Today we are going to take a close look at one of the parables that Jesus told as a model of God's love for us. You will see that once it is put into the context of that society it could mean much more than a casual reading today would lead us to believe.
"Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Does she not light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, "rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin." In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents" (Luke 15:8-10) (NIV)
On the surface it appears that this is a story of a woman who has lost a small portion of her savings, but in reality this story could mean much more to the people listening to Jesus.
During the time that Jesus walked the earth single Jewish girls would collect silver coins until they had ten of them and then they would make a headband, or a necklace, out of the coins. Once they were married they would wear the headband or necklace, it was their version of a wedding ring. This custom was so important in that society that the coins could not even be taken from her to pay a debt.
Now, Jesus does not say that the woman in the parable is a widow but the fact that her husband, or any of her family for that matter, is not mentioned is an indication that she probably would have been. Notice when she finds the coin she calls her friends and neighbors.
This story takes on much more depth when we picture a widow who has lost a symbol of a past love. When Jesus spoke this parable His listeners would have understood the story in the proper context and would have grasped the sentimental value of the widow's coins. Jesus told this parable to explain to us the value that God places on each of us. We are more valuable than just some percentage of the whole; we each have sentimental value to Him.
This article was authored by Richard Coy. Richard is the managing editor and author of DiscoverGodsWord.com, a non-denominational site designed to encourage Christians to dig deeply into the Bible and discover how it is as releveant today as it was when it was written almost 2000 years ago.
Source: www.a1articles.com
