost. Pt 2: The Lost Coin” - Luke 15:8-10
8 “Or what woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and seek diligently until she finds it? 9 And when she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost.’ 10 Just so, I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”
Jesus speaks to the crowd - “you don’t value sheep the way I value them. You don’t even recognise the value of women in your midst- they are attentive to things of value like coin, and their persistence to search until found.”
Jesus honours women and tells the second parable of the lost coin.
“if she had ten (drachma) Silver coins” (v8) The coin is a Greek drachma, roughly equivalent to a Roman denarius—worth a day’s pay for a labourer, perhaps $100 in today’s currency not a fortune, but enough to get the woman’s attention.
Most of us, if we lost this much money, would be fussed until we found it. The coin may have been one of the ten coins of her pay and it makes a big difference.
If we can’t identify with a woman who has lost the coin, we might consider how we feel when we can’t find our car keys—or our cell phone— or the TV remote control.
This is the Point: “Rejoice with me” (v. 9).
The woman’s joy at finding the coin is a metaphor for God’s joy over one sinner who repents. God’s joy is the real point of these parables. God is JOYFUL when a sinner repents and invites the rest of us (friends and neighbors) to join the celebration.
“Even so, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner repenting” (v. 10).
God’s joy contrasts and brings awareness of the grumbling Pharisees and scribes (v. 2). The grumblers do not welcome sinners into their presence as they view them being contaminated by association.
They criticise Jesus for welcoming sinners, even though his purpose is to save and restore. They understand the value of one sheep or one coin, but would “write off” one sinner.
While they might give a repentant sinner a chance, their cooperation would be guarded. They would remember past sins. The repentant sinner would always be suspect.
Tax collectors and sinners did not come to hear Pharisees and scribes, because they knew that they would find only judgment.
They come to hear Jesus, because they sense His LOVE and the value of LIFE, accepts them, and he is JOYFUL at their coming.
Take time to reflect on this parable and remember we ALL have fallen short of the GLORY of GOD. Jesus is our HOPE and our JOY.
Also, reach out to a friend or family member who may be lost - Share of the Joy of the LORD with them.
Have a blessed day while Living Amazingly in Christ Jesus.🙏🏽
Reverend Petone Toelei’u
