Rev. Michael Piazza in Liberating Word says of Luke 15 “In this chapter we find the heart of what Luke understood to be the teachings of Jesus. This chapter contains three stories, two of which are totally unique. The chapter begins with the story of the lost sheep and the shepherd who goes looking. No one is surprised that a shepherd goes looking for a lost sheep, but what is unique about this is that, according to Luke’s version, the Divine Shepherd leaves the other 99 in the wilderness, thereby risking everything to find one that is lost. The second story is revolutionary because it is a parable of how God is like a woman who is looking for a lost coin. Although the Church has used this story to illustrate God’s passion for finding that which has been lost, seldom has it been pointed out that the woman represents God. This story was told in a day when a Pharisee might thank God that he had not been born a Gentile, a woman or a dog. This story is so radical that it is amazing that it has survived the sexism of the biblical editors. The coin that was lost was a drachma, a silver coin equal to about a day’s wages. While not an insignificant amount, it is not a fortune that has gone missing—valuable, but not worthy of panic. The woman sweeps her dirt floor, lights a lamp and searches carefully. When the woman finds the coin she calls her friends—woman friends the original says—and she has a party/celebration. The joyful celebration is the point stressed by both these stories, a point that seems lost to the modern Church. Neither a sheep nor a coin can repent, so Jesus isn’t calling sinners to repent. Rather, it appears that Jesus is calling the “righteous” to rejoice and celebrate when God (shepherd and woman) brings back into the fold one who was lost. Whether we rejoice or not depends on whether we think that people are a part of the Family of God by merit or by mercy. Anticipating the fact that we were likely to miss this point, Jesus tells one more story, his most famous of all.”
Rev. Michael Piazza in Liberating Word says of Luke 15 “In this chapter we find the heart of what Luke understood to be the teachings of Jesus. This chapter contains three stories, two of which are totally unique. The chapter begins with the story of the lost sheep and the shepherd who goes looking. No one is surprised that a shepherd goes looking for a lost sheep, but what is unique about this is that, according to Luke’s version, the Divine Shepherd leaves the other 99 in the wilderness, thereby risking everything to find one that is lost.
ReplyDeleteThe second story is revolutionary because it is a parable of how God is like a woman who is looking for a lost coin. Although the Church has used this story to illustrate God’s passion for finding that which has been lost, seldom has it been pointed out that the woman represents God. This story was told in a day when a Pharisee might thank God that he had not been born a Gentile, a woman or a dog. This story is so radical that it is amazing that it has survived the sexism of the biblical editors.
The coin that was lost was a drachma, a silver coin equal to about a day’s wages. While not an insignificant amount, it is not a fortune that has gone missing—valuable, but not worthy of panic. The woman sweeps her dirt floor, lights a lamp and searches carefully. When the woman finds the coin she calls her friends—woman friends the original says—and she has a party/celebration.
The joyful celebration is the point stressed by both these stories, a point that seems lost to the modern Church. Neither a sheep nor a coin can repent, so Jesus isn’t calling sinners to repent. Rather, it appears that Jesus is calling the “righteous” to rejoice and celebrate when God (shepherd and woman) brings back into the fold one who was lost. Whether we rejoice or not depends on whether we think that people are a part of the Family of God by merit or by mercy. Anticipating the fact that we were likely to miss this point, Jesus tells one more story, his most famous of all.”