8 \u201cOr suppose a woman has ten silver coins [fn1] and loses one. Does she not light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? 9 And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, \u2018Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.\u2019 10 In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.\u201d<\/em>.
\nJesus captures the gospel message, his vision of the kingdom, by sketching a woman searching for a lost coin.
\nA much later rabbinic parable speaks of a similar condition \u2014 if someone seeks for a coin, should they not expend the same or even more effort to find treasures in the Torah? (Song Rabbah 1.1.9).
\nAs I have previously mentioned, the great value of Klyne\u2019s book is that it doesn\u2019t do everything for you; instead, it sketches issues and provides data and asks questions and lets the interpreter make up her or his mind. Snodgrass provides interesting stuff about houses \u2014 windows were small, dark interior common, searching for coins not unusual.
\nThe point is clear: God seeks for sinners as this woman seeks for a lost coin. The use of a woman is not so much a symbol (God is feminine) as an analogy: God\u2019s behavior is just like this woman\u2019s behavior.
\nHere are some good points; Klyne is good at debunking nonsense that many find in parables, and the commonsense of this book is its strength: \u201cThis parable does not liken human sin to lifeless coin, nor does it carry an atonement theology, and the candle is not the divine light. Nor is the parable a burlesque with the kingdom scandalously presented as an unclean woman searching for something of little intrinsic value. The woman is not implicitly blamed that the coin is lost, and certainly the coin is not\u201d (115). I wish more parable interpreters had this much sense.
\n\u201cThe woman\u2019s searching is an analogy of God\u2019s initiative and diligence in seeking to recover his people. The verbs of action \u2026 she seeks carefully, and her persistence\u2026\u201d \u2026 these are the focal points of the parable.
\n\u201cThe kingdom comes with limitless grace, even for those that others denigrate\u201d (116).
\n\u201cIf that is the character of our God, it should be our own character as well\u201d (116).<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Luke 15 records three parables about lostness; the second of these is about the lost coin. We are attending to Klyne Snodgrass, Stories with Intent, and his study of these parables.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":197,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1040],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4022","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-parables"],"yoast_head":"\n
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<\/em>, and his study of these parables.