Luke 15:8

Study note

Setting — Jesus addresses a crowd and religious critics during his journey to Jerusalem, immediately following his declaration of heavenly joy over repentance. He uses a domestic illustration to counter their complaint that he associates with sinners.

The words — δραχμὰς (drachmas) refers to a silver coin worth a day's wage, and ἀπολέσῃ (apolesē) denotes the act of losing something. The text states that a woman who loses one of ten coins responds by lighting a lamp, sweeping her house, and searching carefully until she recovers it.

The thread — The pattern of divine pursuit appears in Ezekiel 34:12 where God promises to search for scattered sheep, and in Luke 19:10 where the Son of Man comes to seek the lost. John 10:16 applies the same seeking motif to sheep outside the current fold.

Why it lands — The passage requires a reader to acknowledge that recovery of what is lost demands methodical, uninterrupted effort. It establishes that active search precedes any communal celebration, framing pursuit as a necessary duty rather than an optional gesture.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.