Another Look at the Prodigal God
Or again, if a woman has ten silver coins and loses one of them, does she not light the lamp, sweep out the house, and look in every corner till she finds it? And when he does, she calls her friends and neighbors together, and says, "Rejoice with me! I have found the coin that I lost." In the same way, I tell you, there is joy among the angels of God over one sinner who repents. Luke 15:8-10, REB.
I still remember the day that my mother lost her wedding ring. I must have been about 7 or 8 years old. The search was stupendous. The whole family looked everywhere, at everything, under everything, behind everything, and in everything. And when that didn't come up with results we moved everything. And still not finding it, we did it again. I can assure you that great rejoicing filled the Knight household when the lost was found.
Jesus, in telling us about the lost coin, once again reminds us that that is what God is like--one who searches and rejoices because He has been able to rescue one more sick sinner.
It is not difficult to imagine a coin in a first-century Palestinian peasant's house. For one thing, they were very dark, with one 18-inch window for lighting. But that is the good part of the story. The real difficulty was the floor: dirt with a layer of straw or dried reeds covering it. And, of course, a lot of other things had gotten mixed in with that covering, including old pieces of food that may have fallen into it. Altogether it would be a difficult place to find a small coin. But the coin was needed. It had an important monetary place in a subsistence economy, and it may have had emotional value.
The picture is of a woman....No, the picture is of God come into a peasant's world, getting down on His knees in the rubble, holding an oil lamp in one hand and sifting through the "stuff" on the floor with the other.
And when the proverbial search for the lost pin in the haystack has been successful, there is an outburst of joy. So, said Jesus, is there joy among the angels in heaven when one sinner is found and repents.
God loves a party. He loves to rejoice. And Jesus does also, even as the complaining, murmuring Jewish leaders look on, shocked and offended by His picture of God.
What they needed to know is that it was a major purpose of His life to help people gain a better understanding of what God is like. Some of us still need to catch the meaning of His demonstration and incorporate it into our own lives.
Or again, if a woman has ten silver coins and loses one of them, does she not light the lamp, sweep out the house, and look in every corner till she finds it? And when he does, she calls her friends and neighbors together, and says, "Rejoice with me! I have found the coin that I lost." In the same way, I tell you, there is joy among the angels of God over one sinner who repents. Luke 15:8-10, REB.
I still remember the day that my mother lost her wedding ring. I must have been about 7 or 8 years old. The search was stupendous. The whole family looked everywhere, at everything, under everything, behind everything, and in everything. And when that didn't come up with results we moved everything. And still not finding it, we did it again. I can assure you that great rejoicing filled the Knight household when the lost was found.
Jesus, in telling us about the lost coin, once again reminds us that that is what God is like--one who searches and rejoices because He has been able to rescue one more sick sinner.
It is not difficult to imagine a coin in a first-century Palestinian peasant's house. For one thing, they were very dark, with one 18-inch window for lighting. But that is the good part of the story. The real difficulty was the floor: dirt with a layer of straw or dried reeds covering it. And, of course, a lot of other things had gotten mixed in with that covering, including old pieces of food that may have fallen into it. Altogether it would be a difficult place to find a small coin. But the coin was needed. It had an important monetary place in a subsistence economy, and it may have had emotional value.
The picture is of a woman....No, the picture is of God come into a peasant's world, getting down on His knees in the rubble, holding an oil lamp in one hand and sifting through the "stuff" on the floor with the other.
And when the proverbial search for the lost pin in the haystack has been successful, there is an outburst of joy. So, said Jesus, is there joy among the angels in heaven when one sinner is found and repents.
God loves a party. He loves to rejoice. And Jesus does also, even as the complaining, murmuring Jewish leaders look on, shocked and offended by His picture of God.
What they needed to know is that it was a major purpose of His life to help people gain a better understanding of what God is like. Some of us still need to catch the meaning of His demonstration and incorporate it into our own lives.
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