The Life of Christ in the Synoptic Gospels
THE LOST SHEEP AND THE LOST COIN
The Life of Christ in the Synoptic Gospels
THE LOST SHEEP AND THE LOST COIN
Lesson Plan:
1. Introduction (vs 1-3)
2. The Finding of the Lost Sheep (vs 4-6)
3. The Finding of the Lost Coin (vs 8, 9)
4. The Joy in Heaven (vs 7, 10)
5. Conclusion – How Can We Have That Joy on Earth?
Lesson Setting:
Time: Probably January, A.D. 30.
Place: In Perea, beyond Jordan.
Inductive Study of the Lesson:
a. Read the lesson, comparing it carefully with Matthew 18:10-14.
b. On “receiveth” (v 2), meaning to associate with, compare Paul’s use of the word with reference
to Phoebe (Rom. 16:2) and Epaphroditus (Phil. 2:29).
c. See the comparison of God to a shepherd in the Old Testament: Psalm 119:176; Isaiah 40:11;
53:6; Ezekiel 34:16-19.
d. See the same comparison in the New Testament: Matthew 10:6; 23:37-39; Luke 19:10; John
10:10-18; 21:15-17; 1 Peter 2:24, 25; 1 Timothy 1:15.
e. On carrying the lambs in the arms, see Isaiah 40:11; 49:22.
f. On the shepherd’s joy over his lost sheep see Hebrews 12:2; Isaiah 53:11.
g. For the “just persons, which need no repentance” (v 7), see Luke 18:9-12.
Scripture Reading: Luke 15:1-3
1. Introduction
What led Christ to speak His parables of the lost sheep and the lost coin? – “They are intended to vindicate Christ’s conduct in associating with outcasts and disreputable persons whom His Pharisaical critics thought a great deal too foul to be touched by clean hands. They were not meant to set forth with anything like completeness either what wanderers had to do to go back to God, or what God had done to bring wanderers back to Himself. They were meant to show us that a human instinct which prizes lost things because they are lost has something corresponding to it in the divine nature, and so to vindicate the conduct of Christ” (Alexander Maclaren). Why did Christ associate with publicans and sinners? Because He loved them and wanted to save them from their great need.
v 2 ... “Receiveth” means “welcomes, entertains.” Regarding the publicans (tax-gathers) – their very life was legalized sin and specious greed. The Pharisees regarded even their touch as defiling, and yet here was Jesus eating with them, coming into closest contact. Why did the Pharisees and scribes object to Christ’s associating with publicans and sinners? Partly because, being the national party, they recognized in the publicans their national enemies; but far more because of their own inhuman selfishness and formalism. Theirs was a religion founded on egotism. It had in it no place for helpfulness, missionary pity, and endeavor. The very word, “Pharisee,” meant “separation.” What spirit of the Pharisees and scribes do we see today? The spirit which looks down upon faithful Christians because they spend their lives in labors for the most degraded. The spirit which either refuses to admit or discourages those of other cultures to the pews of fashionable churches perhaps because of a difference in look and manner. This spirit shuts most doors in the face of the convict, no matter how repentant he might be. Too often this spirit appears even among youngsters; from those perhaps better dressed or from wealthier or more cultured families. This is rebuked in our lesson.
Scripture Reading: Luke 15:4-6 (also read Matt. 18:11, 12)
2. The Finding of the Lost Sheep
Why did Christ base so many comparisons on the life of a shepherd? – Because the care of sheep was one of the chief industries of the Jews, especially in the south of Palestine and to the east of the Jordan. “The same regions which furnished the vast flocks in ancient times are still noted for their sheep. All the plateaus east of the Jordan, and the mountains of Palestine and Syria, are pasture-grounds for innumerable flocks and herds” (Hastings Bible Dictionary).
How was Christ like a Shepherd? – In His homeless, wandering life; in the perils He constantly faced; in His thoughtful care for His own; in His readiness to sacrifice Himself for their safety. In the Catacombs at Rome there is no more familiar painting that that of the Good Shepherd with the straying sheep. Sometimes the other sheep are at His feet, gazing up at Him and His burden; sometimes He is portrayed as sitting down, wearied with His long and painful journey; but always there is a great gladness in the picture.
How are sinners like lost sheep? – Luke’s report of the parable represents the shepherd as losing the sheep. With all his care and concern the shepherd can still easily lose a sheep. For instance, he might post himself on some rock or mound, keeping the whole group in view, and from time to time move forward, calling on the flock(s) to follow him, which they usually always do. However, at such a juncture it’s possible that an adventurous sheep may have strayed out of hearing, and thus, bewildered at finding itself alone, may wander farther and farther from its companions, helpless and defenseless. When evening approaches, the shepherd counts his flock as they pass before him into the fold, and at once detects the loss. Matthew’s report speaks of the sheep as straying away. That is what happens in the case of sinners. The sheep did not intend to go anywhere. It simply knew that the grass was sweet, and ahead was another tuft. So it nibbled itself out of the path; out of the shepherd’s care; out of the flock’s companionship. How many of us are like that: without restraint regarding our appetite; without curbing our inclination; and without foresight. Except for the material and worldly good which a certain course of direction or conduct may provide. Before realizing what has happened, we find ourselves completely helpless, ruined, and lost.
Who are the “ninety and nine” of Christ’s parable? – They are the safe and sheltered children of Christ’s love. Left “in the wilderness” (v 4) means left “in the usual summer pasturage, not the desert” (New Century Bible). “The sheep are left of course under minor shepherds, not uncared for” (Cambridge Bible). What did Christ do for the lost sheep? It was only one over against ninety-nine, but all His love and care went out to that one. Whether God cares for you or me we might not know, if the singular number were not preserved throughout all these stories. But though we may not be very good or very great, each of us counts for one. And it is just for one that the Shepherd seeks.
Illustration: Often ‘one’ can save the day. In the old days of the American Wild West, when someone was about to be lynched, often just ‘one’ brave person can turn a gang of cowardly maniacs. In college, ‘one’ Christian lad; in society, ‘one’ Christian woman, repudiating any and all of its unholy dictates; anywhere, ‘one’ Christian may be enough to save the day.
Christ, the Good Shepherd, was ready to face all danger for the sake of lost sheep. Matthew says that the shepherd went “into the mountains,” taking his life in his hand. If robbers intercepted him, what chance would ‘one’ man have? Perhaps ravenous beasts lay couched between the shepherd and his vagrant charge. There was also the danger of falling among the rocks in the dark.
The Good Shepherd would not stop short of success – “until he find it” (v 4) is the measure of Christ’s persistency. He will never give up a sinner while there is the least chance of a recovery. The lost sheep taken home, not back to the wilderness, is in the end nearer the shepherd’s heart. The outcast whom the Savior has saved is nearer God than the ‘just’ man who has not taken the decisive step of repentance. The parable is a beautiful illustration of the love of God for the least of His lost children. He dwells in the glory that is unspeakable, but His eye is fixed on the labor and sorrow of the world. He hears the songs of angels, but the melody of the heavens is hushed when there rises to His ears the faintest sighing of a contrite heart.
Illustration: “Nobody can tell how large a space a tree fills until it is felled. If you lose one tiny stone out of a ring, or a bracelet, it makes a gap, and causes annoyance altogether disproportionate to the luster it had when it was there” (Maclaren).
Illustration: “If you have ever been in a house with a mother and father, and daughters and sons, when a little child has been lost, you will never forget the agitation of each member of the household. See the father as he goes to the police station, and calls at every likely house, for he must find his child or break his heart. See the deep oppression and bitter anguish of the mother; she is like one distracted till she has news of her darling. You now begin to understand what Jesus feels for one whom He loves” (Spurgeon).
What was the shepherd’s joy over the found sheep? – He laid it “on his shoulders, rejoicing” (v 5), and carried it home. “In the Midrash there is a story that Moses, while tending Jethro’s flocks, went after a lamb which had gone astray. As he thought that it must be weary, he carried it back on his shoulders. Then God said that, because he had shown pity to the sheep of a man, He would give him His own sheep, Israel, to feed” (Edersheim). More than that, “the man’s delight is so great that he must give an entertainment to celebrate it. This affords us a charming picture of simple village life; but it also further emphasizes God’s gladness at the recovery of one lost soul” (New Century Bible). How glorious it would be if every church gathering could have as the center of its rejoicing some soul newly won for the Master.
Scripture Reading: Luke 15:8-9
3. The Finding of the Lost Coin
“The main points of difference between this and the preceding parable are the changes from a man to a woman, and from a sheep, which could stray of its own accord, and feel the evil consequences, to a coin, which could do neither” (International Critical Commentary). All kinds of lost souls are to be sought and found. What was the value of the piece of silver that was lost? It was a drachma, a Greek coin, equivalent to the Roman denarius; the day’s wage for a Roman soldier.
What Eastern customs are involved in this parable? – (a) Jewish women wore (and still wear) gold and silver coins as an ornamental fringe around the forehead. Such is of great importance, often constituting her dowry. The loss of one coin would not only spoil the symmetry of the fringe, but would seriously diminish her most valued possessions. (b) “Oriental houses often have no windows, and a lamp would be necessary for a search even in the day” (International Critical Commentary). (c) In the East there is little reserve of family life among the common people, but a happening in one house is speedily the knowledge of all. The entire village (at least, the female portion) would join in the lamentation over the lost coin, and would naturally be called in to join the rejoicing over its recovery.
How are sinners like lost coins? – Far too many have fallen out of the purse of the church. The coin was heavy, so it fell; round, so it rolled; and dead, so it lay. And there are people who are more like things rather than persons, i.e., without will whose lives are determined almost solely by circumstances.
How was Christ’s work like the woman’s search? – He sought, and seeks, men however brutal they have made themselves; and the more hopeless they are in the face of temptation, the more He yearns over them, desiring to reclaim them.
Illustration: Like our Master, we should be moved with eager compassion toward the worst of sinners. A noble example is John Howard, the English reformer. He was a Bedfordshire gentleman who could have been a magistrate, living in a nice, large house. Turning his back on all that, he wished only to help the most trampled-down of people, sedulously seeking to know what piece of money was most lost. He went among those with the plague. He visited the vilest creatures in jails and prisons. He died like a martyr in far off Russia.
Scripture Reading: Luke 15:7-10 (also read Matt. 18:10, 14)
4. The Joy in Heaven
How much do they know in heaven about what is happening on earth? – Matthew, in his recital of the parable of the lost sheep, gives our Lord’s saying about “these little ones, whose angels always behold the face of the Father” (Matt. 18:10). This implies that the inhabitants of heaven are closely linked to the dwellers on earth; that each of us, including little children, has a personal guardian angel to help, comfort, cheer, and talk on our behalf with the Father.
Illustration: There is a sketch of remarkable power by the German artist Retzsch, in which a young man of goodly person and admirable face is engaged in a game of chess with the devil, while the guardian angel of the youth stands by with folded hands, watching the result with intense interest. However, your guardian angel does more than look on passively at our fate.
What are the angels? – “A race of spiritual beings of a nature exalted far above that of man, although infinitely removed from that of God; whose office is ‘to do him service in heaven, and by his appointment to succor and defend men on earth’” (International Bible Dictionary). The Bible begins and ends with angels; they are throughout its pages. Perhaps those of us who question a belief in angels might do well to remember that all our authoritative knowledge of them is inseparably bound up with our equally authoritative knowledge of God, the Creator of angels and men. What brings joy to the angels? The repentance of a single sinner; just one. “The birthday of every Christian is a sonnet day in heaven” (Spurgeon). When the tide rises in the ocean, it rises in a thousand creeks and rivers; and when the sunny sea of God’s blessedness swells, it streams through the celestial universe, and fresh music everywhere breaks out like the sound of many waters. All this was exactly opposed to the spirit of the Pharisees, who “had a saying, ‘There is joy before God when those who provoke Him perish from the world’” (International Critical Commentary).
5. Conclusion – How Can We Have That Joy on Earth?
There is only one way: we must enter into the soul-saving work which produces this joy. There is no more important work. Mankind is the only jewel; there is no true gold on this planet. Why does man pass by man and go after something that glitters, or stretches wide, or reaches high? Without Christ we are useless. Consider the lost piece of money. It is valuable with the King’s likeness stamped on it, but in fact it is useless, because it is lost, lying in the dust and darkness, hidden in a corner, unable to help itself; of no use to any one. Without Christ he is lost, though he has only begun to wander away from Him.
Illustration: If we see a man topple off the brink of a precipice a thousand feet high, we say inwardly, the moment he loses his center of gravity, “He is gone!” We know it as well as when we him dashed in pieces on the rocks below; for the causes that have gotten hold of him contain the fact of his destruction. But even then Christ can save him.
Who is called to do this work of soul-winning, and to share the angels’ joy? – Everyone that knows of the Savior, having had experience of His redeeming love. Does this include us? Whom are we to try to win for Christ? All whom we can reach, the farthest as well as the near, including the least and the lowliest of all God’s creatures. Only a faithful, spiritual, serious Christian truly believes that a person making $3,000 a year is just as worthy of respect and attention as one making $300,000.
Illustration: It is said that one of the most magnificent diamonds in Europe, which today blazes a king’s crown, once lay for months on a stall in a piazza at Rome labeled, “Rock-crystal, price one franc.”
How are we to do this great work of soul-winning? – The secret of success in soul-winning is love. If we love others enough, our love will find a way to their minds and hearts. Men are like ice. You can melt them sooner by being warm toward them, by centering the rays of a great, earnest, glowing love upon them, than by going at them with hammers of threat and warning, and trying to beat them down, pulverizing them. If you have Christ in your heart, He will teach you the right methods; He will be your wisdom and your power, though of course you will also learn from the books and the spoken words of His servants. Christ is after all the one soul- winner. What are the rewards of this soul-winning? Often in this world there is gratitude extended from those whom we bring to the Savior; but we must not seek that, paying no mind if we do not receive it. To those who love God, the best of all rewards is the joy that the salvation of a soul brings to our dear Father in heaven.
