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The Lost Sheep, Lost Coin

Luke 15:4-7, Matthew 18:10-14; Luke 15:8-10

Minerva Teichert

Feti

Study Guide

 

1. What is the background for the parables of the lost sheep and lost coin in Luke 15 (see Luke 15:1-2)? Why did the Pharisees and scribes murmur? Now read Matthew 18:1-2 and 10-12. What is the context of the parable in Matthew's gospel? (See also BD entry, "Publicans.")

 

 

 

2. Read Luke 15:3-4 (with footnote 4a). How might a sheep become lost from the herd? Why would a shepherd leave the 99 to go after one lost sheep?

 

 

 

3. Read Luke 15:5-7. How did the lost sheep travel back to the fold? What did the shepherd do to demonstrate his joy on the sheep's return?

 

 

 

4. How did Jesus explain the parable to his listeners in Luke 15:7?

 

 

 

5. Read Luke 15:8-10 (with footnote 8a). How might the woman in this parable have lost her coin?

 

 

 

6. According to footnote 8a, how valuable was the lost coin? How long would you look for a comparable amount of  money?

 

 

 

7. How did the woman in the parable react to the discovery of her lost coin? To what was her reaction compared?

 

 

 

BONUS: Do you think the shepherd and the woman in these parables waited until a convenient time to begin their search?

Related articles and quotes:

"Parables of the Lost and Found," Donald J. Keyes, February 2011 Ensign

"Feed My Sheep," Ben B. Banks, Nov. 1999 Ensign

"The Summer of the Lambs," Jayne B. Malan, Nov. 1989 Ensign

"Dear Are the Sheep That Have Wandered," James E. Faust, CR April 2003

 

"Every bishop, every stake president, every leader of any organization knows someone who needs attention, and you and we have the responsibility of going to find that lost sheep. If we had knowledge tonight that some young man was lost, if anyone knew of someone who was drowning, we wouldn’t hesitate one minute to do all in our power to save that individual, to save the one who was lost, the one who was drowning, the one who was in need of our help. These young men and these older men who are inactive in the Church, who have strayed away from the Church because of inactivity or for any reason, need our help and need our attention just as much. They need our prayers and our consideration, and nothing will bring us greater joy and happiness than to see one come back into activity.

"By saving one, we might save a family. We might even save a generation. By losing one, we may lose not only the individual but a family and his posterity. "

- N. Eldon Tanner, April 1971 CR

 

 

“Joy … abounds in heaven over the recovery of a soul once numbered among the lost, whether that soul be best symbolized by a sheep that had wandered afar, a coin that had dropped out of sight through the custodian’s neglect, or a son who would  deliberately sever himself from home and heaven. There is no justification for the inference that a repentant sinner is to be given 

precedence over a righteous soul who had resisted sin. …Unqualifiedly offensive as is sin, the sinner is yet precious in the Father’s eyes, because of the 

possibility of his repentance and return to righteousness. The loss of a soul is a very real and a very great loss to God. 

He is pained and grieved thereby, for it is His will that not one should perish” (Talmage, Jesus the Christ, 461).

Fred H. Wright wrote: "The headgear of Bethlehem women is of interest in throwing light on Biblical customs. It was of two parts. First, there was what might be called a high cap on the front of which have been sewn rows of gold and silver coins. It would have to be a dire circumstance that would ever cause her to part with any of these coins. If she lost one of these, an evil meaning would be attached to the loss, and so it would be considered a great shame.... The woman who had ten pieces of silver and lost one was greatly concerned over the loss, because it was doubtless a part of her marriage dowry (Manners and Customs, 99-100, 128).

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