The searching Spirit
Or what woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp, sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it? And when she has found it, she calls her friends and neighbours together, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the piece which I lost!’ Likewise, I say to you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.
The Saviour gives no direct interpretation of the three parables He presents in Luke 15. He leaves us to consider three separate yet connected illustrations. In the first parable, little doubt can be cast on the Lord presenting Himself as the Good Shepherd and His work of redemption. So, what is the Lord teaching us in the parable of the woman searching for a lost coin? The place of searching is interesting. The Shepherd looked in the vast wilderness, indicating the extensiveness of Christ’s work. The woman searches in all the dark corners of the house, indicating the precision and intensity of the Spirit’s work. The parable continues to emphasise the value of what was lost.
The themes of joy in heaven and repentance on earth are repeated, and the determination to search “until” what was lost is found is paramount. The woman’s first action is to “light a lamp”. We see in the parable indications of the work of the Holy Spirit of God. In the Old Testament, silver is used to illustrate the work of redemption. For example, the boards of the tabernacle were made of acacia wood, covered in gold, and then each one was set on two sockets of silver. Commentators have suggested these boards represent individuals, taken out of the wilderness (the acacia wood), shaped to fit into God’s building (made into boards), covered in Christ’s righteousness (the gold) and stood securely on the ground of redemption, Christ’s death and resurrection (the two sockets of silver). The boards were all joined together, illustrating the work of the Holy Spirit (Exodus 36:20-34).
The woman’s use of a lamp portrays the Holy Spirit’s use of the word of God to search and bring people to Christ. Psalm 119:105 describes the word of God as “a lamp to my feet and a light to my path”. Ephesians 6 describes the word of God as “the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God”. The Spirit is associated with the work of searching, “For the Spirit searches all things” (1 Corinthians 2:10). The Saviour spoke of the work of Spirit, “And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment” (John 16:8). There is no place He does not search, no heart too black that cannot be conquered by the Holy Spirit’s transforming work by the powerful application of the light of the word of God.
The Saviour’s work of redemption is seen in the parable of the lost sheep. The work of the blessed Holy Spirit, which began, after the ascension of Jesus, on the Day of Pentecost, has never ceased. God’s grace continues to this day as redeemed souls are led to Christ and into the family of God by the Holy Spirit’s divine activity. Each one is valued and standing before God in Christ’s righteousness, witnessing to the immensity of His love and grace.